Suffolk Libraries

To write good SF, you need an understanding of the past. Over thirty-five years ago, I borrowed a book from my local library – it was 1984. Orwell’s dystopian view of a totalitarian government so afraid of losing power that it began changing the language to prevent seditious thought of even being formulated seemed so relevant in the early Seventies. It still seems a worthwhile warning today, and sadly, I suspect it will still be necessary in thirty-five years time, but I hope that the children of our children will be able to borrow that book from their local library, free of charge. Keep protesting, but above all else, keep reading and keep learning. A people shouldn’t be afraid of its government, the government should be afraid of its people. Oh, I'm the one at the front with the beer-gut ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k__j90LsPwo&feature=player_embedded