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To the Editor:

“1984” by George Orwell, written 35 years prior to that year, predicted what lay ahead if we the people allowed it to come about. Sadly, we have slowly been moving in this direction. One step here, a half step there but always moving toward turning this fictional account into reality.

We live in a world today where one is not allowed to express his or her opinion without condemnation from the thought police.

I can recollect in my own lifetime the adage of “I do not agree with what you say but will fight for your right to say it.” This sentiment has died. No longer are you allowed to do such as you risk being demonized by the media, ostracized from social platforms (i.e. Facebook, Twitter), kicked out of public institutions and terminated from your workplace. However, ironically all the while each condemning force is supposedly promoting diversity. It seems as if we have one foot in the door of a communist world. This is not who we are and these are not the principles this American government was founded upon.

Agree to disagree, allow each person to express their opinion and respect one another’s rights without calling out the thought patrol. A dystopia in the making, “1984” was supposed to be fiction.

Jonathan Varnell

Elm City, North Carolina

Native of Southampton County