Doublethink is common

 By Clay Busker

First Written:

Tuesday, July 10th, 2001



   If you say something inherently contradictory, but nearly everyone
else says the same thing, is it stupidity, or just doublethink?  This
question occurs to me quite often when I'm reading the paper or discussing
one topic or another with an acquaintance.  Certainly, some people are
situationally stupid and are unaware of their actions, and thus unable to be
persuaded, but many of the times I have seen or heard these sorts of things,
I know that that person is an intelligent, rational being, but they still say
things that are inherently contradictory.  Doublethink is rampant, and I'm
not entirely sure what to do about it, so I think I'll start by ranting, and
hope that whomever reads this agrees with me, and can help forward the cause.

   George Orwell started a diatribe against doublethink, and even created
the word in 1984, where people would believe that they had an everlasting
hatred for some other country, and that that hatred had always been there.
Then a short time down the line, the government would change everything
around, and all of a sudden that former enemy was now a friend, and the
friend an enemy, and the people believed that it had always been so.
Certainly, I don't expect the real world to ever become something like that,
without some major mind-altering tools, as people tend to have a long memory
when it comes to things that they hate.

   Of course, Orwell wasn't only railing against what might happen, he was
railing against what was already there.  Doublethink was already there.
Doublethink is with us today.  Personally, I don't know a whole lot about
Orwell, or about 1948, but there are quite a few things that bug me about
today's world that I don't understand, and hardly understand why people
believe such things.

   Okay, enough with being vague.  Here are some examples of what I mean.
First, recently I read about how some anti-gay-rights group(godhatesfags.com,
with Fred Phelps) was protesting in a town near Madison, Wisconsin(I think
it was Monroe), and they ran afoul of an ordinance that stated that signs
could not be larger than some relatively small size.  It basically outlawed
banners, and made illegal the group's large pictures of aborted fetuses.
Supposedly this was for the public safety.  Of course, the idea that signs
are a safety hazard is pretty darn laughable, unless you consider EVERYTHING
to be a safety hazard.  Shoots that out of the water.  Anyway, where the
doublethink comes in is a comment from the head of police or some such,
where he says, "I believe in free speech, but what Phelps is doing is highly
offensive."  Or something along that line.  Where the doublethink shows is
"I believe in free speech, but...".  If someone says that, they probably
don't believe in free speech.  Try this litmus test:  Ask them to think of
something really offensive to them.  Ask them if they think that the other
person has the right to stand out in a public place, and hand out pamphlets,
talk, cajole, etc., in an attempt to get them to believe something.  i.e.,
if you find someone who says they're for free speech, and you know that
they're very racially sensitive, ask them if they're okay with the idea of
the Klu Klux Klan holding a protest rally.  If you find a right-winger that
hates gays, ask them if they think gays have the right to hold hands, hold
rallies, and attempt to convince people that they should get in touch with
their gay side.  If they say that they're for free speech, but against those
things, they're not for free speech; they're for the "right" ideas being
heard.  I'm okay with people being like that; perhaps it really IS more
important to be racially sensitive than it is to have a free dialogue where
everyone has the right to offend everyone else.  However, I'm not okay with
those people saying that they're for free speech.  They're not, and they're
spouting doublethink.

   Okay, second example.  Sport Utility Vehicles(SUVs) and environmentalism.
Namely, if you own one, you're not an environmentalist.  Okay, sure, there
might be a few exceptions, where you're constantly out in nature, tending to
trees and whatnot, and the SUV is the best vehicle for the purpose.
Unfortunately, most owners never even near the limit of their SUV.  Most
owners could very easily get by with something a whole lot smaller, that gets
better gas mileage, and is all around better for the environment while
costing less.  If they need the large amount of cargo space, they can get a
trailer.  If someone owns an SUV, and says that they're an environmentalist,
they better mean that they're a Republican environmentalist, which means that
you're for increased standards on businesses, clean air and water acts, etc.,
but not for making any large sacrifices yourself.  Or, in other words, you
want a good environment around to serve the wants of humans.  Personally, I'm
that kind of environmentalist.  Yeah, I want clean air and water, but if
getting clean air and water means a significant sacrifice in standard of
living, I'm not for it.  So, I'm not an environmentalist.

   Third, urban sprawl.  You're not against urban sprawl if you live in the
suburbs.  You're also not against urban sprawl if you live in the country
and are not a farmer, with the exception of those people whose families
have been there for generations.  Why can't you be against urban sprawl?
Because you're contributing to it.  What you're for is stopping more
people from coming out to live where you live.  That's fine to feel that
way, but unless you're hoping for political advantage, saying that you're
against urban sprawl is very definitely doublethink.  Personally, again, I'm
not against urban sprawl.  Yes, I'd prefer to have some land-use things in
place, so that development can be more organized, and hopefully better
laid-out.  But I'm not for telling a person that they can't live in the
suburbs or in the country because they were a couple of years too late.

   Hopefully you get the idea at this point.  Doublethink is common, and most
people fall prey to it quite often.  I've only given three examples, and
certainly not everyone is going to see the doublethink in their other
positions, but I hope you can see how common doublethink is.