Nineteen Eighty-four

[trolls' bane]

Okay, I'm not sure if this is or isn't SciFi/Fantasy, but as the book was not written for that to be the major theme, I'll just err on the side of caution.

Well, I've never been good at opening arguments, so I'm going to jump right in with this question:
If, for instance, a child of a party member had thought-criminal thoughts, would the party treat them the same as an adult or do you think they would "rehabilitate" them in other ways, being that they are young with thoughts easily molded.

[Alcuin]

I don’t know. Why don’t you ask a student at Columbia University in New York City what happens when you say something the Thought Police dislike? (Click here to find out what happened when the president of the anti-illegal immigration group Minutemen was invited to speak: be sure to watch the video, and pay particular attention to the campus police, who do absolutely nothing: which side should we suppose the University supports, regardless of what it may say to unhappy alumni and donors?) They have considerable experience in shutting down the wayward children of Party Members. I believe that current punishments range from shouting down to ostracizing to beating.

This is now the pinnacle of American Intellectualism. Little wonder the United States cannot come to a national consensus on anything: there is one side in the debate that seeks to shut down, silence, criminalize, and terrorize those who dare to disagree with them, and violence is a perfectly legitimate tool for them. Their actions are officially but quietly sanctioned by large segments of society in the United States, the United Kingdom, and across Europe, while their antics and destruction are deliberately obfuscated by journalists and editors who sympathize with them: the video would certainly not be available without the internet, and reports of the riot at Columbia would have been vilified both by University officials and the people who perpetrated it as nothing but malicious slander.

Do not ask how would the party react to a wayward child in 1984, troll’s bane. Ask how they react in 2006 – in universities, public schools, and the press, and you will begin to form a reasonable answer. (And only 22 years behind George Orwell’s original timeline!)

[Spock]

Actually this book is Science Fiction and should be moved to that section.

[Spock]

Originally Posted by Alcuin

I don’t know. Why don’t you ask a student at Columbia University in New York City !)

Columbia has been taken over more times than Cuba. A conservative should know better than to go into 'indian territory'

[brownjenkins]

I think they'd try to rehabilitate anyone, but in the case of a child, they probably would not execute the child after rehab, as they would with an adult.

[Alcuin]

Originally Posted by Spock

Columbia has been taken over more times than Cuba. A conservative should know better than to go into 'indian territory'

Well, it puts the lie to idea that Columbia is providing its students a “liberal education.”

Or are you saying that Columbia University is an example of Gresham’s Law at work: “The Bad drives out the Good?” That is a theme of 1984, is it not?

[trolls' bane]

I love this green entmoot banner and its incredible shades of blue.

I'm sorry, but I'm afraid to click that link. It's not you, it's just that every time I open a page with a video on it, my computer freezes.

[Spock]

Originally Posted by Alcuin

Well, it puts the lie to idea that Columbia is providing its students a “liberal education.”

Or are you saying that Columbia University is an example of Gresham’s Law at work: “The Bad drives out the Good?” That is a theme of 1984, is it not?

Both actually.

[Bran]

Sweet. 1984 was actually the last book I read and I was near to starting a thread on which to discuss it.

I don't know what they would do with a child. It's a really disturbing thought, as I'm sure it wouldn't be nice. What I wonder though, is how likely it would be for them to catch a child commiting Thought-crime. Like Troll'sBane mentioned, children's minds a very easily molded and wouldn't be as likely to resist the programing the citizens of the Party recieve. Which it felt to me the author thought, also, as it seemed almost as if the children were some of the most fanatical.

*Spoiler Warning*
It was a horrifying read, to say the least, and the book had a very emotional effect on me. Standing by while and watching while O'Brian slowly broke Winston was excrutiatingly painful. The idea of someone being able to reach into another persons mind and re-wire them to the point of betraying their own identity; their reasoning, their ideals and even their love was such a saddening thought.

George Orwell clearly understood better then many of us how bad it could really get if we don't hold fast to our freedom, and he's got me on my toes, I can tell you.

P.S. By the way, how do you hide spoilers like I've seen done on others posts? I couldn't seem to find how to make the backround go gray in order to hide the writing. I'd appreciate knowing how if anyone can tell me?