The search for errors in the BB society

After several hours of traveling, lying down in a cramped space inside a car, I finally crossed the boarders of Oceania. Thanks to the skilled driver the guards didn’t seem suspicious at all. One thing that immediately chocked me when I wondered around in town a couple of hours later was that all the men had very long beard. At first I thought this might be some kind of tradition in this part of the world. But after I had overheard a fat middle aged man asking his skinny friend for razorblades, I understood there was something weird going on, since at least where I come from razorblades are very cheap. After passing a store with a signpost saying “No razorblades in stock, expected delivery date April 30^th, things started to fall into place. After further research I found out that the lack of razorblades was a common problem, and furthermore that this was the case for many other products as well, such as pencils and chocolate, where the government had set a limit allowing every Party member 20 grams per week. I find this limits very strange. This morning when I was exploring town, I happened to see a couple of people unloading a truck filled with lots of chocolate and packages of coffee one can not buy in public stores here in Oceania. These products were taking in to the Ministry of Love and a person wearing clothes representing the Inner party came and signed the packing list. This seemed for me really weird. How could there be such rations on these products when the government seems to have plenty of it. Something I have learned during my first day is that the limits the government ahs set on a lot of products might not really be necessary and people suffer without cause. As far as I am concerned, the government doesn’t care about their citizens. Thank God I am not staying here for long, because I don’t like having a beard and I love chocolate!

Today when I was on my way to lunch, I passed Victory Square where a crowd had gathered around the telescreen in the center of the square. I tried to move closer towards the huge screen but I didn’t see any difference from what it had looked like yesterday. But when I finally got close enough I saw what was going on. The telescreen showed a meeting of the Inner Party members drinking coffee and eating lots of chocolate. Since we could see them instead of they seeing us, as I expect would be normal, something had happened to the telescreen for sure. From my experiences and knowledge in the field of physics I came to the conclusion that a cable must have broke, and as a consequence of this, the electrons in the system were traveling the wrong way. People in the square started talking to one another and I was able to snap up questions such as “how did they manage to get hold of these products when it is almost impossible at times like this” and “this must mean that proper coffee is back on the market, don’t you think?” The Inner Party was the common word in all the discussions I was able to overhear.  A small group of people screamed the word “liars” while pointing at the telescreen. But during a time period of less than two minuets after the small group had begun to point and scream towards the telescreen, dozens of guards arrived and carried them away from the crowd, at the same time as a couple of them begun to destroy the telescreen with giant hammers. The people in the square went completely quiet until the guards had disappeared. Then they started talking again, but this time very silently, about that the microphones in the square might not have been broken and that the small crowd getting arrested were going to be hanged in next week’s public hanging. Apparently here in Oceania, the government watches the people all the time and if one does something against their will one might be executed. Disappearances are also quite common, I have heard. An old man who worked in the restaurant where I had lunch yesterday told me that to disappear is called being “vaporized” and after that one is erased from the present, the past and the future. Scary! Here freedom is something that doesn’t exist but nobody seems to care about it either. Taking vaporization into consideration, standing up for what you believe in must be almost impossible. So People of Eurasia, be proud of your country and appreciate what you got, because the people of Oceania are prisoners, while you are individuals with human rights!

This night I had a dream, a dream of finding alternative movements when it comes to politics. In other words I was hoping of finding some kind of liberal party which would allow all those nice stuff that now was illegal, or hard to get. When talking about nice stuff I am thinking of chocolate, champagne and good tasting food in general. All those stuff are such important for me, so I decided to start my research right away. The problem was that no alternative parties were allowed, but I expected that there would be at least one secret movement. My search started in the local pub where I asked some men if they knew anything of value, and one old man did! The man told that there was one quite big party called the Abstemious. I could not believe what the man just told, it just sounded too good to be true. I continued asking questions and it sounded better for every word that was told, until the man said: “This was how it was until for 2 years ago”. I looked at the man and asked what he meant and then he answered. “Now they are named the New Abstemious and they have now changed political direction completely. Today they are red just like the government party. They still call themselves liberal, but in fact they are socialist and nothing else”. I was shocked, and could not say a single word. The man finished the conversation and said: “Can you save me from this socialist society, I can´t stand it any longer”.

This morning I saw something terrible on my way to town. Two young kids, not older than 9-10 years of age wearing uniforms with the name “The Spies” on them, pointed a gun, not a real one of course, into the back of an older guy while calling him “traitor” and telling him that they were going to report him to the Thought Police. I think the Thought Police is a part of the police force, but I will have to do further investigations about this particular agency. Anyway, after having experienced this incident I started to pay more attention to the children in the city. I noticed that they are keeping a watching eye all the time, to be able to notice if anyone acts suspiciously or are doing anything illegal that they can report to higher powers. Children watching adults every move might just seem odd to me because in Eurasia the situation is reversed, grown-ups are keeping an eye on their kids. But here adults seem frightened of their own children. In fact, one woman even started crying and an old man started to scream for his teddy bear when a Spy checked them out. This is insane! But I am sure that having kids to act this way is something that is carefully thought thru by the government. By creating fear among the people, everyone is fallowing orders. Imagine living like that, foreseeing every move you make so that you don't get in to any troubles. I wouldn’t move here for anything in the world!

Today I was visiting a school, of course the teacher thought I was a journalist from Eastasia otherwise I wouldn’t have taking the risk of being seen among Party members due to the horror of what they might do with enemies. I claimed I wanted to know the secret behind Oceania’s fine schools, and no surprise I was welcome to enter. As you all might know by now, Eastasia is in alliance with Oceania and therefore they are best friends at the moment. After taking part of history class for about 20 minuets, a boy showed what seemed to be a very old book he claimed he had found in the library, and said it was a book describing society in Oceania around 40 years ago, something he knew due to the fact that the year 1941 was printed on the front page. The boy explained to the class that the pictures in the book looked very nice and the people very happy, that it looked totally different from today. After all the kids had looked at the colorful pictures and agreed that it looked amazing, the teacher quickly grabbed the book from the boy, looking a bit afraid. He went completely silent for a while and then he told the children that the book in fact was a book about the future, written by Big Brother himself. He claimed that all the nice pictures in the book showed what several years of taking good care of society would result in. Personally I was shocked when I heard this lie but on the other hand it really proofs that most people in this country, including the children, really believe that their country is taken good care of. Sad, but true.

When you go shopping in this country everyone buy two or three bottles of Victory Gin, one of the things you can buy as much as you want of. I glanced through a window to a Community Center and saw people inside get refill after refill of the gin. Apparently this liquid is pretty strong and after what I have seen of Oceania so far I have came to the conclusion that the Victory Gin must have a purpose, to keep people forget their troubles and appreciate their lives. In conclusion, I am sure that the government supplies the people of Oceania with products such as the Victory Gin so that the people should keep calm and not rebel against the rule. But the consumption of gin in large amounts might not give the exact results the government wishes. After have standing discretely outside the window for a while people begun getting noisy, screaming illegal phrases against the Party and jumping on the tables. Of course this unacceptable behavior did only last for a short period of time and decreased rapidly after a couple of people, who I assume should keep track of who attended these events, managed to get people down from the tables and quit them. As a result of today’s scandal, I don’t think Victory gin will be served as generously at Community Centers in the future.

After spending one whole week in Big Brother society, mostly acting like a prole, someone who is not a member of the Party, or at least having been mistaken by one, I thought I would try to get a glance at the environment inside one of the Party buildings. But to be able to do this I had to get proper cloths, the Party overalls, so that I would fit in among all the Party members. Therefore I returned to the place where I had seen all the “rare products” to try to get hold of some overalls. I managed to sneak into a storage space during lunch break, since everyone apparently eat at the same time and at the same place. Inside I found a box, half empty of what seemed to be a bunch of used uniforms. I went into the actual Party building, dressed in one of these uniforms, and moved towards the dining area, where loud noise came from. Dining halls in this country are placed in the basements and disgusting is a word that comes to mind due to the vomit-like stew that is served and the poor metallic interior. After lunch I wondered around in the building, trying to look natural and not stare particularly much. I ended up in a crowded room and the doors closed right behind me. In only a few minuets the room went completely quiet and a man in a black suit stepped forward. Apparently every one in that room should fight the war against Eurasia. All the men present got divided into groups, where every group represented a certain assignment and rank, soldiers, medical staff, generals and so forth. For some reason I was designated general. What has happened today, I playing the roll of a Party member and actually being selected general in the war against Eurasia, my home country, is something I see as completely comic. I mean, this government doesn’t seem to keep track of their own people and I don’t blame them, they all look the same and neither of them gets to show their true personality. I am sure some of the citizens in Oceania even have forgotten what they personally think, since everyone have to act in a special way. Unfortunately I won’t join the Oceanian army, but instead return home to the fantastic Eurasia as fast as I possibly can!