Heavy work, taking care of the house and children, petty squabbles with the neighbors, cinema, football, beer, and especially gambling limited their horizons. Keeping them under control was not difficult. All that was required of them was a bit of primitive patriotism that could be invoked whenever it was necessary to get them to accept an extension of working hours or reduce rations of something. Even when discontent slithered among them (which sometimes happened), this discontent had no outlets because, lacking a general understanding of the situation, they ended up channeling their grievances into absolutely secondary demands. They were never able to grasp the larger issues.

George Orwell, 1984