1984

what is the importance of the theory and practive of oligarhical collectivism?

section 2, chapter 9

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"The Theory and Practices of Oligarchical Collectivism by Emmanuel Goldstein opens with a discussion of basic class levels. Winston decides to jump ahead and begins reading the third chapter, which discusses how the world was split into three super powers. Russia absorbed Europe, and the United States absorbed Great Britain. A decade later, after a great deal of fighting, Eastasia finally solidified. Eurasia consists of the whole,

"northern part of the European and Asiatic land mass, from Portugal to the Bering Strait, Oceania comprises the Americas, the Atlantaic islands including the British Isles, Australasia, and the souther portion of Africa. Eastasia, smaller than the other and with a less definite western frontier, comprises China and the countries to the south of it, the Japanese islands and a large but fluctuating portion of Manchuria, Mongolia, and Tibet."

Goldstein explains that for the past twenty-five years, these superstates have been permanently at war, despite the impossibility of a decisive outcome. Goldstein claims that the goal of modern warfare is to use the products created by society without raising standards of living. When a war is on, massive production is needed, but economic growth is impossible. The superstate populations are kept "bare, hungry, and dilapidated," compared to how they lived before the Revolution.

Goldstein notes the difficulty in maintaining a balance between wealth and power in healthy, growing societies. He explains that it was perceived that the only way to strike an effective balance and make all members of society equals would be to quickly distribute goods to prevent consumer growth: "The essential act of War is destruction." Scientists no longer pursue knowledge alone. Rather, they study facial expressions to determine ways to detect thoughtcrime, or chemistry to develop new weapons. Goldstein even notes that there has been very little development in weaponry. Each country still builds and hoards atomic bombs, which were developed long before the superstates were established.

Source(s)

http://www.gradesaver.com/1984/study-guide/summary-part-two-viii-x