this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2025
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/32730153

"The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him, the ease with which any Party intellectual would overthrow him in debate, the subtle arguments which he would not be able to understand, much less answer. And yet he was in the right! They were wrong and he was right." — George Orwell, 1984

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[–] grue@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Orwell got that part wrong, at least: the real-world Party "intellectuals[sic]" can't argue for shit, are thoroughly unsubtle, and even a rando like Winston could demolish them easily in a good-faith debate. The issue is that the Party faithful doesn't fucking care about that, so they traffic exclusively in fallacies and bad-faith tactics.

[–] jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I disagree.

the real-world Party “intellectuals[sic]” can’t argue for shit

They don't need to articulate or argue in good or bad faith if all media propaganda is on their side, aside from some 'independent' platforms.

"If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself." -- Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda, 1933 to 1945

"Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident they are acting on their own free will." -- Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda, 1933 to 1945

MAGA is splitting up a bit due to what Trump promised versus what he is delivering.

Promised:

  1. To be anti-war, for peace.
  2. The Jeffrey Epstein List.

Independent journalists and commentators have reported on this split between the duopoly and the working class.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I was writing in response to pretty much just this bit:

the ease with which any Party intellectual would overthrow him in debate, the subtle arguments which he would not be able to understand, much less answer

That's about choosing to debate and being good at it, not leveraging media propaganda to avoid it.

Thanks for explaining!

[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

They don't need to argue. If a person makes good arguments such as Katie Halper, Joy Reid, Brianna Joy Gray, and many other journalists, they simply get fired and never invited back. They decide who gets to argue.