In Oceania there is no law. Thoughts and actions which, when detected, mean certain death are not formally forbidden, and the endless purges, arrests, tortures, imprisonments, and vaporizations are not inflicted as punishment for crimes which have actually been committed, but are merely the wiping-out of persons who might perhaps commit a crime at some time in the future.

A Party member is required to have not only the right opinions, but the right instincts. Many of the beliefs and attitudes demanded of him are never plainly stated, and could not be stated without laying bare the contradictions inherent in Ingsoc. If he is a person naturally orthodox (in Newspeak a goodthinker), he will in all circumstances know, without taking thought, what is the true belief or the desirable emotion. But in any case an elaborate mental training, undergone in childhood and grouping itself round the Newspeak words crimestop, blackwhite, and doublethink, makes him unwilling and unable to think too deeply on any subject whatever.

A Party member is expected to have no private emotions and no respites from enthusiasm. He is supposed to live in a continuous frenzy of hatred of foreign enemies and internal traitors, triumph over victories and self-abasement before the power and wisdom of the Party. The discontents produced by his bare, unsatisfying life are deliberately turned outwards and dissipated by such devices as the Two Minutes Hate, and the speculations which might possibly induce a sceptical or rebellious attitude are killed in advance by his early acquired inner discipline.

The first and simplest stage in the discipline, which can be taught even to young children, is called, in Newspeak, crimestop. Crimestop means the faculty of stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought. It includes the power of not grasping analogies, of failing to perceive logical errors, of misunderstanding the simplest arguments if they are inimical to Ingsoc, and of being bored or repelled by any train of thought which is capable of leading in a heretical direction. Crimestop, in short, means protective stupidity. But stupidity is not enough. On the contrary, orthodoxy in the full sense demands a control over one's own mental processes as complete as that of a contortionist over his body. Oceanic society rests ultimately on the belief that BIG BROTHER is omnipotent and that the Party is infallible.

Police want children on DNA data base ('We must target potential offenders). Guardian, Mar 16, 2008

USA university shooting kills 33 (alleged shooter kills self) & How can schools keep students safe? (build elaborate 'security' systems). BBC, Apr 17, 2007. Go to SCHOOLS LIKE PRISONS

Talking CCTV cameras scold offenders (staff bark orders thru loudspeaker connected to control centre). BBC, Apr 5, 2007

Gunman attacks a Canada college (wearing black trench coat, military boots, Mohawk haircut, emotionless as he fired weapons) & 1st day for police in schools ("they'll be doing a lot more than just patrolling the halls"). BBC/WLNX News, 9/13, 2006. Go to SCHOOLS LIKE PRISONS

Austria arrests British Holocaust denier (said Auschwitz gas chambers a hoax; Jews died from typhus not gas) & David Irving an acclaimed historian (accused of anti-semitism for saying Jews are enemies of free speech). CBC/BBC, Nov 23, 2005. Go to ORWELL ON ANTI-SEMITISM & ANTI-SEMITISM IN BRITAIN

Reader asks for doublethink examples: DUCKSPEAKING DOUBLETHINKERS

UK unveils anti-social behaviour law (Asbos) (people forced to undergo drug treatment without conviction of criminal offence). BBC, Oct 29, 2004. Go to 20.Thought Police

Reader points out that NEW YORK's numbers also add up to 666 (dialogue updated, updated)

State of Emergency for G-8 summit (martial law in constitutional democracy) & Military vehicles driving thru town. Yahoo! Jun 9, 2004. Go to 7.Systems & GENESIS OF COMING UP FOR AIR

GULLIVER DESCRIBES LEGAL SYSTEM (art of proving by words that white is black and black is white). Apr 22, 2004. Go to 22.Doublethink

'Weekend jails' ready to open (51 weekends for a single offence not bad enough for jail). BBC, Jan 24, 2004

5 million on Bush terrorism list (COULD be POTENTIAL terrorists or criminals). Toronto Sun/Rense, Jan 21, 2004. Go to TERROR BILL IS TERROR

Court OKs roadblocks to hunt criminals (motorists open to cop interference, unreasonable invasion of privacy, motorists will be trapped, a victory for law enforcement). Yahoo! Jan 14, 2004. Go to 15.Life in Oceania & ANIMAL FARM DOGS

Bill gives UK ministers new powers (without approval from parliament). Telegraph, Jan 7, 2004. Go to TERROR BILL IS TERROR