2013/1984, Part 4

Trey Smith

In the book, Nineteen Eighty-Four, the Inner Party ("Big Brother") controls the nation and its people through four ministries which promote the precise opposite of their names. (doublespeak). For this post, I will discuss the Ministry of Peace and the following three posts will deal with the others.

The Ministry of Peace is all about war just like the US Department of Defense over the last generation or two has been all about offense. Neither agency is interested in a state of no war because armed conflict serves the elite so well. It means fabulous riches for the few and is used to justify mass surveillance of the many. If there is any peace involved, it is the peace of mind of the military-intelligence-industrial complex as they rob the public treasury blind and few of their underlings even notice!

If we look at history, imperialistic powers need war in order to grow. Imperialism is built upon the foundation of expropriating the natural resources and people of nation-states who are far weaker than the imperialists. An imperialistic power like the US first will try economically to blackmail the elite of the target country. If this gambit works for a while, then the US is able to gobble up resources without going to war. In time, however, as the US demands a larger stake, even the most compliant nations begin to bristle. Consequently, in the name of protecting our "national interests," we extract what we want by force.

In the old days, the political elite required the acquiescence of the masses. They were able to receive the big thumbs up from the public by demonizing any nation with the temerity to get in the way of the machinations of the US elite. These days, unfortunately, the Executive Branch has grown so powerful that they basically have foregone this charade. Now, they simply announce their decision (Libya) or they don't even bother to inform the public what they are up to (Somalia, Yemen and who knows where else).

In essence, peace is one of the biggest enemies of the US elite. They will do everything possible to keep it from breaking out. Peace would turn off the golden spigot and force corporations to innovate for the public good.