To: TobagoJack who wrote (23509 ) 10/5/2007 3:54:24 PM From: Maurice Winn Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 217808 It does seem odd that the country which most beats its chest about freedom is increasingly repressively Orwellian with Big Brother everywhere and has high taxes to boot. The Libertarian vote in the USA is near zero. Review of "1984": <The three slogans of the Party, on display everywhere, are * WAR IS PEACE * FREEDOM IS SLAVERY * IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH Each of these is of course either contradictory or the opposite of what is normally believed, and in 1984, the world is in a state of constant war, no one is free, and everyone is ignorant. The slogans are analysed in Goldstein's book. Though logically insensible, the slogans do embody the Party. If anybody (like Winston) becomes too smart, they are whisked away for fear of rebellion. Through their constant repetition, the terms become meaningless, and the slogans become axiomatic. This type of misuse of language, and the deliberate self-deception with which the citizens are encouraged to accept it, is called doublethink. One essential consequence of doublethink is that the Party can rewrite history with impunity, for "The Party is never wrong." The ultimate aim of the Party is, according to O'Brien, to gain and retain full power over all the people of Oceania; he sums this up with perhaps the most distressing prophecy of the entire novel: If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human faceāfor ever. > New Zealand is worse though. We also have apartheid which is ironic since NZ led campaigns against apartheid in South Africa and Rhodesia - it was better with apartheid and colonial rule since democracy does not always, or even usually, give good outcomes. In NZ, non-Maoris are still allowed to vote, but they are second class citizens, with Maoris having more rights, special government payments and favouritism, with special electoral privileges. NZ also has a debt level to make the USA look amateurish, with the productive fleeing in droves, taxes burgeoning, repression being legislated daily. The Libertarian vote in NZ is nearer zero than in the USA. Those who stay are more and more dependent on the government for their cash flow, so they of course vote for more of it. Voting yourself more money is the bludger mentality of New Zealand now. Bludgers were once pariahs. Now they are the norm. Confusing democracy with freedom is a mistake. Being subject to mob rule is far from freedom. Adolf won his election. Hamas won their election. Robert Mugabe won his. Mqurice