You’re probably familiar with Godwin’s Law, but let’s review. Invented by author and editor Mike Godwin, it states: “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.” A more current interpretation of the meme states that during a political debate, whoever is the first to invoke a Hitler or Nazi metaphor automatically loses the debate.
Not only is it a cheap and easy trick, it also trivializes Nazi crimes against humanity — especially when shoehorned into, say, a debate about Sarah Palin or a conspiracy theory about lizard people from outer space.
Along those lines, I’m fairly certain no one has invented a meme for invoking George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four while discussing national security and civil liberties, so here goes. Given enough time during a debate about national security or civil liberties, the chances of a Orwell or Nineteen Eighty-Four reference rises to 100 percent. And whoever is responsible for it loses the debate. To be clear, violating this rule goes far beyond simply using the adjective “orwellian” as a shorthand to describe double-speak or projection. Suggesting that the U.S. government is like the Oceania government of Nineteen Eighty-Four and its use of Big Brother is clearly broader and more damning than criticizing an instance double-speak.
The reason I’m bringing this up is that over the weekend I read the following tweet from blogger and Liberal Superhero Glenn Greenwald: “Note: key to 1984 wasn’t that everyone was always being watched; the knowledge one could be is what imposed fear.”… [CONTINUE READING]