Nazi America, An Orwellian Nightmare Of The Doublethink In Real World
Not too long ago, the world was left aghast by the sight of the lifeless body of young Aylan Kurdi who had perished while escaping the war in Syria. Kurdi instantly became the poster child for the refugees embodying the hardship they endure on their path. His image rocked the collective conscience of the entire world and many European leaders faced condemnation for denying refugees entry into Europe, sparking protest from pro-immigrant lobbies.
While Europe was embroiled in unprecedented refugee crises, in another continent the refugee crises provided fodder for the presidential debate. The American election tilted in favour of a candidate whose political antics were akin to a school-yard bully. Inarticulate and having limited vocabulary, Trump minced no words in renouncing refugees and calling for a complete ban on immigration, asylum and open trade. The tirade against everything that encompasses American values compelled the observers to state that Mr. Trump is a stand-up comedian playing to the wrong audience.
The in-your-face attitude that appealed to the vast majority of simplistic white majority of America is not only costing America its clout in world affairs but major embarrassment for diplomats and government officials as well.
The new world order of nationalism, closed borders and travel and trade restrictions caused ripples across the world. Following Brexit and the rise of Donald Trump as President of the United States, the world’s trade market went into a free fall while Muslims suffered from a rise in hate speech and Islamophobia.
The presidential campaign has pitted the natives against the expatriates. The disenchantment of the immigrants with the American dream post 9/11 has exposed a major rift between the immigrants and the natives. America’s open cultural boast of the most assimilated refugees found anywhere in the world has been partly due to the fact that these immigrants had been the direct result of the brain-drain of their country of origin. H1B visa has fuelled the technological advancement of America over the world and for the country being the recipient of most Nobel Prizes (353 to be exact) thanks to immigrants who renounced their nationality to become American citizens. In 2016, all six American winners of the Nobel Prize in economics and scientific fields were immigrants.
9/11 proved to be a harbinger of rise of white supremacists who managed to seize control of the world’s most advanced democratic setup which, despite its innate and advanced checks and balances, could not stop autocracy from proliferating.
Irrational ideology trumps reason and that is the crux of the 2016 American election. Rationality as opposed to impulsiveness demands patience and fortitude two characteristics that are often associated with the educated and the ones that the blue collar white majority has come to despise. They view the qualified immigrants as job stealers.
The educated immigrants on their part have to suffer a dent to their self esteem when required to do menial jobs. So while a qualified doctor form India or Pakistan may be driving a taxi in New York, stripped of all his or her self worth and self esteem, he or she silently puts up with the mental torture hoping one day to realize the American dream of success and wealth coming their way.
With the stroke of a pen thousands of assimilated Americans suddenly became outsiders. The word-play tore the social fabric of the world’s most advanced society since Rome. As the world watched in horror at the unraveling of pure tyranny from the guise or perhaps the ruins of democracy, the demagogue Trump administration announced a crackdown on refugees, stranding many of those awaiting flights out of war torn hell brought on by the country now denying them visa and right to immigration.
Observing the plain brutish bully that Trump is, one can’t help but be reminded of the cult classic ‘1984’. In this groundbreaking work, George Orwell has warned the citizen to be vigilant against pretentious words diluting the language alluding common sense yet alluring to the mass mentality where lies are ‘alternative facts (a term coined by Counselor to the President, Kellyanne Conway). Political language as debated by Orwell must be protected from adulterated sugar-coating white supremacy under the guise of nationalism and the political correctness of manufactured truth. Divorced from reality, the Trump administration is adamant upon imposing its version of world affairs upon a population which is not ready to disassociate itself from its foreign born neighbours, friends, co-workers, etc.
George Orwell propounded that tyranny begets convoluted use of language. Words such as peace, freedom and justice become misnomers and are used to normalize torture, injustice and war. For instance, military was renamed Ministry of Peace in the novel. Similarly the Trump administration is seizing the opportunity to defend its fascism with the euphemism of “make America great again”.
In our brave new world, privacy is a luxury and anonymity has a price-tag attached to it. Social media trolling, a dissenter, has now taken the place of political activism. Every day Muslims across America complain of online harassment and receiving threatening emails and messages.
Banning refugees and immigrants from Muslim majority regions is a manifestation of discrimination on the basis of religion and a blatant infringement of the First Amendment and contravention of human rights standards. So often the world sits idly by, watching ethnic conflicts flare up, as mere entertainment rather than human beings whose lives are being destroyed. The existence of even a single refugee should be a cause for alarm throughout the world.
Following the travel ban, many immigration advocates fear that other countries may follow suit. Sadly when Kuwait government announced travel and visa ban for Syrians, Iraqis, Iranians, Pakistanis and Afghans there was not much media frenzy. The Kuwaiti authorities emphasized that no exception would be permitted, but added that the ban was temporary and would be lifted when the security situation stabilized.
As the world inches towards another world war – as also proclaimed by a senior Chinese military official that war with the US is “not just a slogan” it is becoming a “practical reality” and reiterated by Trump’s closest advisor and bigot Bannon, who stated in his radio show “we’re going to war in the South China Sea in five to 10 years, aren’t we?” – one wonders if humanity is a lost cause. What has begun as Islamic terrorism has quickly spiraled into all out nationalism and a world deeply divided along religious, ethnic and racial lines.
One can only hope that peace and rationality prevail in times to come. Let us work together for the cause of all humanity transcending our differences. The world has seen enough bloodshed. Let us be agents of change and not silent observers, for silence in the face of injustice is a crime against humanity itself.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of CourtingTheLaw.com or any organization with which she might be associated.
