1984

           Afterthemiddleofthepresentcentury,thefirstdangerhadinrealitydisappeared. Eachofthethreepowerswhichnowdividetheworldisinfactunconquerable, andcouldonlybecomeconquerablethroughslowdemographicchangeswhichagovernmentwithwidepowerscaneasilyavert. Theseconddanger,also,isonlyatheoreticalone. Themassesneverrevoltoftheirownaccord,andtheyneverrevoltmerelybecausetheyareoppressed. Indeed,solongastheyarenotpermittedtohavestandardsofcomparison,theyneverevenbecomeawarethattheyareoppressed. Therecurrenteconomiccrisesofpasttimesweretotallyunnecessaryandarenotnowpermittedtohappen,butotherandequallylargedislocationscananddohappenwithouthavingpoliticalresults,becausethereisnowayinwhichdiscontentcanbecomearticulate. Asfortheproblemofover-production,whichhasbeenlatentinoursocietysincethedevelopmentofmachinetechnique,itissolvedbythedeviceofcontinuouswarfare(seeChapterIII),whichisalsousefulinkeyinguppublicmoraletothenecessarypitch. Fromthepointofviewofourpresentrulers,therefore,theonlygenuinedangersarethesplitting-offofanewgroupofable,under-employed,power-hungrypeople,andthegrowthofliberalismandscepticismintheirownranks. Theproblem,thatistosay,iseducational. Itisaproblemofcontinuouslymouldingtheconsciousnessbothofthedirectinggroupandofthelargerexecutivegroupthatliesimmediatelybelowit. Theconsciousnessofthemassesneedsonlytobeinfluencedinanegativeway. 

           Giventhisbackground,onecouldinfer,ifonedidnotknowitalready,thegeneralstructureofOceanicsociety. AttheapexofthepyramidcomesBigBrother. BigBrotherisinfallibleandall-powerful. Everysuccess,everyachievement,everyvictory,everyscientificdiscovery,allknowledge,allwisdom,allhappiness,allvirtue,areheldtoissuedirectlyfromhisleadershipandinspiration.