Seth Leibsohn: Make Orwell Fiction Again

Before he wrote his classic novel, 1984, George Orwell wrote an essay where he put it that political speech was increasingly becoming distorted so as to “defend the indefensible;” and used to support that which, in its clear and obvious meaning, would never be supported. We see this everywhere now:  killing an unborn child today is “reproductive rights” the effort to change person’s sex is labeled “gender affirmation” violence is “mostly peaceful” Peaceful and patriotic marching is “insurrection” and: freedom of speech is purportedly protected by “disinformation governance boards.” Once you take away the ordinary meaning of things, once you distort clear language or a phrase for its opposite, Orwell warned, you can convince people of things that would otherwise never support. That’s how an unborn child became a “fetus” after all.  Orwell opened his famous novel instructing that war is peace and slavery is freedom.  It’s all around us now, which is why we have a saying here: MOFA—Make Orwell Fiction Again. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.