Review
"Ignorance is Strength." "War is Peace." "Freedom is Slavery." The slogans of Orwell's Nfinistry of Truth, according to Holly Sklar's analysis, describe the reality of U.S. politics in the eighties. In short, 1984 has arrived. Sklar's lucidly written pamphlet compares the Reagan Administration's rhetoric to the reality of world events, and in the current period of doublespeak the rhetoric has become the reality. Peddling the slogan that "America is Back -Standing Tall," the Reagan Administration has successfully realized one of its primary political goals: it has recreated the myth of "Heroic America," an America "besieged by hostile forces at home and abroad." But Sklar views the reality of "Heroic America" as something quite different from the administration's public relations depictions of the idea: "Heroic America is White, Christian patriarchal ... a National Insecurity State" blended together by paranoia and arrogance. And if America does stand tall, it attains its stature by standing on the backs of the weak. For, Sklar concludes, "(t)he U.S. is the world's greatest terrorist state and few Americans know it." Holly Sklar's short work provides a ray of light in a political universe darkened by a resurgent "Know Nothingism," a celebration of ignorance that is, at least in part, produced and maintained by the slick public relations of the Reagan Administration. Yet, herein lies the problem. Even if we grant the validity of the author's argument -a concession that many readers will not make how has this all come to pass? Why is it that the facts are unknown to most of us? Why does the press often abdicate its responsibility, as Sklar suggests? Why do we celebrate ignorance? Answers to these questions would shed additional light on the structure and exercise of power in the United States. It is somewhat disappointing that with the exception of a few general statements the author does not pursue these issues. Still, this failure is more the fault of the nature of the work than Sklar's analysis; it is, after all, a short pamphlet. In any case, whether we agree with her conclusions or not, Sklar's pamphlet is provocative and thought-provoking. For these reasons alone it is worth reading. -- From Independent Publisher
