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The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism

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The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism, The term “oligarchical collectivism” is similar to the by the character Emmanuel Goldstein, is the fictional theory of bureaucratic collectivism put forth by some book that is used as a thematic and plot element in the Trotskyists in the late 1930s. Leon Trotsky is the likely dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), by George model for Orwell’s Emmanuel Goldstein: a former mem- Orwell. According to Orwell’s plot, in the totalitarian ber of the Party inner circle who had been purged and society of Oceania, ruled by the seemingly omnipotent, declared an enemy by the Soviet state he had helped to omniscient Party, Emmanuel Goldstein (in the Party’s found, and subsequently a critic of its social system in ex- propaganda) is the principal enemy of the state – a for- ile, as Goldstein critiques the system of Oceania. How- mer member of the Inner Party – continually conspiring ever, the bureaucratic collectivist theory was formulated against the leadership of Big Brother. Early in the story, not by Trotsky, but by some of his followers mainly in the protagonist thinks to himself: “There were ... whis- the United States who dissented from his view of the So- pered stories of a terrible book, a compendium of all the viet Union as a degenerated workers’ state. These the- heresies, of which Goldstein was the author and which orists, such as Max Schachtman, saw the Soviet Union, circulated clandestinely here and there. It was a book along with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, as represent- without a title. People referred to it, if at all, simply as ing a new type of society, neither capitalist nor social- The Book". ist, characterized by direct, integrated political and eco- nomic rule by a new ruling class of totalitarian state bu- reaucrats. In the era of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the lead-up to World War II, this theory claimed that 1 Background the apparently opposed Fascist and Stalinist social sys- tems were in effect identical in essence, reminiscent of Goldstein’s claims that Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia are The protagonist, Winston Smith, secretly hates the Party actually identical and only differ in the justifying ideol- and Big Brother. Eventually, he approaches O'Brien, ogy. For these reasons, some scholars such as James M. a high-level member of the Inner Party, believing him Decker have identified Goldstein’s book as a parody of part of the Brotherhood, Goldstein’s conspiracy against Trotsky’s real-life book The Revolution Betrayed,[3] while Oceania, Big Brother, and the Party. Initially, he appears others such as Carl Freedman have instead compared to as such, especially in arranging for Winston to receive a works such as ex-Trotskyist James Burnham's The Man- copy of Goldstein’s illegal book. O'Brien says it reveals agerial Revolution.[4] the true, totalitarian nature of the society the Party estab- lished in Oceania: Full membership to the Brotherhood requires reading it. 2 Contents When alone in the room above Mr. Charrington’s shop, Winston examines the book, before reading it, noting that Chapter I: Ignorance is Strength, and Chapter III: it was: War is Peace of “the book” are titled with Party slogans; The term “oligarchical collectivism” refers not only to the O'Brien later refers to chapters featuring a programme for Party’s ideology of Ingsoc (English Socialism) but also to deposing the Party. (Chapter II, presumably titled Free- the ideologies of the other two states (Neo-Bolshevism dom is Slavery after the remaining Party slogan, is not in Eurasia; in Eastasia, “Death Worship” or “Obliter- detailed in the novel.) ation of the Self”). Winston reads two long excerpts establishing[2] how the three totalitarian super-states – Oceania, Eastasia, and Eurasia – emerged from a global 2.1 Chapter I war, thus connecting the past and the present, and ex- plains the basic political philosophy of the totalitarianism Ignorance is Strength details the perpetual class strug- that derived from the authoritarian political tendencies gle characteristic of human societies;[5] beginning with manifested in the twentieth century. That the three “op- the historical observation that societies always have posing” ideologies are functionally identical is central to hierarchically divided themselves into social classes and the revelations of The Book. castes: the High (who rule); the Middle (who work for, 1 2 2 CONTENTS and yearn to supplant the High), and the Low (whose goal Big Brother is quotidian survival). Cyclically, the Middle deposed the <2% of High, by enlisting the Low. Upon assuming power, how- Inner population ever, the Middle (the new High class) recast the Low into Party their usual servitude. In the event, the classes perpetually repeat the cycle, when the Middle class speaks to the Low Outer Party class of “justice” and of “human brotherhood” in aid of becoming the High class rulers. ~85% of Ian Slater writes that Goldstein goes beyond George Or- population well’s beliefs in earlier work, such as A Clergyman’s Daughter, in which the Middle makes a pretence of be- Proles lieving in equality. In Animal Farm, the state sought power to improve society, but once technological ad- vances make equality possible, the Middle abandons their former promises, as liberalism only stands in the way of their aims; they become explicitly tyrannical and openly Oligarchical collectivism: The Oceanian social-class pyramid hostile to liberalism. The new rhetoric of the Middle be- in the year 1984. comes Ingsoc and hierarchical collectivism. This pursuit of naked power and utter lack of liberalism distinguishes the Party from previous tyrannies, though the Party ini- any unorthodoxy, the Ministry of Truth uses Newspeak, tially justifies its control through dedication to socialism. an impoverished language that makes heresy impossible By focusing on collectivism, the Party can consolidate by omitting words that could express it. Newspeak also their power and present Ingsoc as an inevitable followup reduces thought to simple opposites, such as good and to capitalism in which the Low are no longer exploited. “ungood”, an intentional dichotomy that hides nuance In reality, the social castes are no longer necessary, and and ambiguity while promoting black and white think- collectivism only serves to prolong the exploitation of the ing. Party members are further subject to self-deceptive Low. Slater states that while O'Brien does not own his habits of mind, such as crimestop (“preventive stupidity”), mansion, he still lives in luxury compared to the lower which halts thinking at the threshold of politically dan- castes. Once the Party consolidates its power, all justifi- gerous thought, and doublethink, which allows simultane- cations are abandoned. The Party itself is a meritocracy, ously holding and believing contradictory thoughts with- not hereditary. This is not rooted in egalitarianism but out noticing the contradiction,[9] to wit: practicality, as the Party realizes that its continuation de- pends on purity of orthodoxy, rather than a bloodline.[6] Unlike Orwell’s prior writing, the Party’s exploitation in 2.2 Chapter III this case is fully intentional. Slater writes that Orwell desired to show through the Party’s unrealistic politics Before reading the first chapter, Winston reads the third that modern authoritarianism was growing more lustful chapter War is Peace, which explains that slogan-title’s of power for power’s sake. Orwell believed that mod- meaning, by reviewing how the global super-states were ern states could bring about the desires of the Spanish established: The United States merged with the British Inquisition to not only control men but also control their Empire and Latin America to form Oceania; the USSR thoughts. This could be achieved through technological absorbed continental Europe to form Eurasia; and Eas- breakthroughs, such as the telescreen, a two-way televi- tasia emerged “after a decade of confused fighting”, sion that allows continuous government espionage of the with China’s annexation of Japan, Korea and parts of population. Efficient use of such technology to control Mongolia and Tibet. In various alliances, they have the populace requires centralisation, and the four min- warred for twenty-five years. Yet the perpetual war is istries of Oceania – The Ministry of Truth, The Ministry militarily nonsensical, because “it is a warfare of limited of Peace, the Ministry of Love, and the Ministry of Plenty aims between combatants who are unable to destroy one [7] – fill this need. another, have no material cause for fighting and are not di- The Proles usually are not subject to propaganda. In- vided by any genuine ideological difference”, since each stead, it is the middle class – the Outer Party – that the is a totalitarian state.[10] Inner Party fears. Because the Proles have lost every- Scientific advance is held carefully in check, as the Party thing and have nothing, they have no future. The Party, does not want to allow for any unaccounted abundance of through the Ministry of Truth, practices historical revi- goods, which could conceivably raise the quality of life sionism, which robs the Proles of a past, too. Robbed beyond bare subsistence for the Proles. The only techno- of the ability to learn from history and the worries of logical advances permitted are in mind control and geno- the future, the Proles exist in state of constant present cide, the twin goals of each of the superstates. Once mind [8] and are incapable of revolution. In order to prevent control is perfected, the superstates are free to destroy 3 their counterparts in a theoretical single, decisive strike Updated Edition. Infobase Publishing. p. 137. ISBN that precludes retaliation. Technological advancement, 9781438113005. even in war, can be counterproductive to the goals of the [4] Freedman, Carl (2002).
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