In Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell described a superstate called Oceania, whose language of war inverted lies that “passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past', ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past'.”
Barack Obama is the leader of a contemporary Oceania. In two speeches at the close of the decade, the Nobel Peace Prize winner affirmed that peace was no longer peace, but rather a permanent war that “extends well beyond Afghanistan and Pakistan” to “disorderly regions and diffuse enemies”. He called this “global security” and invited our gratitude. To the people of Afghanistan, which America has invaded and occupied, he said wittily: “We have no interest in occupying your country.”
In Oceania, truth and lies are indivisible.
Phi Beta Iota: John Pilger is one of the most renowned investigative journalists in the English language. His books include:
Review: The New Rulers of the World
Review: Freedom Next Time: Resisting the Empire
Review: Tell Me No Lies: Investigative Journalism That Changed the World
See also: Graphic: Information Pathologies
