6 Posts found for Author: George Packer

The will to power still passes through hatred on the right and virtue on the left.

Author: George Packer | Source: The Atlantic | Subjects: Concepts, Politics & Public Policy, Power, Psychology | Behavior

Orthodoxy is also enforced by social pressure, nowhere more intensely than on Twitter, where the specter of being shamed or “canceled” produces conformity as much as the prospect of adding to your tribe of followers does. This pressure can be more powerful than a party or state, because it speaks in the name of the people and in the language of moral outrage, against which … [ Read more ]

Author: George Packer | Source: The Atlantic | Subjects: Life & Society, Social Media

We are living with a new kind of regime that didn’t exist in Orwell’s time. It combines hard nationalism—the diversion of frustration and cynicism into xenophobia and hatred—with soft distraction and confusion: a blend of Orwell and Huxley, cruelty and entertainment. The state of mind that the Party enforces through terror in 1984, where truth becomes so unstable that it ceases to exist, we now … [ Read more ]

Author: George Packer | Source: The Atlantic | Subjects: Concepts, Information, Life & Society, Politics & Public Policy

Unfreedom today is voluntary. It comes from the bottom up.

Author: George Packer | Source: The Atlantic | Subjects: Concepts, Freedom | Liberty, Life & Society

Orwell never intended his novel to be a prediction, only a warning. And it’s as a warning that 1984 keeps finding new relevance.

Author: George Packer | Source: The Atlantic | Subjects: Life & Society, Literature | Arts, Politics & Public Policy

Orwell never intended his novel to be a prediction, only a warning. And it’s as a warning that 1984 keeps finding new relevance.

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Unfreedom today is voluntary. It comes from the bottom up.

[…]

We are living with a new kind of regime that didn’t exist in Orwell’s time. It combines hard nationalism—the diversion of frustration and cynicism into xenophobia and hatred—with soft distraction and confusion: … [ Read more ]

Author: George Packer | Source: The Atlantic (June 8, 2019) | Subjects: Excerpts, Life & Society, Literature | Arts, Politics & Public Policy