Reading this site recently, I have noticed that some people are accepting as true facts that are clearly wrong. In noticing this trait in others I have discovered that I have also been actively engaging in several Orwellian modes of self-deception. Most notably doublethink and blackwhite.
Doublethink: The act of simultaneously accepting as correct two mutually contradictory beliefs.
Blackwhite: The ability to blindly believe anything, regardless of its absurdity
Doublethink in more detail:
"The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them....To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies — all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth."
- Orwell 1984
I have deliberately lied to myself in almost every area of my life. I do not trust the cable news networks, for example. I am certain they are a vehicle for corporate and political propaganda. Yet every night I sit like a zombie in front of the telescreen and absorb the information they give to me. I am then willing to engage in meaningless arguments over countless subjects as though I have been informed.
How can I speak intelligently about foreign policy when I cannot be certain any of the information I am given regarding events across the globe is accurate? In fact I am becoming more and more aware that our history, even recent history, cannot be even marginally trusted.
Convinced to the point of blows I was that the new administration would end the war in Iraq, this despite Obama declaring repeatedly he would "be as careful pulling out as we (bush adminstration) were careless getting in" and his hawkish rhetoric regarding Afghanistan. In an amazing display of reality control I allowed myself to believe Obama was a dove and would not continue the folly that is Iraq and Afghanistan. This is after he himself baldly stated that he would continue these misadventures. I was at the same time capable of believing two contradictory things and accepting them both as being true.
My voice would have went raw with logical arguments to convince any naysayers that Obama supported the middle-class. After all, he pledged to roll back the Bush tax cuts and give the middle-class a huge tax break. Redistribution of wealth baby yeah! Only when the financial crises struck all the lies were laid bare before my eyes and still I refused to accept the truth. I knew the truth but also believe the lie; all of the recent economic events have been designed to ensure the power structure of American life continues as it had been and the people (proles in 1984) come last. There has been a redistribution of wealth from the mass of the American people into the hands of a few. Yet at the same time I believe Obama cares for me and is looking out for my best interest.
I've also noticed I have engaged in something 1984 calls blackwhite:
Blackwhite is defined as follows:
" ...this word has two mutually contradictory meanings. Applied to an opponent, it means the habit of impudently claiming that black is white, in contradiction of the plain facts. Applied to a Party member, it means a loyal willingness to say that black is white when Party discipline demands this. But it means also the ability to believe that black is white, and more, to know that white is black, and to forget that one has ever believed the contrary. This demands a continuous alteration of the past, made possible by the system of thought which really embraces all the rest, and which is known in Newspeak as doublethink. "
—Orwell, 1984
The word is an example of both Newspeak and doublethink. It represents the active process of rewriting the past, control of the past being a vital aspect of the Party's control over the present.
The ability to blindly believe anything, regardless of its absurdity, can have different causes: respect for authority, fear, indoctrination, even critical laziness or gullibility. Orwell's blackwhite refers only to that caused by fear, indoctrination, or repression of one's individual critical thinking ("to know black is white"), rather than caused by laziness or gullibility. A true Party member could automatically, and without thought, expunge any "incorrect" information and totally replace it with "true" information from the Party. If properly done, there is no memory or recovery of the "incorrect" information that could cause unhappiness to the Party member by committing thoughtcrime. This ability is likened to the total erasure of information only possible in electronic storage.
I spent countless hours walking the streets of Flint Michigan to register minorities to vote. Sore feet, sore voice, sore back...all because of my faith is our President. It is faith that has been allowing me to engage in blackwhite.
President Obama "No one is above the law."
President Obama refused to call for the impeachment of a man who lied us into two wars, is responsible for the lives of over a million arab and afghan citizens, defrauded the United States of America, and has committed acts of torture. In every sense of the word President Bush was a traitor. Yet in the previous state of the union I watched President Obama shake his hand. I've watched Obama continue his "war on terror" nonsense. I've watched Obama bomb Pakistan killing children. I've watched all these things and I believed, and still believe, that he is right when Bush was wrong, that he is good when Bush was evil, that he cares for me when Bush was my enemy.
It doesn't matter if Obama says or does something ridiculous either. His outrage over the AIG bonuses made me feel outraged. Even as he had just agreed to pay them another 30 billion dollars to prop up AIG. Was he really angry over a 100 million dollars in bonuses after agreeing to give those guys 30 billion? Why in the hell was I angry at the bonuses and not the ridiculous round xxxxx of money to AIG?
The U.S. government will commit another $30 billion to prop up American International Group Inc as the embattled insurer prepares to report the biggest loss in history and struggles to sell assets.
-Reuters
No anger at that at all. With 24 hr round the clock screaming at AIG over bonuses though I was ready to grab my pitchfork, find the scumbags who received the bonuses, tar and feather then quarter the bastards.
All of this by the way I realize now but at the time I was clueless (partially). BTW, even as I am writing this I have a copy of Dreams of my father sitting next to me (which I read on my trips to the bathroom) and I have an immense amount of affection towards Barack Obama.
I have noticed these same traits in others here on Dkos. Sharp minds and critical thinkers when applied to the GOP, a lot of people willfully turn off their minds and passively accept the President's words as dogma.
I do too. I will no doubt continue to do so after this blog. I will put in the back of my mind all my reservations, all my doubts and fears, and follow the President down whatever path he chooses for us. After all it is good for the party and what is good for the party must be good for the country. Right?