Nov 30, 2017 2 min read

The fear of George Orwell’s cautionary tale of totalitarianism, “1984,” was brought to our attention by Dave Ball, vice chairman of the Washington County Republican Party, in an Observer-Reporter Sunday commentary.

Ball’s commentary speaks to Orwell’s concepts of “Newspeak,” “Doublethink, and “Thought Police” used to erode democracy. Social media is the Newspeak of today which, as Ball points out, limits expression and thought. Yet this is the prime link that President Trump uses to speak to the American people.

Doublethink is common with the current administration, with the use of such phrases as “fake news” or “alternative facts.” Changing Federal Communications Commission rules to allow one company to own newspapers, radios, and televisions in a given area sure sounds like thought policing, not to mention that the proposed FCC rules to eliminate net neutrality will only permit free thought to those who can pay.

These are not liberal thoughts, as Ball suggests, nor are they conservative values. These are the agents of totalitarianism courtesy of the current administration, complicit members of Congress, and local supporters of these concepts.

Jon Volkwein

Canonsburg