Students for an Orwellian Society

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2004-05-06 09:20am

Because 2004 is 20 years too late.

Plekhanov · Post by **Plekhanov** » 2004-05-06 12:51pm

Goldstein (also known as Bin Laden) has always been an enemy of Oceania and was never an ally, he certainly never fought for us against our permanent ally Eurasia.

Evil deposed tyrant and terrorist sponsor of Saddam Hussein has always been our enemy; our brave ally Colonel Gaddafi has never
sponsored terrorist attacks on Oceania.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2004-05-06 01:16pm

Funny, but old news. Posted months ago.

Axis Kast · Post by **Axis Kast** » 2004-05-06 01:18pm

Are you saying that, at the time of the Cold War, we should have been capable of discerning Bin Laden's actions ten and twenty years down the road?

Saddam was equally a surprise: when we backed him, the Iranians were the power that seemed most likely to consolidate a Middle Eastern hegemony if left unchecked by Iraq. Hell, everyone else - including the Kuwaitis, who gave over $1 billion in loans to Saddam's cause - agreed, too.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-05-06 01:20pm

Axis Kast wrote:Are you saying that, at the time of the Cold War, we should have been capable of discerning Bin Laden's actions ten and twenty years down the road?

No. It's a reference to 1984. It's this thing called a novel.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-05-06 02:21pm

We have those retards here on campus. They're doubleplus ungood if you ask me.

Axis Kast · Post by **Axis Kast** » 2004-05-06 02:36pm

Wow, SirNitram. I never knew that. Moron.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-05-06 02:37pm

Axis Kast wrote:Wow, SirNitram. I never knew that. Moron.

So instead of being clueless and therefore excusable, you're just a moron who can't see humour coming a mile away? At least you're honest.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-05-06 03:30pm

Axis, not everything is an implied criticism on your dogmatic political points of view.

Thirdfain · Post by **Thirdfain** » 2004-05-06 05:38pm

Axis, not everything is an implied criticism on your dogmatic political points of view.

Actually....

Goldstein (also known as Bin Laden) has always been an enemy of Oceania and was never an ally, he certainly never fought for us against our permanent ally Eurasia.

Evil deposed tyrant and terrorist sponsor of Saddam Hussein has always been our enemy; our brave ally Colonel Gaddafi has never
sponsored terrorist attacks on Oceania.

Whoa! It appears that it IS in fact an implied criticism of his dogmatic political point of view!

It's not even a good one- Plekhanov's attempts to draw parallels between the U.S. support of Afghanistan and Iraq against soviet expansionism is absolutly nothing like the mind-control wars waged on Oceania's population by the Party.

Axis Kast · Post by **Axis Kast** » 2004-05-06 06:08pm

Thanks, Thirdfain. Glad someone else saw it, too.

Plekhanov · Post by **Plekhanov** » 2004-05-07 05:52pm

Axis Kast wrote:Are you saying that, at the time of the Cold War, we should have been capable of discerning Bin Laden's actions ten and twenty years down the road?

No I’m saying that Bin Laden makes an excellent Goldstein.

Saddam was equally a surprise:

Bin Laden was unpredictable Saddam much less so it was obvious from very early on that he was a thug interested only in his own power.

Anyway that’s not the issue, if you looked at the title of the thread and the odd style in which my post was written and then stopped to think for a second, you’d have realised that I was pointing out that the way in which Sadam & Gaddafi seem to have switched positions is reminiscent of Oceania’s shifting alliances in 1984.

Thirdfain wrote:It's not even a good one- Plekhanov's attempts to draw parallels between the U.S. support of Afghanistan and Iraq against soviet expansionism is absolutly nothing like the mind-control wars waged on Oceania's population by the Party.

I’m sorry you didn’t like my puny attempt at a little political humour but you’re missing the point its not the mind control so much as the way in which Gaddfi seems to have (in public at least) rapidly gone from pariah to strategic ally that I found reminiscent of 1984. A process Saddam underwent in reverse when he invaded Kuwait.

Thirdfain · Post by **Thirdfain** » 2004-05-07 06:12pm

Anyway that’s not the issue, if you looked at the title of the thread and the odd style in which my post was written and then stopped to think for a second, you’d have realised that I was pointing out that the way in which Sadam & Gaddafi seem to have switched positions is reminiscent of Oceania’s shifting alliances in 1984.

Politically, Afghanistan and Iraq were NEVER anything besides allies on convenience, at best, and overseas proxies for American interests, at worst.

Bin Laden was unpredictable Saddam much less so it was obvious from very early on that he was a thug interested only in his own power.

Agreed. It didn't make him any less useful as a stopgap to expanding Soviet influence in the Middle East.

Additionally, this sort of behavior is hardly new to the Bush administration, and isn't a sign that we are slipping into an Orwellian mind-control state; no more so than any awful propoganda in any nation's history has been.

Frankly, I find a world of difference between painting a regime which was, decades ago, a useful tool in the war against Communism, as a threat today and expecting people to hurl common sense out the window and forget entirely that a massive, world spanning war was fought with today's ally against yesterday's ally.