Orwell was a communist, though. It sort of confuses me what he meant by all that. Did he not understand that the kind of mistreatment of humanity was what he

Orwell was a communist, though. It sort of confuses me what he meant by all that. Did he not understand that the kind of mistreatment of humanity was what he supported? I have read his memoirs and articles, I know he was a smart guy who took big chances in Spain and places. I just don't understand why such intelligent people support big, top-down, collectivist structures.