History?nTwo lush albums full of jazz trivianand an occasional forgotten morsel ofnjazz gourmandise. Why Blue Angel Importsn(together with the West Germannfirm Musical Distributors) calls themnThe History of Jazz is difficult to figurenout. Together they form a product of eclecticnpreferences, disheveled sentiments,nrandom nostalgia. Nothing isncovered chronologically; there is nonmethodology in sight They feature nothingnbeyond the swing era, and a “history”nof that period without King Oliver,nFletcher Henderson, Bunk Johnson,nMeade Lux Lewis, or Coleman HawkinsnNewspeak jfroni Wall StreetnIn 1948, nearing the close of his careernas one of the 20th century’s mostnperceptive literary and political writers,nGeorge Orwell completed 1984, his cautionarynvision of a totalitarian fiiture. Inn1983, on the eve ofthe year Orwell anticipated,ncountless American journalistsnand commentators are trying to evaluatenthe current relevance of this masterpiece.nJoining in this effort, the Wall SteetnJournal recently engaged the servicesnof one John J. Fialka. The editors of thenWall Street Journal namraUy profess allegiancento the Western tradition of freedomnwhich has made possible both thendevelopment of American business andnthe distribution of their own publication.nYet where do Mr. Fialka and his employersnfind the threat of Big Brother mostnmenacing? Not in Russia, where Orwell’snbook is banned and his name is vilifiednby Soviet propagandists. Not in Poland,nMlSlt _lnJOLR^AIJSMn—to name only a few—is not even anchronicle. Listening to Harry James’sntremolos in “Ciribirin” may be amusing,nbut it is also somehow humiliating—viiiennit is offered under the heading Historynof Jazz. And why Hoagy Carmichael’sn”Orchestra” is present while JimmynLunceford is absent is a mystery almostnbeyond explanation.nYet there are lovely serendipities herenand there: Bing Crosby “jazzing” it withnthe Mills Brothers may not be the ultimatenartistic satisfaction, but it showsnwith flair how syncopation and blacknmusicality affected the larger, albeitnshallow, expanses of mass entertainmentnand left indelible marks on the landscapenofthe national culture. Dnwhere underground newsletters arensuppressed by brutal secret police. Notnin Cuba, where dissenters languish innjails while the masses are taught to chantnslogans. Not in Nicaragua, where moderatesnare murdered as the ruling juntanspeaks of “justifiable excesses.” No. Thenpundits of Wall Street have discoverednthis horrid threat in the country wherenmore than 10 million copies of Orwell’snnovel have been sold. They have discoverednit in a land where 1984 is requirednreading of high school and college students.nThey find it in the nation wherenthey themselves publish their pages andnwhere 99% of their readers read them.nThey have found it in the United Statesnof America.nBecause Americans use computers,nmass-communication systems, electronicnburglar alarms, and video displays (likenthe ones IT^iA advertises for phenomenalnnnfees), they are judged to have madenOrwell’s frightening vision a near reality.nSo say Walter Cronkite, National PublicnRadio, and numerous university professorsnsurveyed by Mr. Fialka. Had theynbothered to check Orwell’s own explanationnof his book, the WSJ editors mightnhave wielded a judicious blue pencilnagainst such nonsense. Wrote Orwell:nMy recent novel is… a show-up ofthenperversions to which a centralisedneconomy is liable and which have alreadynbeen parfly realized in Communismnand Fascism. I do not believenthat the kind of society I describe willnarrive, but I believe tlwt something resemblingnit could arrive Totalitarianism,nif not fought against, couldntriumph anywhere.nWestern resolve destroyed fascismn30 years ago, but communism remains anvirulent and relentless foe. Why thenndoes WSJ interpret Orwell’s work not asna warning against Soviet encroachmentnbut as an indictment of American technology?nThe reason was best expressednby Neil Postman, a maverick professornwho refiised to join the hate-Americanchorus organized by Mr. Fialka. Accordingnto this lonely voice of reason, peoplenwho search for Big Brother in American”are looking in the wrong place”:nNothing like that has happened heren. .. It’s something else that’s happening,nsomething much stranger.nBut when the perverse inanity of allnthe Fialkas around has completely replacedncommonsense patriotism withnparalytic self-loathing, then Americansnwill finally cease the fight that Orwellnurged against communist totalitarianism.nThen the Kremlin can replace the editorialnoffices of Dow Jones & Companynwith a field subsidiary ofthe Ministry ofnTruth and escort to the Ministry of Lovenall the bewildered Fialkas—who nevernlearn from history and fact and whontherefore will never understand Orwell’snmessage.nOf course, a Fialka or two do not makenmuch difference, but one Walter CronkitenSeptember 1983n