How close are we to living in a dystopia? Asha Nair

How close are we to living in a dystopia?

Asha Nair L6

Doublethink is a term coined by novelist, essayist, and critic, George Orwell in one of his best-known books, Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). It means a sinister form of reality control. Some may believe it to live only within the confines of the pages of some frightening, fictional dystopian society. But on the contrary, it is more convincing to argue that it exists all around us today.

George Orwell describes it in 1984 as, “To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions…to use logic against logic…”. While JG Ballard, another dystopian novelist famous for novels such as The Drowned World (1962) and Crash (1973) stated that “Nineteen Eighty-Four has never really arrived,” it is more cogent to argue that Orwell’s novel was not only reminiscent of the post-World War II clash between superpowers, USA, and Russia, but it was deeply prophetic of the kind of control and manipulation that is so prevalent within modern day politics. In light of recent events, it goes without saying that Prime Minister Boris Johnson possesses a passing relationship with the truth. Even before the start of his Premiership, he experienced many scandals, mostly with respect to his key role in the Brexit campaign. He infamously rode a large red bus around London, with a blatant lie printed along the side: “We send the EU £350 million let’s fund our NHS instead.” This was an outright attempt to sway the vote of the electorate in the EU referendum by lying to them, but this scandal didn’t end there. On TalkRadio, Johnson had an endearing response to a simple question about what he does to relax, to which he responded by telling the interviewer, “I make models of buses.” This is objectively charming as a story, and it all fits into the image Johnson has created of being a loveable, bumbling character. However, a far more sinister way of interpreting this, is that the entire image is instead a carefully calibrated act constructed by Boris Johnson that enables him to slither out of scandals and difficult situations. Gizmodo wrote an article addressing the issue on the 27th of June, 2019, entitled ‘Did Boris Johnson Ramble About Model Buses to Manipulate Google’s Search Result?’ As a result of this strange story about painting buses in his free time, when people would look up something such as ‘Boris Johnson bus,’ they would instead see the clip of Mr Johnson discussing his penchant for painting buses onto wooden creates rather than the significantly worse lies on the side of the Brexit bus. Johnson himself even said “it is often useful to give the slight impression that you are deliberately pretending not to know what is going on, because the reality may be that you don’t know what is going on, but people won’t be able to tell the difference.”

The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, quickly wiped the sweat beading on his brow as he stepped out onto the stage at the Cop26 Climate Summit. He told the people that the UK is “not a remotely corrupt country,” in an attempt to soothe the steadily rising concerns over his administration’s legitimacy, continuing to assure the public that, “the most important thing is those [MPs] who break the rules must be investigated and should be punished.” However, if we are to accept his words on face value, the Prime Minister must answer to why he desperately evaded retribution for his own actions. The first whisperings of misconduct began to surface on the 30th November 2021,

when the Daily Mirror published an article alluding to gatherings that were held by 10 Downing Street during the 2020 Christmas season, allegations which were met with swift denial from the Prime Minister who told the Commons during PMQs on the 1st of December that “all guidance was followed completely in No.10. His spokesman reiterated the Prime Minister’s denials: “[We] do not recognise these accounts and all Covid rules have been followed at all times.” Words that were almost repeated verbatim later, when the spokesman for the Prime Minister once again insisted that “there was no party and Covid rules have been followed at all times.” However, how are we, as the public, expected to believe that “all Covid rules have been followed at all times,” and simultaneously believe the Johnson administration when they tell us that even if there was an event, it was not in breach of the law. Kit Malthouse, the Minister of Policing, said on the 6th of December on BBC Breakfast. “I don’t know if an event took place, but if it did, no rules were broken,” Malthouse insisted firmly, despite the fact that during the Christmas 2020 season, the majority of England was operating within ‘tier four’ restrictions which meant that people should stay at home as much as possible, non-essential shops were closed, and you could only spend time with one other person as long as it was outside of your house. The Metropolitan police have finally reached a conclusion about one of the sixteen parties that members of 10 Downing Street staff threw, most importantly, our Prime Minister. It is now an indisputable certainty that Prime Minister Johnson broke the very same laws that he created, but why? Is it “one rule for them and another for everyone else,” as Sir Kier Starmer theorises, or is it instead the incompetence of not knowing the gravity

“there was no party and of the laws Johnson’s own government passed? Is this the work of a dystopian Covid rules have nightmare, keen on pulling the wool over our eyes and been followed holding the power of our taxmoney and freedom over our at all times.” heads, or is this the mistake of an ignorant government Spokesman for the that should be deposed for Prime Minister both the sake of the people as well as themselves? When examining Prime Minister Boris Johnson and pondering whether or not he is a corrupt liar or incompetent, it is vital that you look further into his background. It is easy to get swept along in each scandal as it comes along, forgetting those that really set the tone for his Premiership. From the very start, as Mayor of London, Boris Johnson presented himself to the people of Britain as a loveable mess, famously getting into situations such as getting stuck on a ziplne while promoting the 2012 Olympic Games, to which news broadcasters such as CNBC reported the incident in a jovial manner, saying “ isn’t that fantastic? This is a man who some are tipping as a future Prime Minister?” This would have killed most politicians’ careers, but Boris Johnson found a way to laugh at himself and charm everyone.