As another not-so-glorious Independence Day approaches, I can’t help but reflect on George Orwell’s 1984. So many of his predictions seem to be coming true. Doublethink. Newspeak. The Memory Hole. The Cult of Personality.
I’m sorry, but “cult of personality”? I honestly don’t get it with Trump and his worshippers.
When I envisioned Big Brother, I imagined an austere, stentorian authoritarian whose image took over everyone’s minds and lives through sheer force and threat of death. I did not expect a needy, whining, wheedling, insecure despot like Trump.
Instead of “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU,” which is horrifying enough, we get “LOOK AT ME, EVERYONE. LOOK AT ME. LOOK AT MY VERY LARGE HANDS. LOOK. EVERYONE, PLEASE LOOK. PAY ATTENTION TO ME. LOOK AT ME. ME. HERE I AM. STOP LOOKING THERE, LOOK HERE. AT ME.”
Orwell couldn’t have predicted a stupider future.