When people use the term “Orwellian,” it’s not a good sign.  It usually characterizes an action, an individual or a society that is suppressing freedom, particularly the freedom of expression.  It can also describe something perverted by tyrannical power.  Author George Orwell believed in objective, historical truth. Writing in 1946, he attributed his youthful desire to become an author in part to a "historical impulse” or “the desire to see things as they are, to find true facts and store them up for the use of posterity.”  But while Orwell believed in the existence of an objective truth about history, he did not necessarily believe that truth would prevail.  Truth, Orwell recognized, was best served by free speech and dialogue. Yet absolute power, Orwell appreciated, allowed those who possessed it to silence or censor opposing narratives, quashing the possibility of productive dialogue about history that could ultimately allow truth to come out.  This, unfortunately, seems to be the aim of Donald Trump's second term, to re-write the truth, to suppress it in pursuit of changinig history to suit himself, and to force institutions to selectively censor and modify truth to fit his image of himself, his administration, and his view of our country's history.  from attacks on DEI, to attempting to set the curriculum for universities, to attacking the Smithsonian for "focusing on the negatives like how bad slavery was", Trump believes he controls a "ministry of truth", and control of not just the present, but the past and future as well.  Even before the Trump administration announced its review of the Smithsonian, officials in departments across government had taken unprecedented steps to rewrite the nation’s official history, attempting to purge parts of the historical narrative down Orwellian memory holes.  Comically, those efforts included the temporary removal from government websites of information about the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb over Hiroshima. The plane was unwittingly caught up in a mass purge of references to “gay” and LGBTQ+ content on government websites.  Today's America is still a far cry from Orwell's Oceania, but every move by this administration brings us closer and closer to Orwell's dystopian vision.

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Product information: Gildan 2400, 2 year warranty in EU and Northern Ireland as per Directive 1999/44/EC

Care instructions: Machine wash: cold (max 30C or 90F), Non-chlorine: bleach as needed, Tumble dry: medium heat, Do not iron, Do not dryclean