1984 Politics

Politics. According to the dictionary, the definition is “the activities associated with the governance of a country or other area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power.” It is interesting that a majority of the definition is used to talk about being elected rather than what is done once in office. This definition reflects the reality of politics in modern society, and the continuously more negative light it is experiencing. The phrase that represents said “activities” is political rhetoric. Political rhetoric causes skepticism in society because if the highest level of leaders can’t be trusted, everything must be substantiated in order to believe it. The loss of patriotism and unity caused by this skepticism polarizes the citizens, and leads to a less effective country. During recent years, confidence in politicians has seen a steady decrease, which is largely due to their campaigning tactics. Politics are being seen more as a show and a bout for personal gain rather than the way to guarantee the rights of the citizens of a country/culture. This view is captured in a line from the

In the novel 1984, this idea is captured in the reference of newspeak and oldspeak. Oldspeak is a reference to what we would consider normal use of language. Sentences to say one idea and emotion are two characteristics of oldspeak. Newspeak was created as a way to take meaning out of language. In a similar way to politicians using emotion to make people feel a certain way about what they are saying, newspeak is created to only contain what the government wants its citizens to hear from a word instead of the emotion and opinions that come with the oldspeak