ive just read the book (1984) and my ex and i are having a discussion about it as well as one of my teachers, they think that it is a scary book and that the society portrayed is terrible and oppressive, but i find myself with the opinion that it is a great idea and truly the ideal society.

In the book you have no set social pattern there are the proles the party members and the inner party members but this is not dictated by birthright or money, instead by the abilities of the people, as well no one goes hungry and everyone has a purpose and a goal you work for the party because you love the party and those you do not love the party are absolutely reformed so that they do.

Does anyone want to get into a discussion about this here bringing up more argument for either side and/or strenghtening/refuting arguments

all i know is that it's an utterly superb book and my 50th anniversary edition is the most beautiful piece of print ever created.

Why must you talk crap acid_kewpie? (No offence intended)

no my friends moms collectors edition of Atlas Shrugged must be prettier i am absolutely sure...im afraid to touch its...

now now there'll be no throwing of shovels in the sandbox... =) although, I would like to throw my hard bound edition of 1984 at GW but what a waste of an indeed superb piece of lit. As for the first post I think Ayn Rand does a better job of illustrating the problems that arise in socialist form of government. Yes if things like fear and greed didn't exist I think we could all live in that type of society and not have to worry about who's watching but as we are today (humans that is) not only would we have to worry about the watchers and who's watching the watchers but also who's watching them.... but that's just my opinion

GW=George W. Bush?

Why would you like to throw a book at him? Are you against freedom?

YEAH. You should throw a brick with nails sticking out of it at him.

I havent read 1984 yet but I have seen the spoof movie of it, Brazil. I was wanting something to read so if i can find a copy of it in my house I will give it a read.

hehe Another fan of the President.

hmm... is this a example of double-think?
clearly, the book points out the bad aspects of the society, but you clearly ignored them for the good of the society.

BTW, getting enough to 'survive' on isn't necessarilly living in prosperity.

if you're going to throw something at that man then consider zoloft or a dictionary, encyclopedia, thesaurus, a clue

Anyone who doesn't like Bush is a terrorist

So, uh, I saw Brazil, anyone seen Brazil AND read this book? If so, would you suggest reading the book after seeing the movie as a comparison? I don't read many books (get bored too quickly) but if it's interesting enough, I'll read it. However, Brazil was along the lines of wierdness that Clockwork Orange set for me. Odd movies...

Cool

no subsistence is not everything, but the society gives you a purpose, in fact it gives you everything that you could need subsistence is just something that is not available to everyone in the world in 1984 everyone has a purpose they have a place they have a way of living, values are set and need not be developed and no one needs to think, people are safe and they are happy, they love their government because they know nothing else and if they somehow do not they are quickly taught to love their government is there any large flaw in this? everyone is happy everyone is healthy

You aren't living an authentic life. It's meaningless. You have to lie to yourself thousands of times a day. You can't think for yourself. Nothing is beautiful.

Funny you should say this, since Orwell wrote the book as a rather dark and sinister warning against socialism and communism, not in support of it. It seems to me that you are only scratching the surface and trying to be a weekend radical. Only thing I can say is...

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?

How can you think that an ideal political system is one which the government has the write to kill you and erase every single proof of your existence as it sees fit, constantly changes periodicals and history (In the former soviet union, it was punishable to keep periodicals on record for more than one year) to keep the people focused on the cause and... most importantly, did you read this book to the end? I recall the part where he says to the main character, "It is a society based on hate, fueled by hatered for the fellow man."

Ideal system indeed.

But... you are touching on a very good concept you should explore, and that is society giving the individual a purpose. I suggest you read Royce's (Josiah Royce, not Rolls Royce) Philosophy of Loyalty , which deals with the loyalties one holds, and why they are important.

But, as it stands, society already gives you a purpose. Although you may not feel that you do much as an individual, the collective of individual actions is what drive society.

As Far as 1984's society is concearned, I like to be my own person, thank you very much. To make my own decisions on what I want to do, to be whoever I want to be, to decide how I want to dress, to love whoever I want to love, and to sin when I want to sin.