Newsgroups: sci.space.history
From: henry@spsystems.net (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: 2001: And in the plus column .... ?
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 00:53:23 GMT

In article <jp5m6tgjso9or0tl8ql6fm3r039kb3asai@4ax.com>,
OM  <om@RE_MOVE_THIS.ccsi.com> wrote:
>"1984", however, did its job by helping to -prevent- its becoming
>reality. By pointing out how Stalin's form of communism in the Evil
>Soviet Empire would totally fuck over everyone if it spread world
>wide, it gave a lot of wafflers something to think about when choosing
>between capitalism or communism.

Small but important correction:  the world of "1984" was not the result of
the spread of communism, but rather the result of the capitalist world
gradually and voluntarily making itself over into a totalitarian state to
*fight* communism.

Strong tendencies in that direction were visible even at the time --
Orwell's original working title was not "1984" but "1948" -- and had been
for a while.  For example, one big reason why England was so slow to go to
war against Hitler was fears of Communism in the British aristocracy:
major instability in Europe was thought (correctly!) to be likely to lead
to the spread of Communism, and no dictator was too vile to embrace if he
was firmly anti-Communist and promised stability and order.  (Does this
sound familiar?)
--
When failure is not an option, success  |  Henry Spencer   henry@spsystems.net
can get expensive.   -- Peter Stibrany  |      (aka henry@zoo.toronto.edu)