Donald Trump's reported efforts to destroy or conceal historical records, rewrite public-facing information, use auto-deleting apps, and even intimidate the National Archives closely mirror George Orwell’s portrayal of authoritarian control over reality itself. Consider the following parallels:
🔥 1. Erasing the Historical Record
Trump:
“The Trump administration is scrubbing thousands of government websites of history, legal records and data it finds disagreeable.”
— Associated Press analysis
Orwell:
“Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”
— Ministry of Truth motto (1984, p. 44)
In 1984, Winston Smith’s job at the Ministry of Truth is to destroy or revise past records so that they match the Party's current narrative. Similarly, Trump’s administration has sought to obscure or erase documents that could serve as a record of misdeeds — effectively vaporizing inconvenient facts.
📵 2. Communication that Self-Destructs
Trump:
“Officials have used apps such as Signal that can auto-delete messages...”
Orwell:
“People simply disappeared... every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out... you were abolished, annihilated: VAPORIZED was the usual word.”
— (1984, p. 54)
When a regime intentionally deletes its internal communications, it mimics the vaporization of people and records in Orwell’s dystopia, making scrutiny and accountability impossible.
🧠 3. Rewriting Reality
Trump:
“Refusing to track and publish public remarks and circumventing traceable policy recordkeeping... makes it easier for the president... to reinvent and massage reality.”
Orwell:
“The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth.”
— (1984, p. 44)
This is a textbook case of Orwellian doublethink — denying a fact while also knowing it’s true, and altering records to ensure the lie prevails.
📚 4. Historical Amnesia by Design
Trump:
“He's also making it harder for future generations of scholars to study our political era...”
Orwell:
“The past, he reflected, had not merely been altered, it had actually been destroyed.”
— (1984, p. 44)
In both cases, control over collective memory is the goal. Without historical records, future analysis becomes impossible, allowing authoritarianism to perpetuate itself unchallenged.
🚨 5. Surveillance State Echoes
While Trump’s behavior doesn’t extend to telescreens or Thought Police, his calls to surveil protestors, journalists, and political opponents, and his rhetoric around "enemies of the people" bear the psychic imprint of Orwell’s Two Minutes Hate and public scapegoating of figures like Emmanuel Goldstein.
🔚 Conclusion
Trump’s disdain for recordkeeping isn’t just about narcissism or chaos — it’s a deeply political act of erasure and control. As Orwell warned, totalitarianism begins by reshaping memory, and “if all others accepted the lie... the lie passed into history and became truth.”
🔥 1. Erasing the Historical Record
Trump:
“The Trump administration is scrubbing thousands of government websites of history, legal records and data it finds disagreeable.”
— Associated Press analysis
Orwell:
“Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”
— Ministry of Truth motto (1984, p. 44)
In 1984, Winston Smith’s job at the Ministry of Truth is to destroy or revise past records so that they match the Party's current narrative. Similarly, Trump’s administration has sought to obscure or erase documents that could serve as a record of misdeeds — effectively vaporizing inconvenient facts.
📵 2. Communication that Self-Destructs
Trump:
“Officials have used apps such as Signal that can auto-delete messages...”
Orwell:
“People simply disappeared... every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out... you were abolished, annihilated: VAPORIZED was the usual word.”
— (1984, p. 54)
When a regime intentionally deletes its internal communications, it mimics the vaporization of people and records in Orwell’s dystopia, making scrutiny and accountability impossible.
🧠 3. Rewriting Reality
Trump:
“Refusing to track and publish public remarks and circumventing traceable policy recordkeeping... makes it easier for the president... to reinvent and massage reality.”
Orwell:
“The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth.”
— (1984, p. 44)
This is a textbook case of Orwellian doublethink — denying a fact while also knowing it’s true, and altering records to ensure the lie prevails.
📚 4. Historical Amnesia by Design
Trump:
“He's also making it harder for future generations of scholars to study our political era...”
Orwell:
“The past, he reflected, had not merely been altered, it had actually been destroyed.”
— (1984, p. 44)
In both cases, control over collective memory is the goal. Without historical records, future analysis becomes impossible, allowing authoritarianism to perpetuate itself unchallenged.
🚨 5. Surveillance State Echoes
While Trump’s behavior doesn’t extend to telescreens or Thought Police, his calls to surveil protestors, journalists, and political opponents, and his rhetoric around "enemies of the people" bear the psychic imprint of Orwell’s Two Minutes Hate and public scapegoating of figures like Emmanuel Goldstein.
🔚 Conclusion
Trump’s disdain for recordkeeping isn’t just about narcissism or chaos — it’s a deeply political act of erasure and control. As Orwell warned, totalitarianism begins by reshaping memory, and “if all others accepted the lie... the lie passed into history and became truth.”
Kwek00 · 41-45, M
@FrogManSometimesLooksBothWays
You should add the simplification of language... the people inside his movement only use half of the english vocabulary, so that issues that they are dealing with become more simplified.
Have you noticed that every immigrant that they don't like is an "illegal" now. Things like "asylum" or "green card holders" ... all the nuances in immigration status, are all reduced to this one word.
I read the Esther project, that was brought out by the herritage foundation yesterday. Certain organisations are pointing out that the ideas in there are being used by the Trump administration to attack universities and other people they don't like. Once you start reading it (it's only 33 pages long), you'll notice something weird happening. These protests that are happening right now, according to the project, all seem to be happening in a vacuum. It's almost as if these protest groups are "new", as if they're organised just because of the backlash of the october 7th attacks. History seems to start on october the 7th, these organisations pop up from nowhere, because the conflict has no other history going for it. And they are all reduced to a single word "antisemitism".
Yes... this is really clear. That's why journalists are kicked out of the press room, because they don't use "the gulf of America". The new reality is portrayed everywhere in the White House... Donald even does interviews, in front of a map showing "the gulf of America". Briefings are done in full view, like a spectacle, with red hats saying "Gulf of America". It needs to be accepted, just like it needs to be accepted that the elections in 2020 were rigged.
You should add the simplification of language... the people inside his movement only use half of the english vocabulary, so that issues that they are dealing with become more simplified.
Have you noticed that every immigrant that they don't like is an "illegal" now. Things like "asylum" or "green card holders" ... all the nuances in immigration status, are all reduced to this one word.
I read the Esther project, that was brought out by the herritage foundation yesterday. Certain organisations are pointing out that the ideas in there are being used by the Trump administration to attack universities and other people they don't like. Once you start reading it (it's only 33 pages long), you'll notice something weird happening. These protests that are happening right now, according to the project, all seem to be happening in a vacuum. It's almost as if these protest groups are "new", as if they're organised just because of the backlash of the october 7th attacks. History seems to start on october the 7th, these organisations pop up from nowhere, because the conflict has no other history going for it. And they are all reduced to a single word "antisemitism".
As Orwell warned, totalitarianism begins by reshaping memory, and “if all others accepted the lie... the lie passed into history and became truth.”
Yes... this is really clear. That's why journalists are kicked out of the press room, because they don't use "the gulf of America". The new reality is portrayed everywhere in the White House... Donald even does interviews, in front of a map showing "the gulf of America". Briefings are done in full view, like a spectacle, with red hats saying "Gulf of America". It needs to be accepted, just like it needs to be accepted that the elections in 2020 were rigged.
@Kwek00 Authoritarian leaders often flatten language—a phenomenon marked by the reduction of linguistic complexity, emotional nuance, and intellectual ambiguity. This flattening serves both psychological and political purposes.
1. Control of Thought through Language
As George Orwell famously illustrated in 1984, limiting language constrains the scope of thought. Authoritarian leaders tend to:
Eliminate ambiguity: Complex or nuanced terms are discouraged. Instead, they promote binary oppositions like loyal vs. traitor, patriot vs. enemy.
Reduce vocabulary: This makes dissent more difficult to articulate and complexity harder to express.
Use slogans and mantras: Repetitive, simplified phrases (e.g., “Make America Great Again,” “Enemies of the People”) replace debate with performative loyalty.
2. Undermining Independent Judgment
Flattened language discourages introspection and critical thought:
Emotional manipulation: Authoritarian speech often replaces analytic language with emotional cues—anger, fear, pride—bypassing reason.
Devaluation of expertise: Words like “elite,” “intellectual,” or “academic” become pejorative, while vague, populist language (e.g., “common sense,” “real people”) is valorized.
Erasure of complexity: Opposing viewpoints are not rebutted but ridiculed or declared illegitimate.
3. Symbolic and Ritualistic Speech
Authoritarian language becomes less communicative and more performative:
Language as loyalty signal: The purpose of speech becomes proving allegiance rather than conveying meaning.
Compulsory repetition: Phrases must be repeated not for their informational value but to show conformity.
4. Examples
Trump: Preference for simple words, nicknames, and blunt repetition (“Fake News,” “Sleepy Joe”) to mobilize and polarize.
Hitler: Used emotionally charged, mythic language with Manichaean simplicity (Aryan vs. Jew, German vs. traitor).
Putin: Uses bureaucratic vagueness and euphemism (e.g., “special military operation”) to obscure and control narratives.
5. Contrast: Democratic Language
Democracies, by contrast, require a plurality of voices and interpretations, which leads to:
Ambiguity, irony, and contradiction being tolerated—even valued.
Language used to negotiate difference, not suppress it.
Leaders expected to explain, persuade, and justify—not merely to declare.
Summary
Authoritarian leaders flatten language to narrow thought, demand conformity, and maintain control. It is not merely a rhetorical choice but an instrument of governance, shaping how people feel, think, and relate to power.
1. Control of Thought through Language
As George Orwell famously illustrated in 1984, limiting language constrains the scope of thought. Authoritarian leaders tend to:
Eliminate ambiguity: Complex or nuanced terms are discouraged. Instead, they promote binary oppositions like loyal vs. traitor, patriot vs. enemy.
Reduce vocabulary: This makes dissent more difficult to articulate and complexity harder to express.
Use slogans and mantras: Repetitive, simplified phrases (e.g., “Make America Great Again,” “Enemies of the People”) replace debate with performative loyalty.
2. Undermining Independent Judgment
Flattened language discourages introspection and critical thought:
Emotional manipulation: Authoritarian speech often replaces analytic language with emotional cues—anger, fear, pride—bypassing reason.
Devaluation of expertise: Words like “elite,” “intellectual,” or “academic” become pejorative, while vague, populist language (e.g., “common sense,” “real people”) is valorized.
Erasure of complexity: Opposing viewpoints are not rebutted but ridiculed or declared illegitimate.
3. Symbolic and Ritualistic Speech
Authoritarian language becomes less communicative and more performative:
Language as loyalty signal: The purpose of speech becomes proving allegiance rather than conveying meaning.
Compulsory repetition: Phrases must be repeated not for their informational value but to show conformity.
4. Examples
Trump: Preference for simple words, nicknames, and blunt repetition (“Fake News,” “Sleepy Joe”) to mobilize and polarize.
Hitler: Used emotionally charged, mythic language with Manichaean simplicity (Aryan vs. Jew, German vs. traitor).
Putin: Uses bureaucratic vagueness and euphemism (e.g., “special military operation”) to obscure and control narratives.
5. Contrast: Democratic Language
Democracies, by contrast, require a plurality of voices and interpretations, which leads to:
Ambiguity, irony, and contradiction being tolerated—even valued.
Language used to negotiate difference, not suppress it.
Leaders expected to explain, persuade, and justify—not merely to declare.
Summary
Authoritarian leaders flatten language to narrow thought, demand conformity, and maintain control. It is not merely a rhetorical choice but an instrument of governance, shaping how people feel, think, and relate to power.
ElwoodBlues · M
22Michelle · 70-79, T
