1984 Part 1: Government Control



1984 Government Control – Techniques and Purposes

Directions: The 1984 government uses LOTS of different techniques to control people. Surveillance, propaganda and war are probably the most obvious responses. Create a list of control techniques. Be as specific as possible. I do recommend that you group techniques when possible; for example, group all technology used for surveillance. Explain how each technique is supposed to control people. Finally, consider to what extent that technique is used or could be used today.

( Why does the Oceania government use such harsh controls?

To stay in power. To create submissive, obedient, believing, loyal robots.

Other possible responses: They want total control. To stamp out rebellion. Because they can. To protect themselves. To hide the truth. To cause fear and paranoia. To exist. To suppress individuality. To divert attention away from gov’t errors. To make people easier to control. To create beliefs, i.e., belief in government.

( What techniques do they use?

|Specific technique (or group of |Purpose of the technique (what is it supposed to |What similar techniques of control are used today? AND/OR What similar |

|techniques) |do?) |technology is available today? |

|Surveillance 1 – telescreens, |To control dissent |2011: Google gets almost 6 million hits for surveillance equipment. Walmart |

|hidden cameras, bugs |To create paranoia |offers 305 pieces of equipment, including hidden cameras, heat-sound-motion |

|(microphones) |to watch everyone so completely they are afraid to |sensors, wireless motion detectors that can transmit info half a mile, an |

| |act out, & to catch rebels before they act. |alarm clock with a camera that can hold 40 days of footage, and indoor/outdoor|

| | |night vision cameras that can see 40 feet in the dark. Check out |

| | |, where they say “In the unstable world we live in today,|

| | |only our products can give you the peace of mind that comes with truly being |

| | |secure and knowing what is really going on around you” (Spy Associates). They|

| | |offer bugs and bug detectors, cameras, telephone tapping and recording, GPS |

| | |tracking, metal detectors, and voice changers, among others. Also look at |

| | |, which offers everything you need to watch, listen |

| | |and record (including equipment to spy on cell phones), plus tazers, PC |

| | |monitoring software, and xray vision glasses that can see through objects and |

| | |clothes and record what they see! |

| | |2010 security x-rays; email and credit card surveillance; GPS built into every|

| | |cell phone; satellite photos; ability to search any computer record. Within |

| | |the USA, the Patriot Act allows legalized surveillance of populace without |

| | |warrants. Also, discuss secret phone record/email issue. |

|Surveillance 2 – Thought Police, |(same as Surveillance 1) |Discuss when/how spy organizations become “thought police.” Examples include |

|junior and adult spies |To control dissent |“money for info” programs and calls for turning in suspicious people. Time |

| |To create paranoia |permitting: 2003 Twilight Zone “Monsters are on Maple St.” |

|Propaganda – using posters, |To control information |Check out which links to some great sites, but even more |

|radio, TV, etc. |To keep people ignorant |info is available at media/. |

| |to hide the truth and create a belief system. Both|A few years ago, 10 big companies controlled almost all the media in the USA; |

| |of these help to brainwash people into believing |then it was 8; check new numbers and consider political leanings of the |

| |what they are told. This creates the robots |owners. Consider the way the Bush gov’t cast the media as an enemy from the |

| |described above. |start of the move toward war with Iraq. |

| |See also Fear. | |

|Control education |To control information |“Government control education” gets over half a million hits, while “No child |

| |To keep people ignorant |left behind” gets 6 million. Be very aware of propaganda in the voices on |

| | |both sides of the argument. The gov’t does set requirements of what schools |

| | |teach. Consider evolution debate today. |

|Update papers by changing and |To control information |Censorship. Holding back FOIA documents. Reclassifying documents. Changing |

|deleting facts + Memory hole |To keep people ignorant |posted websites (get ANWR website and original), newspapers, etc. See |

| |wipe out info that shows problems and replace with | |

| |positive info |Look at changes in our allies, how allies become enemies and then allies |

| | |again. US support of USSR, Saddam Hussein, Taliban, a variety of Latin |

| | |American dictatorships, more. |

|Newspeak |To control information |Consider the dumbing down of the American populace. “Dumbing down education” |

| |To keep people ignorant |gets almost 775,000 hits. Check out |

| |control language to control rebellious speech, & |“evolution_court_cases.htm. Consider the reduction of whole |

| |eventually, even rebellious thought, by reducing |thoughts to emails, IMs and text messages (and their abbreviations). |

| |the population’s ability to express itself | |

|Doublethink |To keep people ignorant |Consider willful ignorance, including our own tendency to ignore uncomfortable|

| |Allows Inner Party to justify their existence & |information, like coffee and chocolate being connected to slavery issue, like |

| |Outer Party to pretend to believe it all works |popular clothing brands using child labor, like over-consumption being a major|

| | |cause of worldwide pollution, global warming, and lack of natural resources… |

|Fear 1 – |Control emotions |Discuss atmosphere of fear post 9/11; discuss whether it is used to control |

|Atmosphere of fear |Create fear |people; discuss to what extent it is present in the USA today. Consider the |

| |Creates obedience through fear of punishment |terror threat color scale and announcements of upgrades. |

| |Fearful people are obedient & do not ask questions |Consider also how the news presents information…the selling of frightening |

| |because they believe they need the gov’t to keep |news to get the ratings to sell the advertising. |

| |them safe |Time permitting, watch excerpts of Bowling for Columbine that relate to this |

| | |issue (check it is BFC): unlocked doors in Canada |

|Fear 2 – |Control emotions |All. Within USA, ongoing arguments about the use of these tactics. |

|Harsh punishments – torture, |Create fear |Guantanamo (especially look at a collection of ideas from outside the USA at |

|executions (may be public), |People are too afraid of being punished to act out.|guardian.co.uk/world/guantanamo-bay. Sending prisoners to countries that |

|arrest without cause or without |Constant threat contributes to atmosphere of fear. |torture. Extraordinary rendition to secret military detention camps that use |

|fair trial, disappearances, | |torture. Military Commisions Act (late 2006) and loss of habeus corpus. |

|forced labor camps | |Outing a CIA agent to punish her husband. Leonard Peltier, the West Memphis |

| | |Three, Mumia Abu-Jamal. |

|Fear 3 – |Control emotions |Identify countries which have been at war continuously & for which no end to |

|Ongoing endless war |Create fear |war is in sight; perhaps make list of all countries in world and whether they |

| |War propaganda raises nationalism. Desensitizes |have been at peace or at war in last 50-100 years. |

| |people to horror of war. Fear of enemy takeover |Track US involvement in wars (Korea, Vietnam, Iraq I and II, Afghanistan) and |

| |leads to dependence on gov’t. |military interventions (esp. Latin America) and/or continual military attacks |

| |Maintain class system |(Kosovo bombings, Iraq in the 90s) from WWII to present. |

| |Wastes excess. Explains shortages. |Consider Iraq war: about $700 billion in 2006; other source says $550 billion |

| | |in 2008. Update? One site says now at 941 billion. en/ says |

| | |total war since 2001 is 1.2 trillion dollars, with with 781 billion in Iraq |

| | |and 419 billion in Afghanistan. |

| | |Consider “wars” on drugs, poverty, crime, and terrorism. |

|2 minute Hate |Control emotions |Organized Hates, maybe…consider focus on bin Laden, then switch to Hussein, |

| |Create fear |and now Iran. Consider celebrations of bin Laden’s death. Scapegoating, |

| |Creates a scapegoat. Focuses all negative energy on|definitely. |

| |outside enemy. Creates unity in populace. | |

|Call all critics “enemies” |Create fear |Yes. Attacks on war protestors for lack of patriotism and sending a negative |

| |To keep people ignorant |message to the troops and being “supportive” of terrorist enemies. |

| |Silences criticism by associating critics with the | |

| |war enemy/scapegoat | |

|Anti-sex league |Control emotions |Discuss attitudes toward sex in different places. Abstinence-only programs, |

|(Connected to nationalism & |Encourage love for country & discourage love for |restrictions on women’s health, birth control and family planning. |

|patriotism) |people. Use energy to foster war hysteria. | |

|Uniforms. Call each other |Keep them the same |Discuss: how do we have to conform? How much it to fit in? Burkas, fashion, |

|comrade. |Reduce individuality |music |

|Class system |Control goods |Google “wealth distribution in America” for 40 million hits. Read |

| |Stop progress |sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html. Look at the numbers, |

| |Keep all real wealth in 1 group that has control |and then at the number of wealthy people in positions of governmental power. |

| |(Inner Party); give one group some privileges so | |

| |they remain obedient (Outer Party), keep Proles | |

| |working hard | |

|Rations/poor |Control goods |Consider minimum wage, Fast Food Nation, reduction in support for food, school|

|substitutes/shortages |Stop progress |support programs, Medicaid…vs. tax cuts for the very wealthy and corporations |

| |Maintains class system | |

|Lottery and cheap entertainment |Control emotions |Got ’em all. |

|(sports, porn, etc) |To keep people ignorant | |

| |Keeps people (proles) happy (or at least thinking | |

| |they are) & distracted | |

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