Time for Part Twenty-Seven of George Orwell's dystopian classic, Nineteen-Eighty-Four. In tonight's episode Winston is still not quite up to speed on how things work when you're strapped down in the Ministry of Love:
'We, the Party, control all records, and we control all memories. Then we control the past, do we not?'
'But how can you stop people remembering things?' cried Winston again momentarily forgetting the dial. 'It is involuntary. It is outside oneself. How can you control memory? You have not controlled mine!'
O'Brien's manner grew stern again. He laid his hand on the dial.
'On the contrary,' he said, 'YOU have not controlled it. That is what has brought you here. You are here because you have failed in humility, in self-discipline... You also believe that the nature of reality is self-evident. When you delude yourself into thinking that you see something, you assume that everyone else sees the same thing as you. But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes, and in any case soon perishes: only in the mind of the Party, which is collective and immortal. Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is truth.'
Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear Part Twenty-Seven of our adventure simply by clicking here and logging-in. Earlier episodes can be found here.
We have more audio delights for you, including poetry and music, on the weekend edition of The Mark Steyn Show. If you're one of that brave band that enjoys me in visual formats, I'll be on telly for a full hour every night next week, starting Monday at 7pm North American Eastern time. I do hope you'll swing by.
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