SOCIAL SECURITY, WHEN “NEVER” IS DEFINED AS "2042" ©

When did definitions first become malleable? At what point did people begin to adjust these for context? Each time I hear President George W. Bush say that he needs to “educate” America, to tell us the “truth” about Social Security, I wonder. Mr. Bush claims that he wants to “teach“ the nation. However, the evidence shows that he intends to “persuade” us. Since Bush 43 took office, definitions have been destroyed in deference to political or personal agendas. “Promotion” passes for “instruction,” and the General Accounting Office repeatedly reprimands this administration for such.

I trust that distortion existed long before the year 2000, or even 1945, when George Orwell first published his political spoofs. I know that George W. Bush did not invent propaganda; nor did George Orwell. However, when I listen to this President, I cannot help but think of the relationship between the two. One wrote of the power of persuasion in political forums and the other is out and about, acting on it.

As we see, hear, and read, King George II is asserting his power. He is speaking to the people, repeating his rhetoric, determined to prove that if he says it often enough the people will believe. He says the Social Security program is in “crisis,” there is a “problem.” The system is flawed and it will go “bust.” Yet, I read economists assertions, reports stating that Social security will never go broke. Experts say, as long as payroll taxes are paid into the system, the program is secure.

When I hear the administration claim what authorities say is false and unfounded, I think of Animal Farm. The idea of “Newspeak” beckons. I remember ‘the ruling elites can and do easily use language to persuade those of lesser means; they present incorrect or illogical thoughts as though they were fact.’

I recall 1984 when President Bush praises a program of privation and individual accounts, then, affirms that this plan will do nothing to address the dilemma of solvency. I remember the theory of “doublethink.” I witness that, indeed, people can hold two contradictory beliefs simultaneously, and accept both of them as truth.

George W. Bush speaks and the concepts of George Orwell echo in my mind. I trust that Orwell’s writing did not bring these practices into our lives. Nonetheless, as our President chatters, I feel as though I am trapped in an Orwellian novel.

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