When I picked George Orwell’s 1984 as our first ever book club read, I wrote to you: “Why this book? It’s an illuminating look at the risks of succumbing to fascism. And so much more. It underscores the vital role of open, truthful dialogues, like the ones we have here and take out into our communities. It’s about the protection of democratic institutions against the corrosive effects of misinformation and attempts to rewrite history.”
With so many great books to choose from, I also shared what nudged me towards this book. It was this:
The promise to install a “bias monitor” was a condition for CBS to receive approval for its merger with Sky Dance. The deal was finalized in early August.
The designation of a censor/ombudsman followed Trump’s ridiculous lawsuit about how a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris was edited. That’s the lawsuit CBS’s parent company, Paramount, agreed to pay Trump $16 million to resolve, despite the fact that most legal experts who had assessed it thought it was a loser. When the fourth branch of government, the free press, bends the knee like that, it’s time to reread 1984.
I hope you’ve benefited from rereading the book and from the writing and conversations we’ve had about it this past month. Having Kim Scheppele join us tonight was the perfect ending. Kim is not one to sugarcoat, and we didn’t do that tonight. But we also had an interesting conversation about the emerging leadership in the states, and the potential for federalism and state and local leaders to help with the path forward.
If you didn’t get a chance to watch us live, you can click on the video above to watch our conversation.
We’re in this together,
Joyce
