At the height of Stalin's repressions, when nearly the entire Soviet population was living in utter terror, Feuchtwanger offered readers in the West his impressions of the public mood:
Though from time to time they criticize a minor short-coming, all the people whom I met, even those whom I met by chance, who could not have been prepared for a discussion with me, all agreed with the existing [Stalinist] system. All the vast city of Moscow was brimming with satisfaction and consent, and even more than this, happiness.
I won't pretend to be smarter than I am. I didn't know what doublethink was before reading this book. Doublethink, in the above case, would be Soviet people agreeing with the Stalinist system because they were terrified of it.
I won't pretend to be smarter than I am. I didn't know what doublethink was before reading this book. Doublethink, in the above case, would be Soviet people agreeing with the Stalinist system because they were terrified of it.
2 comments:
Actually, the term 'doublethink' originated in the book "1984" by George Orwell. At least I'm pretty sure that's where it came from. Unless Sharansky uses it a bit differently, it's also even more than agreeing with a system because you're terrified of it. You get to the point where you realize the inefficacy of thinking or saying, or even knowing that there's anything wrong with the system, and so you just tell yourself everything's ok so you can get on with everyday life.
A bit like telling yourself something for so long that you actually start to believe it.
Thanks, Ardith. Sounds like a better extended definition. This is exactly why I brought it up - so someone could correct me. :)
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