Book Review: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farm and 1984 are the two classics written by George Orwell, both dealing with the issue of totalitarianism.  In a way, Animal Farm is a precursor to 1984, though the former was written prior to the latter.  It is also a “companion reader” to 1984, in which if you have read one book, you must read the other.

This novel, subtitled “A Fairy Story,” is imagined by the reader to be sort of a comic book, or a cartoon.  It deals with talking animals on a farm that live under the “tyranny” of a farmer, in which the animals produce all the food through hard work, or being slaughtered, and the farmer (Mr. Jones, in this case) takes it and gets all the produce, selling it to make money for himself, with the animals getting nothing.

The animals rebel and take over the farm, expelling Mr. Jones, and here, they run the farm themselves, forming a “nation.”  Of course it is called “Animal Farm.”

At first, they set up a Utopia, burning all reminders of slavery by humans, making all animals equal, posting “The Seven Commandments,” where animals don’t kill other animals, sleep in beds, drink alcohol, and man being the eternal enemy.  By nature, some animals are smarter than others, and there is a caste system of pigs, horses, sheep, goats, dogs, etc.  The pigs lead, with two opposing leaders, Snowball and Napoleon, with Squealer being a “messenger”.  Snowball is more democratic oriented and draws up plans for a windmill to produce electricity for comfort, but Napoleon then overthrows him and drives him off the farm, taking command.  

With Napoleon in charge, the animals work hard to build their “Utopia” but there are setbacks, as in building a windmill and then it being destroyed, twice.  (You may wonder if Napoleon planned this.)  The pigs hoard the apples, with the propaganda saying they need them for brain power, and here, the lies commence.  The pigs then start to hoard more of the luxurious items for themselves.  

The other animals work extremely hard, food is rationed, life is miserable, but the “propaganda minister,” Squealer, always comes out with statistics of life being better and more luxurious then it was under farmer Jones.  Tyranny abounds, animals are put to death, all of the “Seven Commandments” are violated, and life turns out just as bad, or worse, than how it was when owned by farmer Jones.

Like 1984, this book is a satire on society, but here, it depicts societies like Communist Russia, which is what the book originally depicted, but more countries could be added to the list.  It’s what happens when one country overthrows a tyranny, only to be replaced by another.  Examples include that of Russia, Cuba, and any African and South America country, where, a regime is overthrown, or a colony declared its independence, originally becomes a free society, and then, chaos ensues, and the country is a dictatorship.  

Orwell, in a way, was a little pessimistic on human society.  He grew up in England during the Industrial Revolution and has seen its effects of the working class.  He felt that tyranny is in reality, the natural order of any society, and a free society takes effort, education of the masses, and eternal vigilance, something that is hard to maintain.  If we leave societal rule to others and do nothing, or if we blindly follow what the leaders say and do, then that society will evolve into a tyranny.  I think this is the underlying message in this book.

Book Review: 1984 by George Orwell

The reading of George Orwell’s 1984 has been undergoing a revival, and for good reason.  It’s because of the election of Donald Trump, his new policies, and his behavior.  

Among his policies are literally attempting to eradicate the legacy of his predecessor, lying to the American people, and believing those lies, spreading fear and hatred of people from other cultures, to name a few.  His own election came from the very rich, individuals and corporations, controlling elections.

Don’t let the title fool you.  Although this book was written in 1948 (Orwell reversed the last two digits of that year for the title;  it was originally to be called “The Last Man in Europe”), the aspects of this book applies today more than ever.  It was never meant to be a prophecy.  It was and still is a satire of present day society, both Orwell’s time and ours.  We glided along to this without any interruptions, and it was meant to embellish the pitfalls of society should these present trends continue.  Trends meaning modern day governments and their controls on their peoples.  Here, Orwell was right on the mark.

To briefly summarize, the setting is in London, Airstrip One (Britain or England).  The world divided into three great superstates: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia, all expansions of the United States, Russia, and China, respectively.

Oceania is ruled by the party, headed by Big Brother.  There is the Inner Party, the Outer Party, and the Proles (the dumb masses, 85% of the population.  Nobody cares about them.)

Winston Smith works for the Outer Party, altering events in past publications by revising then news stories and putting (executed) people out of existence by erasing all traces of them, to prevent martyrdoms.

There is hatred of the other two superstates, eternal warfare with one or the other, a love for Big Brother, but no one else, and the language of Newspeak, a computer-like language meant to be reduced, until everyone speaks like a robot.  If anyone is found to be a freethinker, the Thought Police comes after them, destroys their sense of individuality, and completely breaking his spirit until becoming a shell of a men by unlimited torture and brainwashing, and then building him back up, putting in their party’s beliefs.  If the party says 2+2=5, the “convert” believes it.

This shows that any individual’s spirit, no matter how strong he thinks he is, can be broken, even if that person thinks otherwise. 

The party controls all knowledge, nature, history, and emotion.  Everyone must go along like robots or they get vaporized.

Winston Smith meets Julia, and they fall in love.  They make love, resist the party, and join the “Brotherhood.”  

Unfortunately, they are caught and are re-programmed.  The third section of the book depicts the re-programming of Winston Smith, through torture and brainwashing.

What is fascinating about this book are the parallels with today’s society.  Observe the political (and technical) scene in the U.S., and in other countries today.  Look at the masses routing for Trump, hating immigrants as if they are a threat.  Look at his imagined voter fraud scandal, and how he really believes it.  Look at his behavior, and most of his followers don’t care.  

We are on the verge of eternal warfare in the Middle East and Afghanistan, literally spending billions of dollars monthly, money that can otherwise be used to improve the quality of life here in the U.S.  Compare that to the party slogan, WAR IS PEACE!  

We have soft, euphemistic words for weapons (peacekeepers) and misdeeds (collateral damage) and Trump is in conflict with the media on news (Fake News;  Alternative Facts).

There are cameras watching certain places in cities (and this is especially true in London, England and Glasgow, Scotland).  The intention here is good, protecting our citizens from criminals, but in a way, we are sacrificing our privacy for security.

Computers, from ATMs to credit card devices in stores can literally track your every move, 24 hours a day.  (Orwell did not foresee the computer, though.)

We also support governments that torture their citizens, and there is a chance that we are doing it here in the U.S.

In this review, I have briefly summarized the plot of the book, and pointed out the parallels of this book in today’s society.  This may not literally become a reality, word for word, by all the settings in this book are with us today.  The book itself is bleak.  It freezes a point in time (the 1950s or early 1960s, I think)  and the classes in this society are permanent, never to change, never to improve, always a shortage of everything to support eternal war, with the use of terror, torture, and brainwashing for everyone to remain in their place, forever.

The bright spot in our own society, not the book, is that we all know what is happening, and steps are being taken to prevent this from becoming (too much of) a reality.  It can be reversed, but we don’t have much time.

If you haven’t read this book, READ IT!  If you’ve already read it, READ IT AGAIN!  You will get a clearer view on what this book is trying to tell you.

Book Review: The Givers - Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age

The federal deficit is rising and cuts are being made to the federal budget.  Taxes for the wealthy are also being cuts, balanced with cuts to programs that are vital to American society.  To pay for these tax cuts for the rich, there are to be cuts in public education, environmental protection, scientific research, especially that of medicine, and just about everything else benefitting society.

This is going to be the number one cause of the deterioration of America as a whole, with countries like China and India coming in and filling the vacuum.

Enter the new multi-billionaire philanthropists;  Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, Pete Peterson, to name a few, making their fortunes from Silicon Valley, or inheriting it, or starting new companies that straddle the world, and all having literally hundreds of billions of dollars to give away.  They are coming in to establish their own foundations, with goals such as to improve public schools, sustain colleges and universities, save the environment, fight climate change, support the arts, prevent wars from happening (yes), and fund medical research to find new cures, in lieu of the U.S. government.

One may think that all this will save America, but don’t jump to conclusions.  One doesn’t just throw money at a problem thinking that it will solve itself, something the government has learned (?) the hard way.  Many foundations have failed in their causes, regardless of the intent, and this is one of the reasons why.

What they’ve learned is, before giving out any money, formulate a plan on the cause.  For example, we want to reform a public school system in a city. See what is wrong with the schools, why they are adverse, and form a plan to improve them: new buildings, workshops, laboratories, better teachers (with decent pay), and new curriculums, and what to expect from the students.

Formulating a new plan applies to any and all fields of interests.

Many of these mega-philanthropists are getting together and forming their own organizations, one step above the foundation, in these fields of interests.

This book, in general, explains the concept, the causes they cover (and some of them will surprise you, like saving or abolishing Obamacare, or making a treaty with Iran), how these organizations of mega-philanthropists are formed, the money they have, and together, it’s massive, and most of all, the power they acquire.

Whether it is the government, huge corporations, or mega-philanthropists, money is power.

As this book progresses, it also points out the down-side of this new phenomenon, and what abuses can occur;  i.e. “We will help in your cause if you do this and this (support a political candidate, rally against raising taxes for the rich, read a certain book, etc.).  

In addition, mega philanthropy is reaching a good many people, but not the majority.  Funding Harvard, for example, benefits only those who attend Harvard.

All this results in filling a vacuum that the government leaves, but, like the government, it needs to be regulated, which it isn’t now.  Mega-philanthropists can literally set any rule they want.  The last chapter explains this and how this can be controlled.

Mega-philanthropy is a blessing to American society.  It is growing, and we desperately need it in order to survive, but it has to have regulations.  By the same token, the government cannot abandon support for research, development, education, and the environment, to name a few, that the U.S. badly needs if we are to continue to be prosperous.

Philanthropy and the U.S. government need to complement each other, not compete, or replace one another.  This book explains this new trend and how it can benefit society without being abusive or exclusive.

While reading this book, one can imagine new mega-projects not mentioned, such a macro-engineering projects, that a philanthropic organization, partnered with the government, can initiate, and construct.  A project that can benefit the world, beyond what we can presently imagine.  Think about it.

The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: 

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:

Column 1

Georgia:

   Button Gwinnett

   Lyman Hall

   George Walton

Column 2

North Carolina:

   William Hooper

   Joseph Hewes

   John Penn

South Carolina:

   Edward Rutledge

   Thomas Heyward, Jr.

   Thomas Lynch, Jr.

   Arthur Middleton

Column 3

Massachusetts:

John Hancock

Maryland:

Samuel Chase

William Paca

Thomas Stone

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:

George Wythe

Richard Henry Lee

Thomas Jefferson

Benjamin Harrison

Thomas Nelson, Jr.

Francis Lightfoot Lee

Carter Braxton

Column 4

Pennsylvania:

   Robert Morris

   Benjamin Rush

   Benjamin Franklin

   John Morton

   George Clymer

   James Smith

   George Taylor

   James Wilson

   George Ross

Delaware:

   Caesar Rodney

   George Read

   Thomas McKean

Column 5

New York:

   William Floyd

   Philip Livingston

   Francis Lewis

   Lewis Morris

New Jersey:

   Richard Stockton

   John Witherspoon

   Francis Hopkinson

   John Hart

   Abraham Clark

Column 6

New Hampshire:

   Josiah Bartlett

   William Whipple

Massachusetts:

   Samuel Adams

   John Adams

   Robert Treat Paine

   Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:

   Stephen Hopkins

   William Ellery

Connecticut:

   Roger Sherman

   Samuel Huntington

   William Williams

   Oliver Wolcott

New Hampshire:

   Matthew Thornton

Book Review: The Destruction of Hillary Clinton by Susan Bordo

More info is now coming out about how Putin and his cronies hacked the 2016 presidential election, and how the Trump campaign condoned it.  It is well known that Putin had a grudge against Clinton as Secretary of State and didn’t want her to ever become President, and how Trump saw this as an opportunity to steal the election from Hillary to become President himself.  The outcome of the investigation into this matter now in progress remains to be seen. 

As violating as this was, Russia, in reality played a small role into Hillary’s defeat, and even if they had no involvement, the outcome would have bee the same.  As much as Putin wants to believe otherwise, it really wouldn’t have made any difference.  The American press, the Republican party, and the American people themselves played the major role in depriving Hillary of her almost certain victory, and the author, Susan Bordo, who researched Hillary beginning with her college years recorded the entire process.

The cards were stacked against Hillary Clinton, from the very beginning.  She was an ardent feminist, one of only seven women to attend Harvard Law School back in 1968, with the resentment of many of her male colleagues.   She was a public defense lawyer, assigned by the courts to defend those who could not afford an attorney, sometimes defending those for crimes she herself despised.

Fast forward to marrying Bill Clinton and becoming first lady of Arkansas, where she worked in many organizations to defend children from sickness and abuse to keeping them out of prisons, later working for violence against women, and going as far as to help investigate Watergate at the request of the Senate Watergate Committee.  

Later, she worked to create a universal health care system (as first lady of the United States; she failed), worked to help rebuild the World Trade Center, to protect homeowners in keeping their homes from being foreclosed (partially successful), worked against climate change, for LGBTQ rights, (as a U.S. Senator from New York), tried to broker a cease fire between Hamas and Israel (as Secretary of State) and so on.  This entire list of her accomplishments (and it’s long) are at the end of Chapter 3, as an answer to Republican Presidential candidate Carly Fiorina's, challenge, “if you want to stump a Democrat, ask them to name an accomplishment of Mrs. Clinton’s.”  Ms. Bordo then gives this list, being three pages long;  and that didn’t include her college days.

Why then, with all this on her resume, did Hillary get defeated?  (She was defeated in the electoral process.  She won three million votes more than Trump in the popular vote.)  Not only was she defeated, she lost to a man who, as rich as he is, is known to be a liar, a cheat, quick tempered, to ruthlessly and openly insult people, make fun of the handicapped, look down upon women and is working to take away many of their rights they have worked decades to obtain, and hasn’t accomplished a thing ever since taking office.  Donald Trump once said in a speech, “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters.”  He’s right;  he can;  and, in a way, he has figuratively done just that.  The results 2016 election is proof of that.

What Hillary had against her, besides Vladimir Putin, was James Comey, head of the F.B.I.; Bernie Sanders supporters who could not bring themselves to vote for Hillary Clinton, and either voted for Trump, a third party, or chose not to vote;  the extreme Right;  faithful Republicans who always believed in their party, no matter who is nominated;  anyone who could never vote for a woman no matter how good she is;  the media that reported any and all “scandals” that turned out not to be that;  the emails on her private server when she served as Secretary of State is one;  no evidence was found of leaking any classified information;  Wikileaks giving out “scandalous” information about Hillary.  Note that none ever came out about Trump.  Most of all, there were while middle class women who, amazingly, want nothing to do with Hillary for fear of embarrassment, and even worse, many people, of all races, who enthusiastically voted for Obama didn’t bother to go out and vote in this election at all.  If they did, it would have been a different story.  This was simply a Campaign of hate!  You can understand all this from both reading the book and remembering what you’ve seen in the election of 2016.  They both go together.  The book is very accurate!

The ultimate incident that contributed to Hillary Clinton’s defeat began when Trump was revealed in a recording to brag about groping women and how easy it is for him to have sex, saying this in the most vulgar manner possible.  This recording made news all over the media, but eight days before the election, F.B.I director James Comey revealed that Hillary was under investigation for having email contacts with Anthony Weiner, a disgraced Congressman from New York and because of it, was suspected of revealing classified secrets from the State Department (again).  Interest in Trump’s revelations were dropped in favor of these accusations against Hillary.  Four days later, it was found that Hillary, again, committed no crime, but it was too late.  The damage had been done, and Hillary ended up losing to Trump.

This shows that no matter how badly Trump behaved, and there are many incidents in the book describing his misdeeds, anytime something about Hillary came up, no matter how trivial, Trump was forgiven and Hillary was under the microscope. 

This book is short but concise.  It’s easy to read, and it gives in great detail the entire battle between Clinton and Trump, and the trials and tribulations they both faced, but especially to Hillary.

The media pictured Hillary Clinton as a liar, a cheat, and conniving, but this book reveals the truth about her, and though not perfect, Hillary not only was none of these, but dedicated her life to causes of those less fortunate than her, those who were powerless but needed help and protection, and tried to save the sanity of this country.  Yes, she made mistakes like voting to get into Iraq, but has since rescinded on that.      

Everything negative that Hillary war depicted, we got in Donald Trump.  This shows her enemies projecting themselves on her.

Hillary would have made a much better president than Trump, and this fact is revealed more and more each day.  This book inadvertently shows what fools many of the American people are, for they are the real losers in the election of 2016.  So is the rest of the world.

We are now paying the price.

Alastair Browne