Book Review: Animal Farm by George Orwell

On this day in 1945, Animal Farm was published.

My good friend, Wazih likes saying that the dictatorship you like will always usher in the dictatorship you don't like.

That's the story of Animal Farm. The moment Snowball was chased out and no support for him was uttered, it was bound to happen; the farm was set for a dictatorship already. No one could have predicted how terrible it would turn out, but it was glaring that it was headed towards a path where dissent was no longer tolerated.

What fascinated me in this reading was the retelling of history that Squealer and Napoleon implemented. It is fascinating how repeated lies become conventional wisdom.

In all this story, the person I pitied the most was Boxer, and he was the most honest of all. He truly believed what he believed, yet he believed in error. That's a very unlucky life. With his zeal and strength, Boxer could have led another revolution on the farm, yet he thought, "I will work harder" and "Whatever Napoleon says is true." How tragic. Ultimately, he was betrayed and killed the way he hated the most. But what could he do? He was weak and sold out already. Too late for any change. Boxer's mistake was refusing to learn to read earlier at the beginning of the revolution. He would have been more empowered if he had learned to read.

Dictators always need men like Squealer; without Squealer, dictators can never last. It is rare for a dictator who makes noise a lot. Those who do often do not last long. The most successful dictators are the ones like Napoleon, who make their presence something mystical. From Kim Jun Un to Mugabe, to Hitler to Mussolini, and the ancient emperors, the mystery was part of their game plan.

I know Animal Farm is fiction, but it isn't. It was written as an explanation of the Russian revolution. The understanding of the world that George Orwell cast in that book still holds. What happened in Animal Farm is what happened in Uganda, Libya, Iraq, etc. Understanding George Orwell is understanding how the world works. It is a powerful book of political thinking. Like I always say, until you understand politics, you will never understand politicians.

Is George Orwell still relevant? It is relevant for all time, especially now, where populism is rising globally. We must be careful of Utopia. No political system on earth can offer that. Anytime a politician tells you he will change things, that's the best time to think twice

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Lastly, I think Animal Farm turned out the way it did because of the structure that already existed. Toppling a former master is not necessarily toppling a system. And sometimes, revolutionary leaders start with the best intentions, as I believe the Animal Farm revolution began, but the existing system has been put in place specifically to be extractive. It takes a genuinely extraordinary leader to change that; of course, it has been done before. That's one of the finest lessons from the American state. Of course, the American system is imperfect, but at the same time, it is the best one that has balanced the slope.

Thank you, Mac Senfat, for making me read this. I enjoyed it. It's time to try "1984".