Censorship In 1984

Moderation of expression, a significant part in 1984’s government, “Ingsoc”, plays a key element in America’s division. The “Ministry of Truth” is a branch of Ingsoc’s government that acts with controlling the Thought Police, and they censor the world’s history as well. They also use technology such as the “telescreen” to see and hear everywhere in the country. If a citizen is caught acting in “Thought Crime”, that criminal is rehabilitated through brainwashing in the mockingly named “Ministry of Love” (Orwell 2-4). Similar to Ingsoc’s “Ministry of Truth”, the United States has its own federal spying organization. The National Security Agency of America holds an unfathomable collection of info, and they even have a say in what the media includes

The censorship performed by the NSA is non-existent, but it appears in America in another form. The term of being “politically correct” as defined by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary is the exclusion of expression that can be perceived as offending an oppressed group (“Politically Correct””, Merriam-Webster). University of Toronto Psychology professor Dr. Jordan B. Peterson holds immense importance in the rejection of political correctness. At the beginning of the year, he was invited to Queen’s Law School to debate. Peterson states when discussing hateful individuals, “You want that out in the air, so that people can hear it. You wanna drive the people who hate underground? We know what happens psychologically when you do that. It’s a very bad idea. Anything you drive underground thrives” (Peterson). It is hugely significant for people, especially mentally troubled people, to speak their minds no matter how hateful they are. No logical person would take a crazy person’s hateful statements as valid arguments. The act of letting hateful people speak is a very useful tool for diagnosing and identifying these types of individuals so that they can be helped. Silencing someone’s hateful opinions only divides the two opposing individuals. Peterson sees this divide in the left and right dichotomy. Everything that both sides are opposed to is taken on a more personal level the

Much of this opposition is seen through the left and right’s different opinions on racism in America. The left generally believes in systematic oppression to minorities. The right generally believes that there is no systematic oppression. America’s increased knowledge of events across the nation makes most citizens think the world is worse than it actually is. This dramatic view of the world is understandable, because technology will inevitably advance communication further in the future which allows people to be exposed to more negative events. As the left and right are composed of equally intolerant individuals, having no opposition to their beliefs is dangerous. They will think they are correct, and they will give tons of evidence to support their arguments. When approaching the issue of racism in America, both sides need to realize it is important to fix racism through a solution in support of everybody instead of one particular group. What Martin Luther King Jr. said during the civil rights movement is just as important today as it was back then. Even the left, which uses problems of racism to advance themselves, has forgotten the importance of Martin Luther’s fight. He once famously said in his “I Have A Dream” speech, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” (King