Well known promo picture for 1984 colorized by Kolorize.cc Click image to enlarge
There's no real need to go chapter and verse through George Orwell's 1949 novel "1984" to understand why referencing it here (as is done elsewhere) describes what Trump and Vance want the United States to become. Each hopes to become Big Brother. Vance anticipates that within a year or two he will assume the position of president.
Project 2025 isn't a novel, but like "1984 it describes a totalitarian country run by a dictator whose government uses mass surveillance of citizens and repressive regimentation to control the behavior of the population.
Consider that in 1949 when "1984" was written the cyber capacity to track the social media habits and the physical location of people didn't exist. In 1949 there was no National Security Agency (NSA) with its vast satellite network:
Today you can be tracked by your car and cell phone GPS, but this is child's play for law enforcement agencies. Survellience cameras are ubiquitous. Police can monitor your driving and send you tickets for infractions. Banks, ATMs, and stores have cameras. Facial recognition can be used to identify you and, I assume if not now eventually, will be used to find out where you are.
Are you really sure that when you read a website like this some hacker hasn't turned on your device's camera and microphone?
Another novel that is being written about as a warning about what could happen in American under Trump and Vance is Margaret Atwood's 1985 "The Handmaids Tale." Consider that Covid can be tracked by analysis of wastewater and ask yourself whether the government could decide to determine whether residents of a given area were using mifepristone (half of the so-called abortion pill) or any kind of banned birth control. Federal funds could be withheld from the community. Worse than that government agents could interogate all the females of child bearing age living there to make sure that if they are pregnant they don't have an abortion.
In 2025 under a Trump and Vance Americans could try to run from a repressive government but they wouldn't be able to hide.
I couldn't figure out a way to illustrate this blog until I realized that an app I just bought to colorize a batch of old black and white paper photos from my childhood could also be used to intensify what 2025 and beyond could look like.
Some images from the movie, like this one, look more foreboding than the colorized version.
In "1984" we had Winston Smith as the protagonist. He worked in a mid-level job at the Ministry of Truth. He kept his hatred for the Party secret. When he discovered that there was a resistance group called the Brotherhood he and his girlfriend Julia joined it. However, they were betrayed by a Party spy and arrested by the Thought Police. He was sent to be "reeducated" through torture by his worst fear, rats, and through mind manipulation by the Ministry of Love. Eventually he betrayed Julia and realized he loved Big Brother and was released. The end of the book tells what happens after he is happily sitting in a cafe after he is a "free" man:
“He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother."
In the Big Brother world of Trump and Vance I doubt a Winston could survive as long as he did let alone there being a Brotherhood undergound resistance standing a chance of being effective. I doubt it could be organized in the first place.
Whichever of my illustrations you think suggests what our country could look like, imagine Trump or Vance in the pictures as Big Brother. If you value freedom, democracy, and a tolerant multi-ethnic pluralistic America, all of these images should scare the bejesus out of you.
Addendum:
Voters should assume that a vote for Trump is a vote for Vance. I wrote about this (here) several days ago and it is finally being covered in progressive media.
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