Oddness of the society

Throughout the book I have found some very odd things. One example would be how the Parsons kids like to watch others be hung. Another odd thing is the societies slogans, and the socities take on freedom. One of the slogans in the book is "Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two equals four. If that is granted, all else follows." That is an odd take on freedom. I dont understand why the government is so out of control. Some of the things that go on in the book confuse me. I dont understand how a society could turn into this.