Migration Wizardry, 1984-style

I wrote a little time ago  ('Thought crime....etc', May 28th 2015) about 1984, and its masterly exposition of how words are used to devastating effect to create our realities. Without an understanding of the power of words - the potentially manipulative power of words - we will almost inevitably be suckered by those who would like us to be suckered.

A recent example concerns all the people arriving in boatloads on the Mediterranean coastline of Europe from northern Africa (much of this also applies to folk around Calais trying to hide in lorries to get into Britain). It is instructive to note that these people are nowadays generally referred to in the mainstream media simply as 'migrants'. In its pure sense, the word 'migrant' simply describes a person who moves habitat. However, the implication with the word has always been somebody who moves in an accepted and acceptable way; above board. In this case, they've got a passport, applied for a visa, been officially given the green light by the destination country. The people arriving in boats have no such things. They are secretively bundled aboard a dodgy waterborne vessel, to (sometimes) arrive in a country without warning and without invitation.

It was once de rigeur to speak of 'illegal immigrants' to distinguish these folk from those who have spent years getting a degree in medicine, been through the tiresome bureaucracy of obtaining visas and the like, and have a firm offer of work from a hospital in Sheffield. So the change in denotation by much of the mainstream media, from 'illegal immigrant' to simply 'migrant' oozes significance. It is a mind control exercise pure and simple. The new 'truth' is that folk who turn up unannounced in their hundreds on a beach near you are afforded the same legitimacy, given the same treatment, as anybody else in the country. It is a further step down the path of open doors to anyone and everyone - in Europe, that is.

I am not talking about good or bad, right or wrong, or anything else here. You can sort that out for yourself. I am simply pointing out the power of words to manipulate perception, our sense of what is normal. People who know how to use this tool to further their own dark ends do so all the time. It is up to each and every one of us - those of us who value integrity and freedom, at any rate - to be sharply conscious of this, and not get taken in. It is happening all around us, all the time. You need to keep your eyes open, and your wits about you - nobody can do this for you. A razor-sharp mind is essential for the survival of personal authenticity in this day and age. Don't let yourself down.