Social Classes in 1984
The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism
by Emmanuel Goldstein (George Orwell)
"...if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty would learn to think for themselves, become politically conscious and so depose the ruling oligarchy; therefore, in the long run, a hierarchical society is only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance.
Given that large-scale, mechanised production could not be eliminated once invented, the Party arranges the destruction of surplus goods, before that makes the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent.
Hence perpetual war is always so planned as to eat up any surplus that might exist after meeting the bare needs of the population. It is a deliberate policy to keep even the favoured groups somewhere near the brink of hardship, because a general state of scarcity increases the importance of small privileges and thus magnifies the distinction between one group and another...
The essence of oligarchical rule is not father-to-son inheritance, but the persistence of a certain world-view and a certain way of life... A ruling group is a ruling group so long as it can nominate its successors...
Who wields power is not important, provided that the hierarchical structure remains always the same.ā€¯
"Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil" -Ephesians (Paul)
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