Something us fundamently wrong with people, prior generations would never surrender their right without realizin or caring in prior generation. The entire west is going dull 1984.
1984 seems based on Orwell’s experiences working for the British government at the time, so in a very real sense the west has been that way for a while
I didn’t know that part. I think everyone involved in the spanish civil war came away jaded though. Which communists did he inform on then, in the UK? Do you recall the years he started?
He didn’t seem to be much of a fan of british intelligence when he was writing his books anyway, he didn’t pull any punches.
Could you elaborate on the “coming away jaded” after the Spanish civil war? I’m interested on an outsider’s opinion (assuming you’re not a Spaniard like me)
No I’m an American with limited knowledge of the spanish civil war, I should know more but I don’t. I read half of for whom the bells toll, by Hemingway, didn’t particularly like the book either not that much of a hemingway fan, I hate him because he hunted big game animals too.
Just everyone you heard about that fought in the Spanish Civil war for the socialists, and I think it was fairly common for idealists to come to spain to fight with them just like europeans did in the American revolution, they all seemed to have lost their idealism and became pessimistic, like Orwell.
Yeah, that’s a common sentiment by idealists facing real, material revolutions. Kropotkin and Babushka Breshko-Breshkovskaya had similar fallouts with the Bolsheviks after 1917.
a big part of it was people seeing first hand the Soviet’s sabotaging the CNT-FAI’s efforts, which I imagine was part of what turned Orwell against communists later in his life.
I still contend that if the Soviet’s supported the Syndicalists as much as the Nazis supported the Nationalists, CNT-FAI would have won the war.
How big of a part was it the Soviets sabotaging the CNT-FAI? Can you point to the extent of sabotage and the main avenues through which it happened? It’s an accusation I hear thrown around a lot, but when I ask about the actual sabotage and what it consisted of and its extent, I rarely receive an answer
If you’re interested, I’d recommend reading through the works of José Peirats, especially The CNT in the Spanish Revolution: Volume 3 which details the numerous different ways that the Soviets suppressed and terrorized the syndicalists, going as far as imprisoning and torturing anarchists and anti-fascists.
Something us fundamently wrong with people, prior generations would never surrender their right without realizin or caring in prior generation. The entire west is going dull 1984.
1984 seems based on Orwell’s experiences working for the British government at the time, so in a very real sense the west has been that way for a while
He got disillusioned volunteering with the socialists in the spanish civil war. Hemimgway too.
“Got disillusioned” is a very mild term for turning into an MI6 stooge and reporting communists to intelligence agencies, the fucking prick!
I didn’t know that part. I think everyone involved in the spanish civil war came away jaded though. Which communists did he inform on then, in the UK? Do you recall the years he started?
He didn’t seem to be much of a fan of british intelligence when he was writing his books anyway, he didn’t pull any punches.
Wikipedia article on Orwell’s list
Could you elaborate on the “coming away jaded” after the Spanish civil war? I’m interested on an outsider’s opinion (assuming you’re not a Spaniard like me)
No I’m an American with limited knowledge of the spanish civil war, I should know more but I don’t. I read half of for whom the bells toll, by Hemingway, didn’t particularly like the book either not that much of a hemingway fan, I hate him because he hunted big game animals too.
Just everyone you heard about that fought in the Spanish Civil war for the socialists, and I think it was fairly common for idealists to come to spain to fight with them just like europeans did in the American revolution, they all seemed to have lost their idealism and became pessimistic, like Orwell.
Yeah, that’s a common sentiment by idealists facing real, material revolutions. Kropotkin and Babushka Breshko-Breshkovskaya had similar fallouts with the Bolsheviks after 1917.
a big part of it was people seeing first hand the Soviet’s sabotaging the CNT-FAI’s efforts, which I imagine was part of what turned Orwell against communists later in his life.
I still contend that if the Soviet’s supported the Syndicalists as much as the Nazis supported the Nationalists, CNT-FAI would have won the war.
How big of a part was it the Soviets sabotaging the CNT-FAI? Can you point to the extent of sabotage and the main avenues through which it happened? It’s an accusation I hear thrown around a lot, but when I ask about the actual sabotage and what it consisted of and its extent, I rarely receive an answer
If you’re interested, I’d recommend reading through the works of José Peirats, especially The CNT in the Spanish Revolution: Volume 3 which details the numerous different ways that the Soviets suppressed and terrorized the syndicalists, going as far as imprisoning and torturing anarchists and anti-fascists.