For an entire populace, change, growth, and spontaneity were dangerous. Acting upon a personal desire, whispering a hidden longing, revealing your true feelings - all the human actions we think of as essential to a character - had be censored by the self lest they be punished by the state.
“I am happy that the young girls have a lot more choices these days and an opportunity to feel better about themselves.”
“If they don't depend on true evidence, scientists are no better than gossips.”