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Thoughtcrime: Difference between revisions
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(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.Thoughtcrime 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.Thoughtcrime, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''Whether he wrote DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, or whether he refrained from writing it, made no difference. Whether he went on with the diary, or whether he did not go on with it, made no difference. The [[Secret Police|Thought Police]] would get him just the same. He had committed -- would still have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper -- the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you.''|'''[[George Orwell]]''', ''[[Nineteen Eighty
One of the most insidious, brilliant and disturbing concepts is the idea of your ability to think freely being ''illegal''. Whenever a government controls the speech and actions of its citizens, it'll label (what it considers) disapproved thought as Thoughtcrime, and take [[Orwellian Retcon|whatever]] [[Orwellian Editor|steps]] [[Newspeak|needed]] to quell Thoughtcrime, [[Doublethink|by]] '''[[Room 101|every]]''' [[Two Plus Torture Equals Five|means]] [[Unperson|capable]]. One could even call such governments paranoid, if they're willing to go this far, ''just'' to keep the citizens from revolting.
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If a reason is ever given at all, [[Big Brother Is Watching|apart from the obvious]], Thoughtcrime can be [[Half Truth|explained]] as "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrusive_thoughts intrusive thoughts]," and their '[[Happiness Is Mandatory|repression]]' leads to "[[Blatant Lies|a happier society]]." On the other hand, maybe you're in a time of war, and Thoughtcrime represents "impulses to treason." Maybe you're in a state of emergency following a massive terrorist attack, and Thoughtcrime is characterized as "sympathizers of terrorism." As ''another'' scenario, you could have been locked into a state of cold war with a rival nation, whose ideologies conflict with yours; Thoughtcrime can be used to justify a [[Witch Hunt]] for spies. Maybe there's a civil war erupting between various factions within your nation, and Thoughtcrime is identified as rebellion (as decreed by the ruling faction) or complicity ([[The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized|as declared by the opposition]]). In some cases, the civil war is more nuanced than just [[La Résistance]] against [[The Empire]]; whatever they're fighting for, Thoughtcrime can be described as sympathizers or collaborators to whatever ideology the warring factions embody (pro-slavery, anti-slavery; capitalism, communism; isolationism, interventionism). Whatever the excuse, governments (including those [[One Nation Under Copyright|controlled by]] a [[Mega Corp]]) use it against its own citizens to suppress dissent, forcefully and effectively.
Note that this is extreme hypocrisy on the part of the guys who came up with Thoughtcrime; [[Irony|they use their free will]] to [[Double Standard|censor others' free will]]. Telling that ''to'' them, however, [[Cold
Also note that it's nearly impossible to remove anti-Thoughtcrime policies once enacted, [[Crapsack World|for obvious reasons]].
Related to [[The Evils of Free Will]]. In more nuanced stories, some of these guys sincerely believe they're using [[Brainwashing for The Greater Good]]. For others, it's just business as usual. As a means of propaganda, if the methods combating Thoughtcrime are known to the public, the government (or their corporate benefactors) might attempt to paint it in a lighter vein by calling them [[Enhanced Interrogation Techniques]].
{{examples
== Film ==
* ''[[THX 1138 (Film)|THX 1138]]'', which is ''[[Nineteen Eighty
* Apparently something like this existed to some degree in the world of ''[[Starship Troopers (Film)|Starship Troopers]]'', at least in the military. At one point, a soldier says he'd like to get back at the drill sergeant who broke his arm. He's immediately corrected by his fellow soldiers with, "Whoa, improper attitude!"
== Literature ==
* [[Trope Maker]] comes from ''[[Nineteen Eighty
* In the short story "[[Harrison Bergeron]]", thinking is ''literally'' outlawed.
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