1984 anyone?

It’s been a while since I read ‘1984’ by Orwell. But, the inability to escape the regime’s propaganda – except for a glitch that enabled Winston Smith to do so - stuck in my mind. I know that Orwell was quite prescient (e.g. the “war is peace” gobbledygook of the present administration), but I was surprised to learn that in North Korea every home has a speaker that spouts the regime’s ideas from morning to night.

And there are other ‘quirks’ in this member of the axis of evil:

• Foreigners riding the main railway can’t see the countryside as there are high walls preventing this.
• Entire families have been slaughtered because one member maligned the Leader.
• Kim Il Sung, who is dead, was named perpetual president.
• The few churches that were left open were staffed with actors whose job is to greet foreign visitors and talk about the regime’s tolerance.