If the pursuit of freedom is the eternal theme of human history, then despotism and dictatorship are the curse of history on mankind, and the result achieved under the banner of the pursuit of equality is often to make "some people more equal." The utopia of "uniformity everywhere, keeping warm everywhere" and the imperial dream of "eternal life and endless transmission" have simultaneously become the flowers of the other side in front of human beings. In what way will human beings be organized so that the masses can truly realize their dreams? Monarchy, republic, fascism, socialism, among these political assumptions that appear in human politics like a marquee, who is the real remedy for the world? And these doctrines are often accompanied by impassioned revolutionary declarations, in which orators make one beautiful promise after another in exchange for their support for the revolution.
Revolution is undoubtedly an effective means to overthrow the old system and create a new system, but using the revolution as a means can never guarantee whether the result can really realize the beautiful promise of freedom, equality and justice. The "Napoleon" in the film was once a revolutionary warrior who charged ahead, but as soon as he took power, "those who obey me prosper and those who oppose me perish", establishing an autocratic regime that devotes allegiance to individuals. Therefore, personal goodness is always unreliable. This kind of understanding is especially common in the United States, from the Federalists' sober realization that "if everyone is an angel, there is no need for government" to the developed press and publishing industry to the founding of the nation Twenty-seven constitutional amendments have been promulgated over the past two hundred years. Distrust of power is deeply engraved in American nationality, and law is undoubtedly the most effective way to regulate power. Moreover, this restraint on power is by no means ideological.
Orwell's works are always classified as "anti-communist literature", but Orwell himself was a true socialist. He hopes to use the sharpest irony to exterminate the autocratic cancer parasitic on socialism, and use the transformed theoretical weapons to build a happy society. Reading Orwell's work often smells like the Soviet Union, a not-so-pleasant odor—full of false tones of vigour on the surface and corruption on the inside. The animal leaders in the film eventually became corrupt and depraved—violating the oath they made with other animals. In reality, the hopeless corruption of the privileged class is also considered to be one of the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union.
But if our discussion ends with hatred and criticism of corruption, it may be shallow. Also in high positions, why are most of the senior officials in the United States still able to maintain integrity, while the senior officials in the Soviet Union have formed a huge corrupt class? Could it be that the Soviets were born more easily seduced than Americans, and were more likely to become prisoners of desire? I think the answer is obviously no. The ancients of China said, "Oranges born in Huainan are oranges, and those born in Huaibei are oranges." The two superpowers in the world last prospered and lost, and the very different political and cultural foundations are the root causes.
Comparing the differences between the Soviet Union and the United States, the biggest difference is that the Soviet Union always put the state before the individual, while in the United States the state often came after the individual. In fact, the most important thing in a modern state is the pair of propositions "power-right". Different coordination methods determine different state essences. In a country where public power always suppresses private rights, the value of individuals is suppressed to an infinitesimal level, and individuals are not even the object of national development. In a constitutional country, civil rights are the eternal theme, and the function of the constitution is to "expressly stipulate the scope of government power, the establishment of state organs, the organization and its functions and powers, and the relationship between various state organs". Only by defining the boundaries of power can the development of individual rights be infinite. This is because logically speaking, only by clarifying the boundaries of power can it be confirmed that beyond the boundaries are individual rights and not the other way around. Therefore, the core of the constitution is precisely through proper System design does a good job of limiting power.
History clearly tells us that unrestrained power will destroy values such as fairness, justice, human rights, etc., and a country that is laissez-faire to public power will only create endless dictators and revolutionaries. Ideology and autocratic democracy are actually two propositions. If you think that democracy is only the patent of capitalist society, you will undoubtedly throw dirty water and children together. There is no doubt that the film itself conveys a bitter satire of the privileged under the autocracy, but what is less known is that when Orwell was writing, Britain and the Soviet Union were still allies, and the ironic theme of Animal Farm The environment was so out of place that it was rejected by five publishing houses before the manuscript was finally released. It was not until 1945, when the Cold War began to emerge, that this book became expensive. The worldwide reputation of "Animal Farm" is hard to say without the United States pursuing a "Cold War" policy to attack the Soviet Union, but in terms of Orwell's personal socialist identity, his criticism is based on destroying authoritarian socialism. Building the political ideal of social democracy.
Now that more than half a century has passed since Orwell's era, as a fable, "Animal Farm" surprisingly predicts the distorted trajectory of most socialist countries. Will this fable continue in this century? The magic power of Orwell is unknown, but there is no doubt that "one more person watching Orwell, the more freedom is guaranteed".
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