rsl@ihnss.UUCP (Richard $. Latimer) (01/26/84)
Reagan's Union of the State: 1984 Ronald Reagan's Union of the State message to congress on 1/25/84 was yet another step toward the "brave new world of Orwell's '1984" (the date may be a little early for some parts of the world). The issue, of course, is still individualism versus Statism. Reagan's speech was a clear example of Orwell's "new-speak" in a thinly-veiled disguise. The words and the rhetoric were advocating "freedom and individualism and justice and peace"; the proposed actions were demanding "coercion and Statism and injustice and confrontation" (not totalitarianism yet, but in that general direction). The Rhetoric of Freedom: "land of the free", "freedom of belief and faith", "less government controls", "reduced bureaucracy", "lower taxes", "reduced deficit", "less paperwork", "peace-seeking efforts", "more government protection of rights", "deregulation and free competition", "less crime", etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, ... The Actions of Coercion: greater funding(taxes) for bureaus (EPA, NASA, IRS, ...), more expenditures(taxes) for "aid" to Latin America and elsewhere, promotion & subsidization(thru taxes) of "family and god-fearing values", no reduction is coercive "entitlements" management, compulsory praying in compulsory "public" schools, new funds(taxes) for new bi-partisan(other non-party views ignored) "education" studies, commitment(taxes) to a "manned" government space station by 1994, more(taxes) massive over-kill military defense and offense to "ensure peace", continued heavy taxation and deficit spending with promised "lower rates of increase"(thru IRS coercion and fraudulent currency devaluation), more coercion toward dissidents to conform and sacrifice their dictated quotas toward state goals, more centralized presidential power thru selective over-ride veto, increased funding(taxes) for domestic and foreign policing (CIA, FBI, IR_SS, ..., in order to control "violations"), compulsory child-bearing for the pregnant, compulsory allegiance to "the god who uniquely blessed America" (as interpreted by government officials), etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, ...