1984 - Planet eBook

late a population of about a hundred million people, who,so far as technical development goes, are roughly on theOceanic level. The problem is the same for all three superstates.It is absolutely necessary to their structure that thereshould be no contact with foreigners, except, to a limitedextent, with war prisoners and coloured slaves. Even the officialally of the moment is always regarded with the darkestsuspicion. War prisoners apart, the average citizen of Oceanianever sets eyes on a citizen of either Eurasia or Eastasia,and he is forbidden the knowledge of foreign languages. Ifhe were allowed contact with foreigners he would discoverthat they are creatures similar to himself and that most ofwhat he has been told about them is lies. The sealed worldin which he lives would be broken, and the fear, hatred,and self-righteousness on which his morale depends mightevaporate. It is therefore realized on all sides that howeveroften Persia, or Egypt, or Java, or Ceylon may change hands,the main frontiers must never be crossed by anything exceptbombs.Under this lies a fact never mentioned aloud, but tacitlyunderstood and acted upon: namely, that the conditions oflife in all three super-states are very much the same. In Oceaniathe prevailing philosophy is called Ingsoc, in Eurasiait is called Neo-Bolshevism, and in Eastasia it is called bya Chinese name usually translated as Death-Worship, butperhaps better rendered as Obliteration of the Self. The citizenof Oceania is not allowed to know anything of the tenetsof the other two philosophies, but he is taught to execratethem as barbarous outrages upon morality and common