Orwell's spiritual testament

[Kooky]

This thread is about Orwell.
Not Cipolla.
So please, stay on topic.

Yes, this is about the Holy Roman Emperor of Europe!

 

[Kooky]

I guess he was so right.
He is a prophet of the 20th century.
How the Western man will be slave of mindsets, and will be deprived of critical thinking.
How he will be blackmailed and / or bribed

Orwell was really prescient when it comes to the rise of right-wing authoritarianism in European society.

 

[Augustus]

And a communist, let's not forget that.

While he can't be neatly pigeon holed, at that point he was more of a democratic socialist (and anti-communist).

 

[exchemist]

I mean " the West "

The thing about a free press, you see, is that you get all sorts of press reports, some reliable and others not reliable at all. But the intelligent person soon learns what sources can be trusted and, by reading around a bit, can get different takes on any given news story. That is not what you find depicted in Orwell's 1984.

Whereas in China, on matters considered sensitive by the authorities, you can't find out anything you can rely on at all. (The treatment of the Uighurs is a good example.) And that is exactly what you find depicted in 1984.

 

[Audie]

The thing about a free press, you see, is that you get all sorts of press reports, some reliable and others not reliable at all. But the intelligent person soon learns what sources can be trusted and, by reading around a bit, can get different takes on any given news story. That is not what you find depicted in Orwell's 1984.

Whereas in China, on matters considered sensitive by the authorities, you can't find out anything you can rely on at all. (The treatment of the Uighurs is a good example.) And that is exactly what you find depicted in 1984.

I know all that, but i meant that the west has a lot of kind of very biased irresponsible reportimg.

 

[exchemist]

I know all that, but i meant that the west has a lot of kind of very biased irresponsible reportimg.

True enough. But you can find out what's going on.

 

[Kooky]

While he can't be neatly pigeon holed, at that point he was more of a democratic socialist (and anti-communist).

Of course. Whenever we want to say something good about a socialist, we suddenly discover the very fine doctrinal distinctions between the many and varied schools of socialist thought that we typically omit in favor of subsuming every self identifying Marxist under the label Soviet style authoritarian communism.

 

[Estro Felino]

Of course. Whenever we want to say something good about a socialist, we suddenly discover the very fine doctrinal distinctions between the many and varied schools of socialist thought that we typically omit in favor of subsuming every self identifying Marxist under the label Soviet style authoritarian communism.

We Socialists condemn Russian Communism, and Animal Farm is the allegory of this criticism.
I have to underline that Mussolini himself was a socialist, not a rightist.
He has never sided with bankers.

 

[Kooky]

I have to underline that Mussolini himself was a socialist, not a rightist.

Mussolini stopped being a socialist around WW1 because too many socialists were anti-war.
He made his money after the war commandeering anti-socialist hit squads for landlords.

EDIT: By the way, here is what Orwell had to say about fascism:
"For some years past I have managed to make the capitalist class pay me several pounds a week for writing books against capitalism. But I do not delude myself that this state of affairs is going to last forever ... the only régime which, in the long run, will dare to permit freedom of speech is a Socialist régime. If Fascism triumphs I am finished as a writer—that is to say, finished in my only effective capacity. That of itself would be a sufficient reason for joining a Socialist party."

 

[Estro Felino]

Mussolini stopped being a socialist around WW1 because too many socialists were anti-war.
He made his money after the war commandeering anti-socialist hit squads for landlords.

I remind you that only after the 20s the lands were expropriated from the landlords and divided among the Italian citizens.
This is history.

 

[Kooky]

I remind you that only after the 20s the lands were expropriated from the landlords and divided among the Italian citizens.
This is history.
You cannot rewrite history.

Feel free to support your claims with evidence.

By the way, would you care to explain what Mussolini has to do with the thread's topic?

 

[Estro Felino]

Feel free to support your claims with evidence.

By the way, would you care to explain what Mussolini has to do with the thread's topic?

Agricultural policy of Fascism (Italy) - Wikipedia

We are speaking politics, btw.

Of course we all condemn totalitarianisms...But we have to be precise about political economics.