3 ms·

At that time in Europe "socialism" basically just meant "good". It was a stand in for a government where you care about each other. Then there's the more "theo

by culi 4y ago

At that time in Europe "socialism" basically just meant "good". It was a stand in for a government where you care about each other. Then there's the more "theoretical" definition of socialism. In the US it might seem bewildering why Orwell considered the anarchists of that war to be the "true socialists" (despite Orwell being a communist, he had a lot of support for them). But the truth is that both anarchism and communism far pretty well within the boundaries of socialist theory historically. And that's quite evident when you think about the fact that the final goal of both of these theories is a stateless society

ncmncm 4y ago
What Orwell wrote about the Communists in Spain would not lead anyone to place him among them.
- adrian_b 4y ago
  That what he wrote was written after he knew from personal experience the reality of Communism, which converted him from a supporter of Communism into an opponent of it.
  - qikInNdOutReply 4y ago
    There was a infamous forgotten year, were europes "on party line" communists (also in england) cheered on germany, because that was a ally of moscow then. Those who hated on orwell, really showed their colors back then. Totalitarians, just with different decorations.
VieEnCode 4y ago
Orwell wasn’t a communist. “Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it.”
- typon 4y ago
  Not sure if this is a joke, but you are equating communism with totalitarianism, which is the opposite
  - Nitramp 4y ago
    I think you're referring to Communism-the-abstract-concept, whereas Orwell and OP are referring the Communism-what-actually-happened-everywhere-we-tried-it. The former is a utopic ruler-less society, the latter ends up being a totalitarian terror state brutalizing its impoverished citizens. The very point of Orwell was recognizing this, and the fundamental similarity across totalitarian ideologies.

by culi 4y ago

ncmncm 4y ago

What Orwell wrote about the Communists in Spain would not lead anyone to place him among them.

adrian_b 4y ago
That what he wrote was written after he knew from personal experience the reality of Communism, which converted him from a supporter of Communism into an opponent of it.
- qikInNdOutReply 4y ago
  There was a infamous forgotten year, were europes "on party line" communists (also in england) cheered on germany, because that was a ally of moscow then. Those who hated on orwell, really showed their colors back then. Totalitarians, just with different decorations.

VieEnCode 4y ago

Orwell wasn’t a communist. “Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it.”

typon 4y ago
Not sure if this is a joke, but you are equating communism with totalitarianism, which is the opposite
- Nitramp 4y ago
  I think you're referring to Communism-the-abstract-concept, whereas Orwell and OP are referring the Communism-what-actually-happened-everywhere-we-tried-it. The former is a utopic ruler-less society, the latter ends up being a totalitarian terror state brutalizing its impoverished citizens. The very point of Orwell was recognizing this, and the fundamental similarity across totalitarian ideologies.