Like I've said before, the idea of authoritarianism is pure propaganda to exonerate the west from all the shit it has done, does and will do and instead position those things as aspects that belong to the enemy. Therefore the only truly bad things about the west is either shit it has done in the past or the threat that it will some day become like its enemies, it can never just be bad on its own cause "at least we arent authoritarian".
It possesses far more direct and overt references to the Soviet Union and propaganda about the Soviet Union than it ever does about Britain, if it was intended as a critique of Britain it failed at every step to establish that and we can obviously see this in how it is perceived by literally everyone everywhere, and furthermore it wouldnt matter even if all the literal obvious USSR references was removed cause again, the theory of Authoritarianism excludes all western countries that arent overt enemies of the west, Britain wasnt an enemy so at worst there was the fear that it may one day come to slightly resemble its enemies, not that it was and had always been authoritarian.
Okay. Sure, but Orwell's criticisms of Britain were grounded in having been a colonial policeman and having been homeless in Britain.
His criticisms of the Soviet Union were grounded in seeing them suppress the revolutionary left in Spain during the civil war.
He was criticizing both in order to advocate for the kind of socialist politics he'd be exposed to in Spain.
A lot of elements were clearly references to Britain, the tenements, the bucolic aesthetic of the proles, the rampant censorship, the forever wars, etc.
Like I've said before, the idea of authoritarianism is pure propaganda to exonerate the west from all the shit it has done, does and will do and instead position those things as aspects that belong to the enemy. Therefore the only truly bad things about the west is either shit it has done in the past or the threat that it will some day become like its enemies, it can never just be bad on its own cause "at least we arent authoritarian".
Friendly reminder that 1984 was a critique of post war Brita*n.
It possesses far more direct and overt references to the Soviet Union and propaganda about the Soviet Union than it ever does about Britain, if it was intended as a critique of Britain it failed at every step to establish that and we can obviously see this in how it is perceived by literally everyone everywhere, and furthermore it wouldnt matter even if all the literal obvious USSR references was removed cause again, the theory of Authoritarianism excludes all western countries that arent overt enemies of the west, Britain wasnt an enemy so at worst there was the fear that it may one day come to slightly resemble its enemies, not that it was and had always been authoritarian.
Okay. Sure, but Orwell's criticisms of Britain were grounded in having been a colonial policeman and having been homeless in Britain.
His criticisms of the Soviet Union were grounded in seeing them suppress the revolutionary left in Spain during the civil war.
He was criticizing both in order to advocate for the kind of socialist politics he'd be exposed to in Spain.
A lot of elements were clearly references to Britain, the tenements, the bucolic aesthetic of the proles, the rampant censorship, the forever wars, etc.