Letter: Orwell’s lessons still relevant in today’s world

In the book “1984,” the main character goes to work every day. His job is to read anything written about actual events and wipe out anything that doesn’t meet the narrative of the government, essentially erasing history. This creates a new reality for the people.

In the book “Animal Farm,” the animals are told by the pig and his minions that certain events did not happen. They made up lies and told them over and over until the animals believed the lies and not the truth. This was done to undermine the pigs’ opponents and take control of the animals. The pigs got fat and lived off the other animals’ work while they also reduced their food to almost nothing. They were left to starve and some die.

These two books were Orwell’s way of teaching the dangers of communism. Today certain events are being changed to meet a certain narrative. The media repeats lies over and over until people are repeating it to others and believing the lies. Statues of events and people are being taken down. Respect for our Constitution and history is not being taught. If we are not careful, we will lose our freedom.

This story was originally published August 30, 2017 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Letter: Orwell’s lessons still relevant in today’s world."