Mounce: 1984—Redux

“War is Peace!” “Slavery is Freedom!” “Socialism for the Rich, Capitalism for the Poor!” Whoops, I added that last demand, riffing on slogans from the dark tale of the near future, the alarming Nineteen Eighty-four (1984), by George Orwell, 1949.

1984 was banned in the Soviet Union. Strange, it hasn’t been banned, (as yet) in the U.S. But just wait. One Texas TV station, confronted by local Fascist forces, pulled a photo of Nazis, in Germany, as they burned books! Thank the Good Lord, it is still available in our library, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, Texas. When teaching there, I always recommended it to my students.

Many memes in the book seem to be re-appearing; “All pigs are equal; but some pigs are more equal than others.” Wait, sorry. That one is from a previous dystopian novel, the equally prescient “Animal Farm,” 1945, (also by George Orwell). We can prevent that. At least, we can learn from literature. 

In 1984, (and in one of the amazing film adaptations, released, appropriately, in 1984, directed by Michael Radford) the main character, Winston Smith, lives under a totalitarian regime. The government controls everything, every aspect of life, including re-writing of history and mandatory control of thought. One does not have to search long, in current media and news, for parallels: “Ukraine started the war with Russia.” “Zelenskyy is a dictator.” (Talk about psychological projection!)

Currently, in our nation, we see parallels: “The price of eggs is going down.” “There really is a legitimate ‘Department of Government Efficiency,’ although never approved by Congress.” And “it really is OK for a billionaire, the world’s richest man, to have his run of that agency” and of so much else in our government. You object? Get out of the way. Who you gonna believe? The administration? Or your lying eyes?

Speaking of history, I suppose you still thought—as you learned in grade school—the Gulf of Mexico, so-named on the maps by Spanish explorers around 1550, was actually the Gulf of Mexico? Silly boy or girl; the government now says that body of water should be named “Gulf of America!” So, who you gonna believe? Oh, I understand, (is it 1984 again?) you naturally tend to obey the authority you fear the most, not history, not reason. You fear and obey he who claims a “mandate,” but only achieved 49% of the vote. This is the same authority who claimed he had won the previous election. 

Actually, if that had been the case—if, as he repeated, ad nauseam—he had won the previous election, then he should not have been eligible for a third term! But he didn’t let election laws, his own lies, the actual truth, or the Constitution stop him. He now declares himself “King!” 

Oh, you don’t want a King? As you studied in grade school, the U.S. was formed in opposition to one-man rule? You learned “No one is “above the law?” Or so you have believed? How quaint! Again, you silly boy or girl; don’t let study, or history—or reason, or common sense– stop you, or him. Go along, as Winston Smith, in 1984, felt he had to—for a while.  I get it; I get how fear controls us, how we just want to survive.

Maybe those around the “King” can control him? Oh, wait. HE picked that Cabinet: HE fired those Generals. So, not likely. But you would rather NOT have the head of Health be a conspiracy theorist, who wants to cancel vaccines, in face of a measles epidemic? Too late! You lost. We lost. We got RFK, Jr., he who declares he has a worm in his head. Despite that (or because of it?) he opposes use of anti-depressants, falsely claiming they are linked to school shootings, although studies have found no connection (Aria Bendix, NBC, 21 Feb 25).

So, you would rather NOT have a head of the FBI who is also a conspiracy theorist, who wrote three books trashing the FBI? Too late! you lost. We got Kash Patel, mega-MAGA loyalist, who wrote “The Plot against the King,” a thinly veiled attack on “King’s D’s” opponents. If you complain, if you try the courts for redress, you might be targeted. 

Andrew Bernier, a researcher with the U.S. Corps of Engineers, filed a complaint for his firing and was barraged by menacing emails suggesting the anonymous sender had much of his personal data and information, purloined from his computer (Dave Paresh, Dell Cameron, and Alexa O’Brien, in “DOGE Surveillance,” Wired, 21 Feb 25). A distraught woman, a resident of Roswell, Georgia, who had actually voted for the president, opined: “Our Founding Fathers never meant to be ruled by a King; so you can imagine my shock and pure horror when I woke to find our president had given himself unprecedented executive powers and named himself King” (Matt Young, “GOP Faces Furious Locals,” The Daily Beast, 20 Feb 25) 

And the King? Down to 47% in the polls. Many with regrets. So what? He is in power. The purge continues. He doesn’t have to run for re-election. And, some fear, there may be no more elections. But the King is busy counting his money: “We’re going to go to Ft. Knox and make sure the gold is there,” the King foolishly brags.

Others look askance, warn us of the effects of a return to 1984, to dictatorship: “The purge will cost the government dearly; the Administration is breaking the law by its firings.” (Michael Sainato, “There Will be a Monumental Bill,” The Guardian, 21 Feb 25). That “bill” will be economic, but also moral—possibly an end to our Democracy, to our country, as we now know it. 

And our world? What will it look like? In Orwell’s book, there remained only three super-powers: Russia, China . . . and “Oceania,” – the U.S? Is that where our current government—with its anti-European stance—is trying to lead us? Fie on them!” Meanwhile, what can we do? The courts (some of them) might help. Then, in 2026, Congressional elections. “Keep hope alive!” 

Editor’s Note: The above guest column was penned by writer Dr. Gary Joe Mounce, a professor emeritus (political science) at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He can be reached by email via: gjmounce@gmail.com.

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