1984 - Two Minutes' Hate

In its second minute the Hate rose to a frenzy. People were leaping up and down in their places and shouting at the tops of their voices in an effort to drown the maddening bleating voice that came from the screen. The little sandy-haired woman had turned bright pink, and her mouth was opening and shutting like that of a landed fish. Even O'Brien's heavy face was flushed...The dark-haired girl behind Winston had begun crying out "Swine! Swine! Swine!" and suddenly she picked up a heavy Newspeak dictionary and flung it at the screen.
~ from 1984 by George Orwell ~

Early in the book we are introduced to the telescreen which broadcasts information from The Party throughout the land. One of the daily broadcasts is the Two Minutes' Hate which is described by Wikipedia as thus:

The Two Minutes' Hate is a daily period in which Party members of the society of Oceania must watch a film depicting The Party's enemies and express their hatred for them.

Is this that much different than what we've seen in the US over the last decade? During this time, our government (in conjunction with the mainstream media) released numerous videos of Public Enemy Number One: Osama bin Laden. Each release caused many in the US to behave just like the sandy-haired woman, O'Brien and the dark-haired girl.

Anytime the public's attention seemed to wane from this lockstep hatred of bin Laden, a new video would surface and the public reaction would begin anew. As America convulsed at his sight, we handed more and more power to our version of The Party, the oligarchs running our country.

Where I see a difference between Orwell's vision and our reality is that the hate isn't confined to one enemy and it spans more than two minutes per day. At various times, Saddam Hussein, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Kim Jong-il, the Palestinians, and now Muammar Gaddafi have been showcased as the prime enemy. The expression of such hatred is pervasive throughout our society.

A step below government are the conservative demagogues. They have their own list of chief enemies: Muslims, Latinos, Blacks, Atheists/Secularists, Homosexuals, Abortion Providers, Environmentalists, Socialists and the poor, in general. Their followers tend to foam at the mouth at the mere mention of any of these groups.

For Orwell, it was two minutes of hate per day. In modern America, it is a 24-hour avocation!

This series of posts based on George Orwell's novel, 1984, will be rather avant-garde. My focus will not be to explain Orwell's premises or what HE meant -- it is more about what his prose stirs in me., often in relation to the way I view the world today. Some of my observations may fall in line with Orwell's intent, but others will go off in a wholly different direction. To read my intro to this series, go here.