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1948. War just over. The 57 Chevy and the culture it represents, one which I consumed in Hot Wheels form as a 70s kid, did not exist yet. No society, not even A

by jtode 4y ago

1948. War just over. The 57 Chevy and the culture it represents, one which I consumed in Hot Wheels form as a 70s kid, did not exist yet. No society, not even America, had put in a thoroughly modern highway system (aside from the Autobahn, maybe, but...), let alone rearranged their entire society's topology around individual use of high-fuel-consumption pleasure vehicles. Even here in North America, that was being planned, but not here yet. And Orwell was an Englishman writing in bombed-out, austerity-ridden, digging-itself-out-from-an-apocalypse England. Even today, they don't have the car culture that we have here, and I've seen a lot of pictures of horse and carts wending their way around the ruins of post-war London. I'm sure there were plenty of cars around, driven by dignitaries and princes and whatsorts, but I don't think they were used daily to get to work by your typical file clerk, or your typical village farmer, etc. It wouldn't even have occurred to him to write about a character's relationship with their car, or their even owning a personal car that wasn't tied to their profession (milk truck, taxicab, chauffeur), anymore than he would write about their tractor if the characters were agrarians; as much as the industrial revolution was in the distant past, the age of ubiquitous personal technology and obscene consumption had yet to be born. I am reminded of something from way deep in my brain's cellar, some sort of quasi-fascist screed by a Futurist artist or writer from the 30s about a marvelous "race-automobile" or something, but it was something completely different from the 50s-diner drive-in-movie car culture that is the background mythology we live with. More of a "let it all burn and bring the future forth!" kind of nihilist thing. I tried to google it but this was literally a class I took in high school in the 80s, sorry. Anyways, 1984 is an incredibly pessimistic novel about the future he saw coming, so any of his characters enjoying the sort of expansive freedom that I have, where I could literally walk out my door right now and be thousands of miles from here in a couple of days with nobody saying boo about it... even if it was a story of a personal struggle against a totalitarian state, it would be a different story than one where he runs the risk of being denounced by name in front of his entire society if he doesn't work hard enough at his morning exercise under the state's watchful eye. One that it would have been fairly magically prescient on his part to be able to extrapolate from his lived experience.

Pulcinella 4y ago
some sort of quasi-fascist screed by a Futurist artist or writer from the 30s about a marvelous "race-automobile" or something Yep that sounds exactly like the Futurist movement[0]. It basically was Fascist (or at least, intentionally intended to be highly compatible with Fascism). Fillipo Marinetti wrote both the Manifesto of Futurism and the Fadcist Manifesto and wanted Futurism to be the official art style of Mussolini’s Fascist Italy (though Mussolini really didn’t care much for art in general and Fascist Germany was far more interested in “traditional” German and “classical” art than Futurism). The Futurist Manifesto states: “We affirm that the beauty of the world has been enriched by a new form of beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing car . . . is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace.” [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurism https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurism
throwaway4aday 4y ago
Sorry but this is... a little imaginative. Britain was a fairly serious exporter of cars in the late 40s and there was a significant domestic demand with waiting lists measured in years for new purchases. This included people of middle class incomes and there were a lot of cars on the road prior to the war, 2.5 million by the mid 30s, so many that the number of pedestrians being killed by cars was a huge issue at the time. Car culture certainly peaked in the 50s but driving for pleasure was a big thing at the time, although it was called 'motoring'. So Orwell was very aware of the increasing use and interest in cars and he was certainly aware of his fellow Englishmen owning cars and driving them for fun. The more likely source for his exclusion of personal vehicles from 1984 is his vision of the world of 1984 as one of permanent war and rationing with everything being controlled by the state and individuals only receiving the barest of necessities. That world has such a paucity of personal property that Winston must make due with a nub of a pencil to write with. The chances of anybody in that world having a car are very slim, even for their ruling class. All their remaining manufacturing would be devoted solely to their war effort.
- hanoz 4y ago
  i.e. he foresaw, and saw through, you'll own nothing and be happy.

by jtode 4y ago

Pulcinella 4y ago

some sort of quasi-fascist screed by a Futurist artist or writer from the 30s about a marvelous "race-automobile" or something Yep that sounds exactly like the Futurist movement[0]. It basically was Fascist (or at least, intentionally intended to be highly compatible with Fascism). Fillipo Marinetti wrote both the Manifesto of Futurism and the Fadcist Manifesto and wanted Futurism to be the official art style of Mussolini’s Fascist Italy (though Mussolini really didn’t care much for art in general and Fascist Germany was far more interested in “traditional” German and “classical” art than Futurism). The Futurist Manifesto states: “We affirm that the beauty of the world has been enriched by a new form of beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing car . . . is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace.” [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurism https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurism

throwaway4aday 4y ago

Sorry but this is... a little imaginative. Britain was a fairly serious exporter of cars in the late 40s and there was a significant domestic demand with waiting lists measured in years for new purchases. This included people of middle class incomes and there were a lot of cars on the road prior to the war, 2.5 million by the mid 30s, so many that the number of pedestrians being killed by cars was a huge issue at the time. Car culture certainly peaked in the 50s but driving for pleasure was a big thing at the time, although it was called 'motoring'. So Orwell was very aware of the increasing use and interest in cars and he was certainly aware of his fellow Englishmen owning cars and driving them for fun. The more likely source for his exclusion of personal vehicles from 1984 is his vision of the world of 1984 as one of permanent war and rationing with everything being controlled by the state and individuals only receiving the barest of necessities. That world has such a paucity of personal property that Winston must make due with a nub of a pencil to write with. The chances of anybody in that world having a car are very slim, even for their ruling class. All their remaining manufacturing would be devoted solely to their war effort.

hanoz 4y ago
i.e. he foresaw, and saw through, you'll own nothing and be happy.