Jerome Whelan
December 25th 07, 08:31 PM
safeguard of sanity, and so far as the ruling classes were concerned it was
probably the most important of all safeguards. While wars could be won or
lost, no ruling class could be completely irresponsible.
But when war becomes literally continuous, it also ceases to be
dangerous. When war is continuous there is no such thing as military
necessity. Technical progress can cease and the most palpable facts can be
denied or disregarded. As we have seen, researches that could be called
scientific are still carried out for the purposes of war, but they are
essentially a kind of daydreaming, and their failure to show results is not
important. Efficiency, even military efficiency, is no longer needed.
Nothing is efficient in Oceania except the Thought Police. Since each of
the three super-states is unconquerable, each is in effect a separate
universe within which almost any perversion of thought can be safely
practised. Reality only exerts its pressure through the needs of everyday
life -- the need to eat and drink, to get shelter and clothing, to avoid
swallowing poison or stepping out of top-storey windows, and the like.
Between life and death, and between physical pleasure and physical pain,
there is still a distinctio
probably the most important of all safeguards. While wars could be won or
lost, no ruling class could be completely irresponsible.
But when war becomes literally continuous, it also ceases to be
dangerous. When war is continuous there is no such thing as military
necessity. Technical progress can cease and the most palpable facts can be
denied or disregarded. As we have seen, researches that could be called
scientific are still carried out for the purposes of war, but they are
essentially a kind of daydreaming, and their failure to show results is not
important. Efficiency, even military efficiency, is no longer needed.
Nothing is efficient in Oceania except the Thought Police. Since each of
the three super-states is unconquerable, each is in effect a separate
universe within which almost any perversion of thought can be safely
practised. Reality only exerts its pressure through the needs of everyday
life -- the need to eat and drink, to get shelter and clothing, to avoid
swallowing poison or stepping out of top-storey windows, and the like.
Between life and death, and between physical pleasure and physical pain,
there is still a distinctio