Things you need to know in Goldstein:

What is double think?

What is new speak?
Why is it important maintain that class structure?
How does the high maintain structure?
How does the middle do it?

There have always been 3 classes of people in society, they are:

1. The high- this class tries to maintain its position on top always
2. The middle this class tries to overthrow the high and become the
new high, it takes the help of the low to do this. It tells the low that
they are fighting for liberty, justice, fraternity, equality ad stuff so
that the low will help the middle.
3. The low- is the only true revolutionary class (according to Marx), it
helps the middle so that there is equality in society.
But what happens eventually is that after overthrowing the high, the
middle then starts oppressing the low again. There can be change only in
the top 2 classes (mid and high) but the low remains the same it just gets
ruled by diff people.
Earlier the High would fall out of power because it did not realize that it
could stay in power only by being a group. The name oligarchical
collectivism (it is the title of the Goldstein stuff) is very ironic because
oligarchy means rule by few and collectivism means group. So the modern
high (the one that is present in Oceania), has realized that the only way it
can survive is through convincing the low and the middle that it is rule by
all collectively and not just by a few (take the example of a modern
democracy thats how the people in power convince us to vote for them
again by saying power to the people and all that)
The high class is diff now because it knows that its power lies not in
keeping the the leader in power but by keeping the party in power. Eg: bjp
should stay in power whether Modi does or does not remain as the PM.
Theres a similar situation in this place Goldstein is living in, the party
policy is given more importance than who is at the head of the party.
However, for people to relate to a party or anything in general we tend to
give it a human face so people understand it better hence here ther is
someone called as Big Brother who is not seen by anyone but is supposed
to be the leader of the party.(same way we have modi, and same way
they use celebrities to advertise ideas, Aamir Khan comes in a lot of govt
of India ads idk if youve noticed)
There are only 2 instances when the high can fall out of power
1. When the high doesnt have faith in itself and what its doing
2. When they cant govern efficiently

Double think

Double think is speaking in opposites. In the extract, phrases such as

black-white, the ministry of peace which essentially is the govt that deals
with war, ministry of love deals with torture, ministry of truth deals with
people who lie depict the concept of double think.

Double think is Fooling themselves. A person Holds 2 contradictory views

and accepts both. Goldstein says the higher you get in the hierarchy the
more delusional your idea of society gets. When the middle becomes the
high even though they earlier believed in the struggles of the low since
middle class internally faced some of the struggles. Eg: when you are poor
and studying for IAS to change society but later when you become an
IAS officer you become corrupt and take bribes for everything cause you
are now part of the bureaucracy.
Examples for double think:
1. Modi talks about development and it at some point involves the
contradiction of exploitation.
2. J.S Vermas article about how AFSPA is completely legal and he also
writes other things on justice - 2 contradictory beliefs.
3. ADHAAR Bill takes away the right to privacy and guarantees good
governance. The AADHAR is not compulsory but certain benefits are
linked to it thereby making it indirectly compulsory. They take away
one set of rights in the garb of giving us better rights.
4. Many MNCs come to India and we develop at the cost of our
indigenous industries. SEZs help development cause labour laws
dont apply to them in full force.

Is law also a doublethink? it is a tool by which the High control the

Low. The notion of crime is based on Formal Equality. The idea of
progress was started during the Renaissance and strengthened
during post industrial revolution period. progress is a trump word it
cannot be challenged. Nandini v State of Jharkhand - policemen and
civilians were given arms to shoot the marxists. the court said that
the idea of development in india the right one? it is fallacious.
Progress at what cost?

Why dont people realise that law is promoting the Highs interest.
Faucault says that this is because the idea has been internalised by
the common man that it no longer has to be enforced but is readily
followed.

The idea of the ruling class is the idea that the society accepts. This
means that people who have economic strength also decide what
are the kind of laws, policies etc, the society accepts. But since, we
already know that the high can fall if it loses faith in itself the party
does something strange. It monitors what all the people in the party
are doing and saying (kinda like a surveillance) because the party
members must first believe in their own ideology before spreading it
to others. Even if the people in the party dont believe in the
ideology they cant express it cause of this surveillance and because
of fear of prosecution.
 Media plays an important role because The normal masses never
revolt on their own because they dont even realize that they are
being oppressed unless they get info to compare from other
countries. Eg: north Korea media portrays the nation as having
plenty food and everything but actually it doesnt. (if youve
watched the movie Interview it has James Franco remember that
scene where they show him plastic fruits and one fat kid to make
him believe that the country isnt hungry?) so basically media plays
a very important role in deciding what the people think.

One of the other ways in which the party stays in power is through
controlling the past. Sir keeps talking about the power of history in
shaping the future right. That documentary of that tamil library
being burnt please tell e you remember? The Jafna library in Srilanka
was burnt and the proof that it was burnt down also was erased by
white washing the walls and reconstructing the building. So why did
they erase this proof? Because then the future generations wont
even now about it except by way of word of mouth. One more thing
remember the war of the 5 kings in gme of thrones where jeoffrey
actually didnt even tke part in the fight but when he tells the story
he tells it as if he was the one who defeated everyone.
The ingsoc party does the same thing when it tells its people how it
fought with foreign enemies. The past helps controlling the present
and when you control the present you can control the future and
stay in power.