Four foot good, two foot bad!

I have rarely read a whole book, except in this semester for globalization and IR. I think I should read more, and the start was a very short but famous one – Animal Farm.

Having lived in a communist state, I admire the power of this book. It can really scare the dictators, and awaken the readers. I can’t imagine how Orwell could write down those words and predict what would be going on in communist states 66 years ago, but he did.

He really showed us how fragile we are to propagandas. We are smarter than the animals, in that we can remember more than the alphabet, but our minds are also washed everyday since our births. The education in the school and the media around us told us what to do, how to behave, and how to think. No matter how much freedom we seemingly have, we are who we are because of the society.

Fortunately, George Orwell didn’t predict the free flow of information brought by the internet and other modern technologies. In his another book, 1984, the technology is advanced, but it doesn’t benefit the general population. Today, everybody has so many options what to read and they can express their own opinions and share them with others. This is a progress and it can undermine the propaganda the ruling power wants to impose on the people. As a result, those governments are also spending a lot to influence their people through internet. (50-cent party)

That would return us to another question. What caused communism? George Orwell was a staunch believer of socialism. What he opposed to was dictatorship. So what caused the tragedy in the Soviet Union? Was it Stalin or the system? Could it be any different if it was Stalin who lost the power?

He can always argue that it could be different, but would it be that different? Joseph Stalin was wily and evil, but there could have been more Stalins if not this Stalin took power. Power will change people’s attitude and value. Few people will be the same if they have more power, and it seems to be the human nature that the communist system will fail, because however rosy the future it paints to the people, it won’t be in the interest of the rulers to achieve that, or even move any step closer to that goal.

However slowly the things are improving in democracy, it is the only path to success. You can always argue for authoritarianism, as people argued for Hitler and Stalin. You may say things are different, but we could recall that’s what people have said again and again. There will always be argument for dictatorship, but they will be proved unfounded, though it will be too late for many innocent lives.

Four foot good, two foot bad better. That is exactly what has happened in my country.