1984 - Planet eBook

But this would provide only the economic and not the emotionalbasis for a hierarchical society. What is concernedhere is not the morale of masses, whose attitude is unimportantso long as they are kept steadily at work, but themorale of the Party itself. Even the humblest Party memberis expected to be competent, industrious, and even intelligentwithin narrow limits, but it is also necessary that heshould be a credulous and ignorant fanatic whose prevailingmoods are fear, hatred, adulation, and orgiastic triumph. Inother words it is necessary that he should have the mentalityappropriate to a state of war. It does not matter whetherthe war is actually happening, and, since no decisive victoryis possible, it does not matter whether the war is going wellor badly. All that is needed is that a state of war should exist.The splitting of the intelligence which the Party requiresof its members, and which is more easily achieved in an atmosphereof war, is now almost universal, but the higherup the ranks one goes, the more marked it becomes. It isprecisely in the Inner Party that war hysteria and hatred ofthe enemy are strongest. In his capacity as an administrator,it is often necessary for a member of the Inner Party toknow that this or that item of war news is untruthful, andhe may often be aware that the entire war is spurious and iseither not happening or is being waged for purposes quiteother than the declared ones: but such knowledge is easilyneutralized by the technique of DOUBLETHINK. Meanwhileno Inner Party member wavers for an instant in hismystical belief that the war is real, and that it is bound toend victoriously, with Oceania the undisputed master of