Books are immortal
And 1984 is fitting. (Why do you think you haven't seen a donation come in from me yet, fundraising email?)
"Like so many Newspeak words, [blackwhite] 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." (Those who, like the thoughtless comms major, would present this development in a more positive light laud numbers too wonky to be a BFD.)
"Applied to a Party member, it means a loyal willingness to say that black is white when Party discipline demands this." (I see it in the reverence for authoritarian regimes like 他们的金融家 and in the willingness, dare I say eagerness, to participate in nepotistic concealment.)
"But it means also the ability to believe that black is white, and more, to know that black is white, and to forget that one has ever believed the contrary."
In the smiling face of such brutal "honesty," silence is unthinkable (note the PPP comparison) when afflicted with an administration that fills cracks with ice (note the blatant double standard), widening the split rather than repairing it. What understanding does this show of totality when such politicians-not-leaders build on a foundation of concealment and manipulation at such a massive scale, and when one lives among the results of such a construction? Application of reading material - "The mutability of the past is the central tenet of Ingsoc."
Ah well, if I'm to look for a silver lining, what better way to learn the answers than to immerse oneself in and record the work of such people? Thank you for the reminder to pay attention.
Note to self - missed 汉字 on study material captions with soup context: 不?不热. Didn't sound like 冰 - 凉? (Let me count the ways.)
Adding this because of 1:46, lower left banner - 京没有人? Before it is written something ...ights - maybe "rights?" 3:08 - "no human rights," therefore 京 没有 人权. (Counting.)
Ending with this parce que les hibous sont chouettes.