1984 in 2007

I'm currently reading 1984 by George Orwell. It's a brilliant book throughout but I just came to one of those sections that you only find in the truly great books that shocked me enough to make me put it down. Here it is:



"And in the general hardening of outlook that set in round 1930, practices which had been long abandoned, in some cases for hundreds of years - imprisonment without trial, the use of war prisoners as slaves, public executions, torture to extract confessions, use of hostages and the deportation of whole populations - not only became common again, but were tolerated and even defended by people who considered themselves enlightened and progressive."


He's describing the move towards the new, totalitarian states that rule his vision of a dystopia. The really scary thing is that, while reading that list, you can hardly help but think of the American Government and their war against terror.


I wonder if the Bush administration will be able to complete the list before leaving power.