Spyke

Syndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.

View original on lemmy.dbzer0.com

18 replies

lugalreply
sopuli.xyz

Capitalists would disagree on the first line

22
maria ~reply
lemmy.blahaj.zone

tru... bt they try to present as human, so mayb they'd say it without meaning it

3
lugalreply
sopuli.xyz

I'm not sure if this is obvious but the quote is from a explicit critique against Stalinism. Orwell was disillusioned from USSR's reaction in Spain (not supporting the anarchosyndicalists and thereby helping fascism to gain power; that's his reading of the events and he has been there). That inspired Animal Farm which is a direct allegory to the Soviet Union (starting with "all animals are equal", later adding "but some are more equal") and later 1984 which is a bit more about totalitarianism in general but still strongly apposed to Stalinism.

23

The Stalinists didn't just not help other socialist factions, they actively attacked them and the liberals when the war was hanging on a knife's edge.

9

I'm fine with applying 1984 to literally anything but especially this quote is tailor made for authoritarian socialism because the first sentence fits the proclaimed ideals and the second part what really happened. But than again, many constitutions of liberal democracies do the same and the reality is a different story

12
maria ~reply
lemmy.blahaj.zone

ive onli heard this saying from some movie... with pigs... somethingsomething animal farm.

4

Yes, they made a movie out of Animal Farm but the original is worth a read and not too long

10
lemmy.world

I wouldn't really characterise it that way.

More about how, like with the Russian revolution, if you have a violent conspirational uprising, you're far more likely to have a change of masters rather than a truly bettered society. That in choosing violent uprising with powerful masters, you're just continuing the chain of totalitarianism.

Orwell was not against socialism or communism. He was staunchly socialist himself. He just hated fascism, Stalinism, and any other form of totalitarianism intensely.

The critique of the book was never about economics, but of dictatorships.

5
teslasaurreply
lemmy.world

Of course you wouldn't, then you'd have to concede that communism is about as good of a solution to facism as capitalism is.

-6

What's there to concede? I'm not making any judgement on whatever economic system people are into, I'm just saying that if you think Animal Farm is about communism or any other economic model then you're misunderstanding the book and should probably have a quick re-read.

It's a critique of violent uprisings and totalitarian dictatorships, not a critique of communist or socialist economic theory, which was an economic theory Orwell himself supported.

5

the perspective of the text is slightly off and it's making my eye twitch

5

You reached the end