12 thoughts on “Animal Farm”

  2. Hmmm. Interesting. Animal Farm getting the full 1984 treatment. Must have been another busy day in the Ministry of Truth.

  3. As I saw someone comment elsewhere, you have to really have some cajones to give Orwell himself the full Orwell treatment. Or you just have to be really stupid, I suppose. I can never quite decide if they’re really that stupid, really that evil, or some insane combination of both (I usually land on option 3).

    1. Yes, tovarich! The debate is over, the science is settled, the critics are among the Left Behind whom history will not treat kindly, and did we leave anything out?

  5. Totalitarianism. I guess that reporter had a Freudian slip of some sort.

    Part of the inspiration for 1984 was the environment in the UK post WWII where planned economics survived after the war. Orwell’s wife worked at the Ministry of Information which is mocked as the Ministry of Truth in the novel.

  7. This is the core of the Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School. Abrogating the lessons of history’s past and warping it into a new socialist/progressive ideal. The rewriting of history to suit the needs of the few is wrought with expectation that you just nod along in agreeance to the mindless pabulum and obey.

  8. C’mon guys (guys . . . where did Andrea go?)

    Whereas Animal Farm is only a thinly disguised satire on the Bolshevik Revolution along with the falling out of Trotsky with Lenin, Orwell, a Socialist, was criticising the Russians for their deviationism, how their revolution had turned Capitalist (Oligarchist?) with the guys on top assigning themselves the choice goods and social privileges, the the condition of the workers not changing much or maybe turning slightly worse.

  9. Fascinating. It’s not just that Animal Farm is anti-Communism. The whole point of the book is that while purporting to correct the evils of Capitalism, Communism turned out to be just a new way to exploit the workers more. And now MSNBC purports to correct the evils of Capitalism…

    1. In the manner that The Godfather only thinly disguises public or historical figures (Johnny Fontaine, Margot Ashton, Moe Greene, who could these people be?), there are pretty clear mappings between the pig characters in Animal Farm and Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin.

      We have to remember that whereas Animal Farm is on the reading list of every defender of liberty, Orwell was a Socialist, and the critique of Soviet Communism was of the “it isn’t true Socialism” variety rather than “this sort of thing is inherent in Socialism.”

      Modern Leftie iconoclasts coming to mind are the late Christopher Hitchens and the ever popular Mickey Kaus. Like Orwell, Hitchens died in his prime before he could complete the journey of the Conservative as Liberal mugged by reality, and for Mr. Kaus, we can hold out hope.

      As for Mr. Kaus, I actually hope that he stays as he is as a committed Left Wing anti-union (his is an Animal-Farm argument that unions have become the capitalist bosses) and anti-immigration reform (as undercutting the wages of unskilled workers of all races) commentator.

      Mickey Kaus is a very reasonable, approachable guy. I sent him an e-mail advancing the Paul Milenkovic plan for immigration reform, that such reform needs to be part of serious negotiations with Mexico allowing more free migration of US citizens to Mexico (such as entrepreneurs seeking to build businesses to employ workers in Mexico) in exchange for legalizing the migration of Mexican workers in the U.S.. He responded right away and had some favorable remarks, agreeing that Mexico is very restrictive on who they let in to their country and that Mexico needs to be part of any deal regarding the status of persons who are their citizens who are in the U.S..

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