Because 2005 is 21 years too late...

George Orwell's "1984" is a brilliant, brilliant work of political fiction, and it needs just the brilliant person(people) to create a brilliant concept. One brilliant concept that was delivered to the world was Apple Macintosh's 1984 advertisement, and another brilliant concept that I recently became aquainted with is "Students for Orwellian Society" or SOS for short.

The SOS are going through current events with an America-centric look that fit into the 3 basic ideals expressed in the book "1984" - War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery and Ignorance Is Strength. (If you are not familiar with "1984", go here for a summary.) Here are some of my favorites:




War Is Peace

• Oceania (commonly called the US and Britain) is at war with Afghanistan Iraq. Oceania has always been at war with Afghanistan Iraq.
• It's okay that there were no “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq; that's not why we went to war. It's equally okay that there are so many of them in Oceania.
• The Nobel prize committee has been considering nominating George Bush and Tony Blair for their prestigious Peace prize.
• "In order to fight terrorism, we must cause it," says Donald Rumsfeld.
• "I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." says George W. Bush.
  

Freedom Is Slavery

• The Anti-Terrorism Act ensures US citizens' freedom by ensuring the FBI's ability to examine their activities.
• Wearing a t-shirt which says “Protect Our Civil Liberties” is, of course, obscene, and will get you kicked out of campaign rallies.
• Security cameras have been placed around the Columbia campus and around the island of Manhattan.
• If you are buying postage, do not ask for stamps without flags on them. Such would clearly be a sign of lack-of-patriotism, and we at SOS are glad to see that the Post Office is cracking down on it.

Ignorance Is Strength

• Osama bin Laden's messages will no longer be shown in Oceania.
• There is no dissent in this country. Those who disagree with President Bush are merely confused.
• Government agencies are requesting that certain government reports be removed from public libraries.
  
• PR firms have begun creating false citizens to try and shift the debate on certain key issues.
  
• The government has been removing information from websites which do not agree with the current administration's policies.
  
• The FBI urges you not to carry almanacs, lest you be labeled a terrorist.

Read the rest of the "points" here.