As long as we are using Orwell for our own purposes here, I thought I would
share a few other quotes from him...just for fun. :-)
"Insofar as it hampers the British war effort, British pacifism is on the
side of the Nazis, and German pacifism, if it exists, is on the side of
Britain and the USSR. Since pacifists have more freedom of action in
countries where traces of democracy survive, pacifism can act more
effectively against democracy than for it. Objectively, the pacifist is
pro-Nazi." George Orwell, from a review of Alex Comfort's book "No Such
Liberty: No Not One", Adelphi, October 1941
Another...this time from Orwell's Notes on Nationalism, 1945:
"There is a minority of intellectual pacifists whose real though unadmitted
motive appears to be hatred of western democracy and admiration of
totalitarianism. Pacifist propaganda usually boils down to saying that one
side is as bad as the other, but if one looks closely at the writings of
younger intellectual pacifists, one finds that they do not by any means
express impartial disapproval but are directed almost entirely against
Britain and the United States. Moreover they do not as a rule condemn
violence as such, but only violence used in defense of western countries."
I agree with the original post regarding Orwell's writing. It is prophetic
in so many ways...1984 may sound like Bush (at least to the writer of the
original post), but I also think the preceding quotes are just as
prophetic...and accurate. I also think that these quotes pretty much sum up
a lot of what passes for anti-war pacifism in this country now. Ignorance of
history and a form of idealism that would make Woodrow Wilson blush also come
in handy.
Brad L. Duren
Instructor of History
Oklahoma Panhandle State University
213 Hamilton Hall
Goodwell, Oklahoma 73939
work phone: 580-349-1498
email: Uriah768@aol.com
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