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If you've watched the news
or followed politics
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chances are you've heard
the term Orwellian
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thrown around
in one context or another.
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But have you ever stopped to think
about what it really means,
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or why it's used so often?
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The term was named
after British author Eric Blair
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known by his pen name George Orwell.
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Because his most famous work,
the novel "1984,"
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depicts an oppressive society
under a totalitarian government,
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"Orwellian" is often used simply
to mean authoritarian.
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But using the term in this way
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not only fails to fully
convey Orwell's message,
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it actually risks doing precisely what
he tried to warn against.
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Orwell was indeed opposed
to all forms of tyranny,
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spending much of his life fighting against
anti-democratic forces
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of both the left-wing and the right.
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But he was also deeply concerned
with how such ideologies proliferate.
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And one of his most profound insights
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was the importance that language plays
in shaping our thoughts and opinions.
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The government of "1984"'s Oceania
controls its people's actions and speech
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in some ways that are obvious.
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Their every move and word
is watched and heard,
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and the threat of what happens
to those who step out of line
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is always looming overhead.
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Other forms of control are not so obvious.
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The population is inundated
with a constant barrage of propaganda
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made up of historical facts and statistics
manufactured in the Ministry of Truth.
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The Ministry of Peace is the military.
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Labor camps are called "Joycamps."
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Political prisoners are detained
and tortured in the Ministry of Love.
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This deliberate irony is an example
of doublespeak,
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when words are used not to convey meaning
but to undermine it,
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corrupting the very ideas they refer to.
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The regime's control of language
goes even further,
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eliminating words from
the English language
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to create the official
dialect of Newspeak,
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a crudely limited collection of acronyms
and simple concrete nouns
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lacking any words complex enough
to encourage nuanced or critical thought.
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This has an effect on the psyche
Orwell calls, "Doublethink,"
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a hypnotic state of cognitive dissonance
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in which one is compelled
to disregard their own perception
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in place of the officially
dictated version of events,
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leaving the individual
completely dependent
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on the State's definition
of reality itself.
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The result is a world
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in which even the privacy of one's
own thought process is violated,
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where one may be found guilty
of thoughtcrime by talking in their sleep,
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and keeping a diary
or having a love affair
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equals a subversive act of rebellion.
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This might sound like something that can
only happen in totalitarian regimes,
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but Orwell was warning us about
the potential for this occurring
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even in democratic societies.
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And this is why "authoritarian" alone
does not "Orwellian" make.
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In his essay,
"Politics and the English Language,"
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he described techniques like using
pretentious words to project authority,
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or making atrocities sound acceptable
by burying them in euphemisms
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and convoluted sentence structures.
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But even more mundane abuses of language
can affect the way we think about things.
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The words you see
and hear in everyday advertising
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have been crafted to appeal to you
and affect your behavior,
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as have the soundbites and talking points
of political campaigns
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which rarely present the most
nuanced perspective on the issues.
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And the way that we use ready-made phrases
and responses gleaned from media reports
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or copied from the Internet
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makes it easy to get away
with not thinking too deeply
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or questioning your assumptions.
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So the next time you hear someone
use the word Orwellian,
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pay close attention.
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If they're talking about the deceptive
and manipulative use of language,
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they're on the right track.
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If they're talking about mass surveillance
and intrusive government,
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they're describing something authoritarian
but not necessarily Orwellian.
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And if they use it as an all-purpose word
for any ideas they dislike,
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it's possible their statements
are more Orwellian
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than whatever it is they're criticizing.
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Words have the power to shape thought.
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Language is the currency of politics,
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forming the basis of society from
the most common, everyday interactions
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to the highest ideals.
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Orwell urged us to protect our language
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because ultimately our ability to think
and communicate clearly
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is what stands between us and a world
where war is peace
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and freedom is slavery.