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Forum Post: Orwell on Socialism

Posted 10 years ago on Jan. 25, 2014, 6:55 p.m. EST by TGN (48)
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"One had breathed the air of equality. I am well aware that it is now the fashion to deny that Socialism has anything to do with equality. In every country in the world a huge tribe of party-hacks and sleek little professors are busy 'proving' that Socialism means no more than a planned state-capitalism with the grab-motive left intact. But fortunately there also exists a vision of Socialism quite different from this." George Orwell - Homage to Catalonia page 104.

I'm glad more and more people in the U.S. are gaining a more accurate & nuanced view of what socialism really is, than what the pundits have for years mislead them into believing. The recent election in Seattle of a socialist or Bernie Sanders continuing rise in public recognition, or even the campaign to increase minimum wage could be among the many indications of this. And as Orwell pointed out, true socialism ultimately emerge from the people and not from the state sector, as many in the U.S. had seemed to think.

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[-] 3 points by shadz66 (19985) 10 years ago

''Democratic and Republican politicians alike primarily serve the interests of big business. A completely dysfunctional Congress DOES manage to agree on one thing—regular increases in their already bloated salaries—yet at the same time allows the federal minimum wage to stagnate and fall farther and farther behind inflation. We have the obscene spectacle of the average corporate CEO getting seven thousand dollars an hour, while the lowest-paid workers are called presumptuous in their demand for just fifteen. To begin to change all of this, we need organized mass movements of workers and young people, relying on their own independent strength.'' from :

''Sanders is unique in American politics. In a country dominated by a two-party system, he is one of only two independents in the Senate (the other being Joe Lieberman). In a political landscape where "socialist" is essentially a curse word, he has carved out a successful political career, with a solid base of support in his home state. Tall, with a shock of white hair and a slightly dishevelled appearance even when wearing a smart suit, he speaks with the thick Brooklyn accent of his working-class childhood, even while inhabiting the rarefied atmosphere of the Senate.

''Sanders also pounds out the same message every day: the middle class is being destroyed, the government needs to create jobs, the banks are corrupt and big money has bought both political parties and made a mockery of American democracy. His Twitter feed features a constant repetition of economic facts. A few samples from recent days:

  • "Corporate tax revenue in 2010 was 27% lower than 2000, even though corporate profits are up 60% over the last decade."

  • "Since 2000, over 12 million Americans have lost their health insurance."

  • "Since 2000, nearly 12 million Americans have slipped out of the middle class and into poverty."

''Such opinions would hardly make Sanders stand out in much of the rest of the world. His beliefs – which idolise Scandinavian-style social democracy – would fit comfortably in the middle left of Britain's Labour party or Germany's SPD. But it is impossible to over-state just how much of a political death sentence being called a "socialist" – nevermind actually proudly proclaiming it – usually is in America.''

~

Further also consider :

Thanx TGN for a lovely forum-post. You bring The Good News ~*~

per aspera ad astra ...

[-] 3 points by TGN (48) 10 years ago

Here's more:

"I had dropped more or less by chance into the only community of any size in Western Europe where political consciousness and disbelief in capitalism were more normal than their opposites. Up here in Aragon one was among tens of thousands of people, mainly though not entirely of working-class origin, all living at the same level and mingling on terms of equality. In theory it was perfect equality, and even in practice it was not far from it. There is a sense in which it would be true to say that one was experiencing a foretaste of Socialism, by which I mean that the prevailing mental atmosphere was that of Socialism. Many of the normal motives of civilized life-snobbishness, money-grubbing, fear of the boss, etc.-had simply ceased to exist...

The thing that attracts ordinary men to Socialism and makes them willing to risk their skins for it, the 'mystique' of Socialism, is the idea of equality; to the vast majority of people Socialism means a classless society, or it means nothing at all." George Orwell - Homage to Catalonia

[-] 3 points by shadz66 (19985) 10 years ago

''Clarity about the aims and problems of socialism is of greatest significance in our age of transition. Since, under present circumstances, free and unhindered discussion of these problems has come under a powerful taboo ... '' from :

Thanx for the great excerpts from 'HtC'. Solidarity.

fiat lux ...

[Removed]

[-] 3 points by beautifulworld (23769) 10 years ago

Socialism is love for all people.