#ResistanceRoots
Today in history, 1945: George Orwell’s novella “Animal Farm” is first published. The story is a satire of Stalinist Russia involving a group of anthropomorphic farm animals who try to create a utopian society but wind up with a dictatorship. /1
When I read It, I took as a summation of human nature . Of course I was an 18 year old Texan. Stalin's socialism was wholly Greek to me.
If you haven't read it, do so.
Orwell, a democratic socialist, had come to despise Stalinism during the Spanish Civil War. However, when he wrote the book between November 1943 and February 1944, the U.K. was in an alliance with the Soviet Union against the Nazis. Publishers initially rejected the work. /2
This is one of those books that you read as a teenager in high school but are much more meaningful when you reread it as an adult.
As we live it out.
Every time I teach Orwell, I tell my students that I think he was actually a freaking genius. He had such a grasp on things.
#HistoryMatters
Well, we got as far as "hey, maybe try thinking about treating all people equally, instead of killing them for their skin color, and stuff like that. You know, how it says in the Constitution and your main religion?" before we decided to trash our Constitution and main religion.
Otherwise, close.
Read this back in February of this year. Also read 1984/Julia, told from a woman’s pov, and have the original 1984 ready at the library to pick up. Some have seen this coming for a long time.
"Animal Farm" in a 73-minute animated feature (partially funded by the CIA, and with a "happier" ending than the book, whether for commercial or propaganda purposes, or both): youtu.be/qND5bS8_AIY?...
Kinda like the U.S., but we went from capitalism to dictatorship instead.
I love that book and reference it almost every day now. So many people haven’t read this masterpiece on how Authoritarian Rule is camouflaged as democracy.
One of the many thousands of books sent secretly to Poland during the post WWII soviet oppression to educate the people about what was going on in their country. Read ‘The CIA Book Club’ if interested.
The 1954 animated version of Animal Farm is available in full on YouTube, definitely worth a watch ..
I read this as a 10 year old from the class bookshelf in my primary school in England. It’s still in most school libraries here. On overtly anti-communist book, it’s interesting that it tends to draw most criticism from the right. You’d have thought they’d like it.
