Why does the government use "newspeak" in 1984?

I agree with clane, newspeak is the government's tool to limit the people's range of thought, and to control the masses. By systematically reducing words and eliminating language that is potentially subversive, they can eventually dumb their society down so much that people won't even be able to think or to formulate words of resistance. According to Kenneth Burke, the terms we choose not only reflect, but also select and deflect reality. By controlling the terms, the government also controls the values connected to those terms, as well as the emotion. Newspeak, like the content of the news, is nothing more than a series of spliced segments of meaning. Newspeak is the ultimate reflection of a reality devoid of meaning.