Post your "1984"-like sayings here! "WAR IS PEACE"

[LearnedHand]

(Got this idea from another discussion.)

Protesting in restricted Free-Speech zones is freedom of assembly.
Spending more is saving.

[Goldstein1984]

1. Status quo is change

[LearnedHand]

8. Good one!

:thumbsup:

[LearnedHand]

2. Come on, DUers (self-serving kick)

This is the smartest, funniest, most insightful group of people I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Let's give "1994" a shot in the arm and a 21st century update!

Democratic is Republican
Letting health insurance companies run access to health care is healthcare reform

[Generic Other]

39. I hope my Orwell poster is appropriate (I made it from old "1984" covers)

I think one of my better digital artworks.

[LearnedHand]

42. OMG! minus doubleplusungood!

May I save your image down? It's excellent.

[Generic Other]

46. This is the first image i ever posted on DU

Please feel free to use it. Really cool people like SwampRat and Symbolman on DU are who first gave me the courage to post my art online. In a way they created a monster!! I haven't stopped being obnoxious since!

[LearnedHand]

48. LOL! You have every right to be obnoxious

That image is wonderful. Downloading in 3 ... 2 ... 1

[CTyankee]

108. You are very talented. I like this a lot and think it is memorable! nt

[gleaner]

111. I'm going to steal this one from the ...

Viet Nam era. We must destroy the village in order to save it.

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. "Education reform".

Shorthand for privatization ( which is itself shorthand for "looting"), union-busting, politicization of public education, exacerbating existing patterns of corruption ( contract rigging, nepotism, favoritism, etc) and adding whole *new* patterns ( e.g. test-score fraud, etc.).

A brave new world , indeed. Too bad our own party is snake-oil selling this tripe.

[LWolf]

105. +1,000 nt

[The2ndWheel]

4. Stop climate change by changing the climate

[Greyhound]

5. "War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere,

or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent."

This and the "boot stomping on a human face, forever" seems most appropriate to me.
:kick: & R

[LearnedHand]

10. (Gulp) Wow. That's powerful

Who's it a quote from?

[Greyhound]

24. George Orwell, 1984.

Written, of course, in 1948.

He and quite a few others have been trying to warn us for a very long time.

[LearnedHand]

28. Oh. Duh.

I need to re-read it sooner than I thought. Thx for the quote.

[Wilms]

6. Universal Insurance Premiums n/t

[alfredo]

7. Compassionate Conservative -- Transfer Tubes

[Fumesucker]

9. Mandated private insurance is health care reform..

[LearnedHand]

11. word nt

[leftstreet]

15. "Healthy Forests" meet "Healthy Citizens"

Because "The Insurance Pharmaceutical Profit Protection Act" is just too hard to remember.

[Name removed]

63. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[The Gunslinger]

98. FTW

[The Gunslinger]

100. delete

[ismnotwasm]

12. "Ignorance is strength"

I'll have you know I just knocked over about 10 books to get to this one, and now I'm gonna have to reread it.

[LearnedHand]

14. You can also read it online at Project Gutenberg

It's on my to-read list this year, too. I started re-reading it during the Bush* administration but was too overcome with grief to finish it. WAY too relevant.

[ismnotwasm]

17. Exactly!

That's why it was kind of hidden I think. I started to re-read it and stopped. I'm going to get Brave New World as well.

[Greyhound]

26. Today, it's like reading a political instruction manual. Every technique Orwell

used in the book is happening today and few even recognize it.

[LearnedHand]

30. Courtesy of Rove, and Lee Atwater before him

And "1984" should be required reading in school now.

[Goldstein1984]

13. Imposing democracy is democratic.

Opposing socialist democracy is democratic

[LearnedHand]

16. "Fighting Iraqis and Afghanis is freeing them"

[Goldstein1984]

19. Killing to win hearts and minds.

That way, you can collect them like trophies in jars.

[Goldstein1984]

18. Killing children while protecting "vital national interests"

isn't murder.

Short version: Infanticide is security.

[LearnedHand]

20. THIS DISCUSSION = EXPOSING HOW WE ARE CONTROLLED BY LANGUAGE

Sorry for the caps. Just wanted to make an important point about my silly OP.

On edit: Changed the subject line for clarity and brevity.

[KittyWampus]

49. it's a fun topic, for me. Stuff we do automatically that we seldom really analyze

[Goldstein1984]

59. And how we use language to control others

Our thoughts are limited by the language we use to form and express them.

And language is used to limit our options by defining them with labels. Witness how the Conservative shouts "socialist!" anytime they want to discredit an idea, and the way DUers shout "Teabagger" when they want to do the same.

Participating on DU is becoming more of a sociological than a political exercise.

I locked onto the same idea, and I've been reading some linguistics books by Stephen Pinker and S.I. Hayakawa to sort through it.

No epiphanies yet.

[LearnedHand]

62. It's more than linguistics

It's language as framer of a reality, and I'm intensely interested in it. Lackoff probably was getting at some of it, but his stuff was too light-weight for me. It's more than just a Strict Father/Nurturing Parent mindset or world model. And by "more," I mean more powerful, more active rather than passive, more dangerous and insidious if misused. That's why I think Orwell caught the idea much much more closely.

[Goldstein1984]

73. Linguistics is much more than vocabulary and grammar

It does include the way a culture is defined and constrained by language. Note that every generation develops it's own vocabulary to distinguish itself from others. Orwell was discussing exactly this when he developed the concept of Newspeak as a way of using a limited vocabulary to limit thought, and limited thought to limit free will and action.

Another DUer and I were discussing starting a thread on linguistics. I'm behind on my preparation for that, but I still think it would be a great idea. It even occurs to me that one could write a PhD dissertation on the dialog on DU from a linguistic perspective.

Do you have any recommending reading on this topic?

[LearnedHand]

77. True, true. A thread -- or even group, maybe -- on linguistics would be wonderful

I read a couple of excellent books back in the 1990s on a much-more scientific view of framing than Lackoff addresses. I can't remember their names, but I'll try to dig up the books and post their names. Maybe they were part of the transhuman reading list? Can't remember. I really haven't found many things that address the enormous power of language-framing, and I totally agree that it's worthy of a PhD dissertation. I'm currently reading "Legacy of Ashes," a history of the CIA, and that agency alone spent (and spends) billions of dollars in controlling perceptions through print and broadcast media. That alone should tell us that those who do NOT have the goodwill of the little people in mind CERTAINLY know the power of language and how it is framed. All the more reason to pay close attention to it.

[Goldstein1984]

85. Just added "Legacy of Ashes" to my wish list. Thanks

Let's develop this idea more.

The other DUer interested in linguistics was nadinbrzezinski.

[11 Bravo]

21. Beck is sane.

[LearnedHand]

22. Oh, PUKE

:puke:

Or, "Beck is the voice of reason."

[jpak]

23. Obama is Bush!

:hide:

[LearnedHand]

25. ouch!

[discocrisco01]

27. In Reality

In reality, some of Obama policies are still like Bushes. Especially with policy in Af-Pak.

[Speck Tater]

29. Ketchup is a vegetable. nt

[LearnedHand]

31. LOL

:freak:

[laughingliberal]

32. Qutting = Taking Initiative ~Palin nt

[LearnedHand]

33. Seeing Russia from your kitchen window = strong on defense

[laughingliberal]

36. ROFL!! nt

[denem]

112. Winner!!

[Goldstein1984]

34. Uh-oh. They've found you.

That sound you hear is a big Pseudo-Left boot kicking down your door.

The champions of the status quo are unreccing you into oblivion.

When they don't like what they read, they use unrecs the way fascists use kerosene and matches.

It's like they read "Fahrenheit 451" and thought it was a utopian instruction manual.

Here's a few more for the collection as it slowly descends into the DU incinerator of unpopular ideas:

Censorship promotes freedom of expression.

Freedom of expression includes the freedom to oppress.

A nation born in dissent cannot survive dissent.

Liberty cannot endure the vacuum that exists in the closed mind.

When someone champions freedom, they usually mean just their own.

Dissent is okay, as long as we all agree.

[LearnedHand]

37. Unrecs? Meh. I didn't notice. OTOH, your 1984-isms are

EXCELLENT! Especially "Censorship promotes freedom of expression." :thumbsup:

[Goldstein1984]

53. I don't pay attention to the unrecs either.

It's just interesting to see how they are used and what DUers show up in the strings below OPs hit hard by unrecs.

I do wonder if using unrecs for censorship generates cognitive dissonance in people professing democratic ideals.

I just throw my thoughts out there and enjoy that portion of the replies I consider worthwhile until the OP sinks or I lose interest. It's always the same DUers saying the same things.

When I first started posting, another DUer sent me a pm with a list of "Fascist DUers." The list has turned out to be very accurate. A couple of them have been kicked out of DU since then.

DU is as interesting sociologically as it is politically. In fact, I think at this point it's more interesting sociologically than politically.

[LearnedHand]

56. I totally agree

I'm much more interested to see what the clever DUers come up with. And believe me: This is the MOST INTELLIGENT, FUNNIEST, MOST SPOT-ON INSIGHTFUL forum I've ever read. (Warts and all.) This place has been a safe haven for me since I joined early in 2003 (lurked before that).

I figure the unreccers are the same people who pulled wedgies on the playground and then run like hell. Who cares?

[Goldstein1984]

76. That's funny. One of my responses to the playground bullies was

"Is this the part where we insult each other's mothers, say "I'm rubber and you're glue...", and then run to our own areas of the playground?"

Agreed, though, that DUers, warts and all, are a great group. I very much value those among us who come to the rescue when the hyenas are circling for a kill. The worst of DU are still good people. I try to respond cordially even to I think won't appreciate it. Sometimes I just walk away. And I've resolved never to use an unrec or return insult for insult.

I've been here only a month, and I'm having a blast.

[LearnedHand]

78. Wow. Just one month!

By all means, keep posting. I'm enjoying your line of thinking.

[Goldstein1984]

86. I plan to. My line of thinking is developing with all the great

feedback I receive. It's also nice when someone else captures just the perfect collection and arrangement of words to express what I have been struggling to express.

Thanks for the conversation.

We should pursue the linguistics subject.

[Political Heretic]

88. .

[Political Heretic]

89. edit - apparently way too tired today.

[laughingliberal]

38. "Dissent is okay, as long as we all agree."

That was great. Sounds like a lot of posts I read, too.

[Texasgal]

35. "where's the beef?"

LOL!

[LearnedHand]

40. "Power of love is love of power"

from your sigline :evilgrin:

[robdogbucky]

41. Ripped from the headlines.....

"...former New York City mayor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, stated that “we had no domestic attacks under Bush; we’ve had one under Obama.”


Also upthread there was one regarding the "privatizing of education," and the Charter school movement. Don't forget the main promoters of that scheme are the fundies and racists, whose aims are to obliterate separation of church and state and to undo the Great Society.

Many, many neologisms from the dystopian tome by Orwell to replicate and/or emulate in contemporary events.

Cover ban, all-volunteer army, representative democracy, freedomworks, etc., and whatever company that has posted that ad on DU that insults the thought of real healthcare reform by comparing doctor's waiting rooms and long lines at some DMV. Must not be too savvy, as in my state the DMV is largely serving on line now.



Just my dos centavos


robdogbucky

[LearnedHand]

44. Ya just can't beat reality

I once used a real-to-life scene in a short story. My creative writing teacher said it was just too unbelievable. I said, "But I actually SAW this place. I was there!" He said that didn't make it believable.

[Greyhound]

55. "Who controls the past controls the future.

Who controls the present controls the past."

Just to keep in line with the theme.
:hi:

[branders seine]

43. Despair Is Hope

Tyranny Is Democracy

[LearnedHand]

45. Or even, "democracy is freedom"

too sad

[KittyWampus]

47. posting on DU is activism.

[LearnedHand]

50. Oooh, ouch. That hurts! The hit dog barks, right?

[TomClash]

51. "Fight them over there so you won't have to fight them here" nt

[Cleita]

52. "They hate us for our freedoms," or so said GWB. n/t

[LearnedHand]

54. Anti-abortion is pro life

[NoPasaran]

57. "Unrec is fascism!"

[LearnedHand]

64. LOL. More like "unrec is juvenile"

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

81. "Unrec is recommended"

Unrec everything!

:hi:

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

82. Insurance is Health Care

Healthy for insurance executives.

:hi:

[David Zephyr]

58. The War on Drugs, The War on Terror...

.

[StarfarerBill]

60. "We had to destroy it in order to save it."

Viet Nam War-era, but it still seems to be being applied today.

[LearnedHand]

61. Yep. It's the US's "defense" policy, don't ya know

[undeterred]

65. Torture is "enhanced interrogation".

[LearnedHand]

67. Or, "Enhanced interrogation isn't torture"

[Kltpzyxm]

66. Progressiveness is Teabagging (nt)

[LearnedHand]

68. ??? Not sure I get that one

But welcome to DU! :hi:

[Kltpzyxm]

71. Thanks for the welcome

Guess it wasn't that good if it needs to be explained.

You know : those who say that the far left (which is always those slightly more left than them) is the same as the far right, because it's all a big circle.

For example, another thread I saw earlier, where peace activists were compared to teabaggers.

Anyway, great thread.

:beer:

[LearnedHand]

72. Ah, of course. Sorry for my thickness!

Good point! :toast:

[Jack Rabbit]

69. Imperialism is Liberation

[LearnedHand]

70. BEST ONE so far!

Good job!

[Jack Rabbit]

74. I've been using since the run up to the war against Iraq

!!

[Union Yes]

75. 'Right to work'(FOR LESS) knr nt

[LearnedHand]

79. Oh, for SURE! The ability for employers to fire you at any time for any reason = right to work

I live in one of those states!

[LearnedHand]

80. HAVA is voter reform

Help America Vote Act :puke:

[hack89]

83. Jumbo shrimp. nt

[bananas]

84. Toxic Waste is Good For You

Toxic Sludge is Good For You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry
http://prwatch.org/
http://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Sludge-Good-You-Relations/dp/1567510604

[mix]

87. "We had no domestic attacks under Bush..." -- Giuliani, 1/8/10

[Political Heretic]

90. The Rich create wealth.

[Political Heretic]

91. Wall Street is Main Street

[Political Heretic]

92. War on "terror" ("We've always been at war with Eurassia/Terror/drugs/ unwinnable abstracts")

[David Zephyr]

93. "They hate us for our freedom"

.

[Political Heretic]

94. Health Insurance is Health Care.

[Political Heretic]

95. Democrats stand with the Poor

That's the biggest Orwellian doublespeak of them all I think.

[Political Heretic]

96. Surveillance is Security (loss of our civil rights)

[jgraz]

97. "I never campaigned on the Public Option"

[w8liftinglady]

99. ...

The Ministry of Truth, which concerned itself with news, entertainment, education and the fine arts. The Ministry of Peace, which concerned itself with war. The Ministry of Love, which maintained law and order. And the Ministry of Plenty, which was responsible for economic affairs.

[The Gunslinger]

101. "Fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here"

[The Gunslinger]

102. FOX News : fair and balanced

[Algorem]

103. Obama is a Democrat

[A-Schwarzenegger]

104. CRUEL IS FUNNY.

[LWolf]

106. "Race To The Top, " along with, of course,

"No Child Left Behind."

[LWolf]

107. "Clean Coal."

[era veteran]

110. Good

[Odin2005]

109. Fascism is Reform.

[rug]

113. Fired up!

[era veteran]

114. Fair and balanced