The dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell was published in 1949. It was assigned as part of the English curriculum in my high school. I still have a copy of the novel on my bookshelf, and I reread it a few years ago.
The totalitarian society depicted is led by the dictator Big Brother and supported by mass surveillance and the Thought Police, which publishes a steady stream of propaganda and quashes any individual freedom of expression.
The protagonist, Winston Smith, works at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting historical records to conform to the state’s ever-changing version of history. He is secretly against the regime. He falls in love and begins an affair with Julia. They seek the truth behind the state propaganda and eventually are captured, separated, and punished.
I’m thinking of 1984 because there is a quote from the book that I’ve seen many times over the past few days: “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
This quote is making the rounds after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in her car in Minneapolis yesterday.
I’ve seen the videos of the event from several angles. You probably have too. I saw the wheels of the vehicle turning away from the ICE agents, as if Renee were trying to drive away after being threatened. I didn’t see any forcible contact between the vehicle and the ICE agent who shot her. I saw him draw his gun and fire it. He didn’t jump back to escape being struck. He fired his gun, once through the windshield, twice through the driver’s side window, and then walked away.
Trump said that Good “ran over the ice officer.” The video evidence shows this is an outright lie. The ICE officer was not struck.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Good was “using a vehicle to try to kill an officer and his colleagues.” She also said, “It was an act of domestic terrorism. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot to protect himself and the people around him.”
Noem is mouthing the regime’s interpretation of the event—a command from the party to “reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.”
I saw an unprovoked murder. Someone convince me otherwise.
There will be no consequences for the ICE officer. There will be no investigation into whether he was trained properly or acted appropriately.
There will only be more of the same as long as Trump and his circle of sycophants remain in power.
Orwell also wrote in 1984: “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.”
How can we avoid that future? It seems to be barreling toward us.1984 = 2026.
