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1984

Have you read "1984" recently?

If you are aware of the Mandela Effect, George Orwells "1984" will strike a very familiar chord. The movies convey the idea of all history being deliberately rewritten, but the original novel does it best. It contains detailed descriptions of the government systematically changing published facts to suit it's purpose. All movie, TV, newspaper and book articles are routinely withdrawn and reprinted, leaving no physical trace of the original event apart from in the memories of those who originally encountered them. And as anyone who has read it will tell you, even those come under attack in the end.

This is very familiar to those experiencing The Mandela Effect.

The actual title of the book is "Nineteen Eighty-Four", and describes the nightmare state created as an extreme extrapolation from the Fascist/Communist governments around at the time Orwell wrote it. To preserve itself in power, the people are manipulated into believing their government is always acting in their best interests, and is omniscient, even thought neither are true. To achieve this, it must be seen to have always been correct in the past, and since it controls all records of past events, when facts change, such as a person being "vapourised" for committing a crime, all record of their life must be erased.

Many well-known quotes

Orwell intended his work to be a warning to society, so it is no surprise such a classic of literature has produced some very profound statements.

He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.

There are many ideas in the book which are very relevant today:

And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed - if all records told the same tale - then the lie passed into history and became truth. "Who controls the past," ran the Party slogan, "controls the future: who controls the present controls the past." And yet the past, though of its nature alterable, never had been altered. Whatever was true now was true from everlasting to everlasting. It was quite simple. All that was needed was an unending series of victories over your own memory. "Reality control," they called it: in Newspeak, "doublethink." (1.3.18)

Compare with today

When you compare the concepts he introduced, it doesn't take much imagination to see only the names have changed:

Big Brother:  Government persists despite the illusion of party changes

Thought Crime:  Political correctness at the expense of truth

Telescreens: Smartphones, Smart TV's, Tablets, Laptops, PC's

Ministry of Truth: Google, the internet, political spin, social media fake news

Permanent overseas war: Middle East

Newspeak: Simplified version of the English language - Twitter, lol, rofl, omg, btw & emoticons

Anti Sex League: Transgender/extreme feminism

Children betray parents: Children not disciplined enough to respect them

Movie

Here's the 1956 movie: