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To: otness_e
>>Honestly, I actually get irritated with the quote about “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”

Honestly, I think Orwell seems pretty well informed on the subject, but thanks for your opinion.

"Those who control the past control the future.
 Those who control the present control the past"

YMMV!

72 posted on 08/18/2017 10:48:05 PM PDT by HLPhat (It takes a Republic TO SECURE THESE RIGHTS - not a populist Tyranny of the Majority)
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To: HLPhat

Yeah, I agree about that bit regarding controlling the past controlling the future, and the past being controlled by the present (though even there, sometimes you don’t even NEED to do that if you are that dead set on repeating the past even when you know it’s going to involve at least as bad as a result back then), but with all due respect to Orwell, although he did do a fine job exposing the horrors of Stalinism, he never really came close to exposing the true extent of the horrors of Communism/Socialism (heck, if anything, he indicated it wasn’t even as bad as it was until Stalin took over).

Take Animal Farm, for example: The only pigs actually depicted as bad guys were Napoleon (who is evidently supposed to be Stalin) and Squealer (propaganda minister). Snowball, who is meant to be a Lenin/Trotsky expy, and Old Major, who is clearly supposed to be Karl Marx himself, are depicted as decent characters, instead of truly being depicted as villains.

Had I had my way with Animal Farm, I’d make darn sure that Old Major and Snowball are also depicted in a similar villainous light to Napoleon. In particular, I’d have Old Major, after giving that speech, then leaving and expressing satisfaction that, while he may not live to see it, he’ll be able to look forward to the day “animals eat each other”, in clear foreshadowing of Napoleon’s later actions. And for Snowball, make him just as bad as Napoleon, and even telling the animals to literally kill each other simply for his own amusement, and even encourage rebellions against him simply to keep Animalism from getting stale regarding bloodletting while executing anyone who he accuses of trying to assassinate him, make fully clear just how nightmarish Animalism, and thus Communism truly was.


73 posted on 08/19/2017 3:57:14 AM PDT by otness_e
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