‘1984’: Making Liberals Great Again

Donning dirty T-shirts that say things like “nasty woman” and “resist,” the melting snowflakes are fleeing this Orange Revolution for their latest safe space. But it is probably one that should come with a trigger warning for these tender little kiddies.

In droves, the precious political “liberals” and “progressives” are gobbling up copies of George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984” about “the perils of a totalitarian police state,” according to The Washington Post.

The book reached No. 1 among fiction paperbacks in the Washington area, according to the paper. Just ahead of “It Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis, another throwback novel about “a populist president [who] becomes a dictator.”

Hmmm, I wonder what is going on here.

Are the kids finally waking up and after decades of blithe ignorance and deciding to finally educate themselves about social studies? Are they suddenly “woke” to the ancient questions such as “Who should govern?” and “Where do rights come from?”

Are they finally concerned about the dangers of a crushingly powerful and all-knowing Leviathan government that reaches into every aspect of people’s lives? Or, perhaps they are reading up in preparation for a visit to Cuba.

Probably not. But Orwell was a pretty smart guy and wrote some brilliant books. Most of us, of course, did not need to rush out and buy a copy of “1984” after Obamacare was jammed through Congress because, well, because we all still have our copies from when we first read it as teenagers.

The only reason there isn’t an actual Obamacare in “1984” is that even Mr. Orwell’s considerable imagination could not conjure up something so diabolical and wrong.

A system that forces Little Sisters of the Poor to commit what they believe is murder. And then forces them to pay for it.

A system that gives the superstate access to all of your most personal medical information and forces you into medical situations whether you want them or not.

It is the same superstate that President Obama entrusted to spy on elderly people on Social Security who required help keeping their finances straight. If they are not able to balance their checkbooks on their own, they would be deemed mentally unfit and added to the federal list of criminals barred from purchasing weapons.

Seriously, Orwell was a piker compared with this crowd today.

Meanwhile, the federal government monitors Facebook and social media accounts of citizens to make sure they are paying taxes. Yet at the same time the feds have spectacularly failed to monitor social media of terrorists plotting to kill Americans and destroy the greatest force for freedom and individual liberty on the planet today.

The similarities between “1984” and the “utopian” dreams of self-proclaimed “liberals” and “progressives” today — gross misnomers both — are uncanny.

“1984” features Newspeak, the propaganda of Oceania. Individualism and thoughtcrimes were prosecuted by the Thought Police. Today, we have political correctness to shut down debate.

Orwell had his “Ministry of Truth,” which lies about everything. “Ministry of Love” to run the torture program. “Ministry of Plenty” to handle rationing. And, best of all, the “Ministry of Peace,” which kept Oceana in the constant state of war.

Today, we have a “Treasury” Department filled with $20 trillion worth of IOUs.

We have an “Energy” Department that mainly handles spent nuclear fuel.

Our Health and Human Services ministry launches predawn raids on peaceful family farms suspected of selling fresh milk that has not been cooked to specific federal guidelines.

We have a Department of “Education,” which apparently hasn’t been teaching social studies in 40 years.

Best of all, we have the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to arm Mexican thugs, terrorists and drug dealers with guns to be used against Americans.

Orwell had to make it up. We, literally, couldn’t.

But just maybe, “liberals” today will rediscover their roots and reignite a deep suspicion of a large, all-powerful government. Perhaps by reading “1984” they will discover that any government so big that it can give you everything is so big that it will take everything away from you.

Somebody should make up some hats that say: “Make Liberals Great Again.”

• Charles Hurt can be reached at churt@washingtontimes.com; follow him on Twitter via @charleshurt.

See Other Political Commentary by Charles Hurt.

See Other    Political Commentary.

Views expressed in this column are those of the author, not those of Rasmussen Reports. Comments about this content should be directed to the author or syndicate.