Draft
Nineteen Eighty-Four Fake News – parallels with 2019 news
Control though fake news in dystopian novel vs Donald Trump’s control through fake news 2019/2020
PLAN:
Intro: Introduce Orwell’s warning of fake news and its manipulation of the public. Fast forward to 2019 & 2020 when Donald Trump exploits every method Big Brother used to manipulate the public. False enemies, false statistics and overt lies about large groups of people.
Paragraph 1: false enemies
Nineteen Eighty-Four Eurasia
2020 USA with China
Constantly swapping enemies and the enemy is the cause of every problem.
For 1984 cause of limits and rations
For 2020 cause of the coronavirus
“Have you seen anything at this point that gives you a high degree of confidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the origin of this virus?”
“Yes, I have. Yes, I have,” said the president”
Paragraph 2: false statistics
Big Brother from 1984 – “The fabulous statistics continued to pour out of the telescreen. As compared with last year there was more books, more babies… more of everything except disease, crime and insanity”
Donald Trump – “The US economy today is the best in history”, “he passed the biggest tax cut in history.”
Paragraph 3: lies about people
1984 – “…The party taught that the proles were natural inferiors who must be kept in subjection like animals”
Donald Trump – “They are not our friend, believe me,” he said, before disparaging Mexican immigrants: “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
Conclusion: When a leader has enough presidence everything they say influences the public. Orwell saw the significance of fake news – affects people astronomically. “Reality exists in the human mind and nowhere else”.
Nineteen Eighty-four Quotes:
“It struck him as curious that you could create a dead men, but not living ones”
“The fabulous statistics continued to pour out of the telescreen. As compared with last year there was more books, more babies… more of everything except disease, crime and insanity”
“It appeared that there had even been demonstrations to thank Big Brother for raising the chocolate ration to twenty grams a week. And only yesterday […] it had been announced that the ration was to be reduced to twenty grams a week. Was it possible that they could swallow that, after only twenty-four hours? Yes, they swallowed it.”
“…The party taught that the proles were natural inferiors who must be kept in subjection like animals”
“War is peace”
“2+2=5”
“Reality exists in the human mind and nowhere else”
Donald Trump Article Quotes:
“Orwell knew that authoritarian regimes want the heart and soul of people”
“…feelings have never been more swayed: Trump summons them up personally and directly”
“Alternative facts”
“Creating own reality”
Donald Trump Quotes:
In 2017, Trump made 1,999 false or misleading claims. In 2018, he added 5,689 more, for a total of 7,688. And in 2019, he made 8,155 suspect claims.
“They are not our friend, believe me,” he said, before disparaging Mexican immigrants: “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
“El Chapo and the Mexican drug cartels use the border unimpeded like it was a vacuum cleaner, sucking drugs and death right into the U.S.”
“When will the US stop sending money to its enemies, i.e. Mexico and others”
“China virus”
“It’s going to disappear. One day it’s like a miracle – it will disappear” (referring to coronavirus)
“The hardship will end; it will end soon. Normal life will return. And our economy will rebound very, very strongly. But, right now, in the midst of this great national trial, Americans must remain united in purpose and focused on victory.”
*march 23, 2020
Trump has falsely said 184 times that he passed the biggest tax cut in history.
“The US economy today is the best in history”