The ends don't justify the means if, in the process of defending our freedom, that freedom is threatened. Winston expresses his feelings on what the people around him know about the world around them, best when he writes the following statement in his journal, "until they become conscious they will never rebel and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious." In this statement Winston shows that he understands and realizes that until people see that what is going on around them is wrong they will never do anything about it. However, at the same time their current situation is all they know therefore, they will never know anything other than the current conditions, unless they do something about them. .
Clearly mass control is an issue today, with globalization gathering more and more momentum by the day. Today's people fall victim to mass politics on a daily basis mainly through media manipulation, which people have seen a great deal of since the recent happenings in our country such as the happenings of 9/11. For example how people are being led into yet another war in the Middle East, breaking numerous international laws and treaties remembering the artificially puppeteered wars in 1984. Thus making the coming war illegal, remember the absence of any real laws aimed at protecting the public in 1984. There was never a time of peace in the novel. Oceania was always said to be at war however as it is stated in Goldstein's book the word war had started to mean very little to some of the people in Oceania, such as Winston. Goldstein's book states "The very word "war," therefore, has become misleading. It would be accurate to say that by becoming continuous war has ceased to exist." In other words, personal power against these mass institutions and operations is increasingly squashed by imperialistic assertion of US/globalised power in the world, in some ways like Winston Smith's little rebellion is squashed.