In 1949, George Orwell wrote one of the greatest dystopian novels ever written, “Nineteen Eighty-Four”. It was a prediction of the consequences of “totalitarianism, mass repression, and repressive regimentation” on society. It got me wondering what Orwell would write if he were alive today.
Twenty Thirty-Four
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were fifteen minutes fast to accommodate the Supreme Leader’s morning tweets.
Winston Covfefe, his hands chapped from factory-clapping at last night’s televised Loyalty Gala, slipped quietly into the Ministry of Truthiness. He kept his MAGA visor pulled low, his face bearing the same flat, vaguely terrified expression as every other worker trudging across the red-and-gold plaza.
The Ministry of Truthiness—one of the four sprawling Ministries in the United States of Trumpland—rose windowless and unyielding, its front crowned by a colossal golden bust of the Leader. From every speaker, every screen, every smart fridge, the Leader’s voice boomed on a continuous loop:
“FAKE NEWS IS TREASON.”
In Trumpland, Newspeak had evolved. Words were made simple—bigly simple. Everything was either perfect or nasty, real or fake, patriotic or Antifa. The vocabulary shrank daily, trimmed down by the Bureau of Wordstuff. Complex thoughts were now ThoughtCrimes, punishable by cancellation, trial-by-Fox, or, worst of all, banishment to CNN.
Winston, a mid-level Rewriter in the Ministry, spent his days adjusting old records to match whatever the Leader had claimed five minutes prior. Yesterday: “I never said inject bleach.”Today’s edit: “The Leader discovered sunlight therapy, revolutionary genius.”
He did not question it aloud and scarcely dared question it in his own mind.