Animal Farm
I read Animal Farm a while back, but never got around to post an entry on it. There is very little I can say about this that hasnt been said about a million times already. But I do want to make a couple of points.
I found the Preface specially interesting. Orwell talks about the difficulties in getting this book published, thanks to the Ministry of Information and the self-censorship imposed by British publishers. What this really shows is how capitalism can be no better than socialism if the government (or any one entity) gets too strong. Thats what is happening in the US today (think Microsoft, RIAA, DMCA, etc.).
The other really interesting thing was how the Seven Commandments of the Animal Farm change over time. For example, “No animal shall sleep in a bed” becomes “No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets“, “No animal shall dring alcohol” becomes “No animal shall drink alcohol in excess“, and the classic “All animals are equal” becomes “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others“.
This reminds me of something that was pointed out to me recently. Moses’ commandment “Thou shalt not kill” got changed to “Thou shalt not kill another human being” over time to make eating meat okay. Changes like these happen all the time, and are forgotten by the society in a couple of generations. This is not something specific to socialism, or the type of governance.
The book gives a very vivid description of what was going on in USSR under Stalin, but I feel that a talented author can write a similar book on all the bad things going on in the western world today. With China advancing at the rate it is, one thing that is pretty clear is that democracy is not a necissity for efficient functioning of a country, and that socialism is not necessarily an evil.
Both capitalism and socialism have their perils. Its all a matter of perspective and either can be made to look worse than the other.
All animals are equal, But some animals are more equal than others.
I will work harder.
I detest what you say; I will defend to death your right to say it. - Voltaire
March 17th, 2004 at 5:16 am
China’s success cannot be attributed to it’s form of government. And success isn’t purely measured in economic terms.
But yes, depending on the people and the way they wish to be governed and the way they react to individual enterprise (the US)versus order (China), models of govt can be worked out.
March 17th, 2004 at 10:27 pm
The key to success is Discipline. In any field or in any form government it is Discipline that is key to success.
March 21st, 2004 at 8:10 am
shall be reading this book this week..
March 21st, 2004 at 11:30 pm
Sounds interesting. I will definitely purchase this book.
Well written analysis. I agree with you both capitalism and socialism have their drawbacks. I want to add that the person implementing it matters a lot and how he chooses his team.