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You know Orwell himself was a fairly radical leftist, at least in his youth? He fought in a Trotskyite group in the Spanish Civil War. People read Animal Farm'
by KingMob 10y ago
You know Orwell himself was a fairly radical leftist, at least in his youth? He fought in a Trotskyite group in the Spanish Civil War.
People read Animal Farm's denunciations of the founding of the USSR and confuse his anti-Soviet stance with an anti-socialist stance. He was disillusioned with the behavior of the Russian communists during the Spanish Civil War, which really turned him against them.
(The anti-fascist coalition was broadly anarchist, with a smattering of foreign, communist, socialist and other forces. Despite being <5% of the total coalition, the Russian communist government refused to provide material aid unless their forces were put in charge, which the coalition declined. Since the western governments (Britain, France, US) refused to help at all, the anti-fascist forces had no support, and were overwhelmed by Franco, ushering in decades of fascism in Spain.)
- TheLarch 10y agoInteresting, thank you. However I did not intend to condemn all radical politics. Rather my point was that the promulgation of any political views by foisting a sympathetic vocabulary onto the public is tyrannical. Are there any political ideas that require a new vocabulary? I don't know.
- canuckintime 10y ago> Rather my point was that the promulgation of any political views by foisting a sympathetic vocabulary onto the public is tyrannical. but the examples you gave of political views were "Far Left" "Fox News" "Social Justice Warriors" whereas George Orwell would be concerned about how the seemingly staid mainstream's use of political language. 'smart bombs' 'neutralize target' 'pacification [of Vietnam]' etc are all vocabulary promulgated by establishment politicians and mainstream newspapers and vastly more dangerous than what "social justice warriors" try to foist.
- TheLarch 10y agoYou're right in that the mainstream is guilty as well. I see SJWs as attempting to suppress free speech however, which I perceive as unambiguously tyrannical.
- popmystack 10y agoDo you not see a problem with your rhetoric? "SJW" is something Orwell would take issue with, especially your use of it.
- TheLarch 10y agoI'm not so sure. "Social justice" often tramples free speech.