Changes

== Biography ==

== Biography ==

Orwell's political views began to move away from the far left when he volunteered to fight the Spanish [[Nationalist]] forces to keep them from overturning the [[Soviet]]-backed revolutionary socialist government of Spain<ref>"Since the fall of the Soviet Union and the opening of state archives in Moscow, scholarship has considerably darkened the view of the Communist role in Republican Spain.... [The] Spanish government... was in no serious sense democratic.... [I]t was composed largely of revolutionary parties that showed no willingness to allow the right wing a political future in Spain, and it was extremely brutal in its treatment of clerics, landowners, and suspected Fascists.... [It] was probably headed toward Soviet-style totalitarianism before Franco ever launched his rebellion.... Stalin was among the Spanish government’s first arms suppliers of choice." George Packer, "[http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/10/31/051031crbo_books#ixzz0mOubjsda The Spanish Prisoner]," ''The New Yorker'', October 31, 2005. Cf. Stanley G. Payne, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=Mmfv1Z4Z18YC The Spanish Civil War, the Soviet Union, and Communism]'' (Yale University Press, 2004) ISBN 030010068X</ref> in the [[Spаnish Civil War]] (1936-1939). He enlisted in the POUM (In English, Workers Party for Marxist Unity) Militia, and saw action on the Aragon front, where he fought side by side with Anаrchists and Communists, as well as Republican regulars.  

Orwell's political views began to move away from the far left when he volunteered to fight the Spanish [[Nationalist]] forces to keep them from overturning the [[Soviet]]-backed revolutionary socialist government of Spain<ref>"Since the fall of the Soviet Union and the opening of state archives in Moscow, scholarship has considerably darkened the view of the Communist role in Republican Spain.... [The] Spanish government... was in no serious sense democratic.... [I]t was composed largely of revolutionary parties that showed no willingness to allow the right wing a political future in Spain, and it was extremely brutal in its treatment of clerics, landowners, and suspected Fascists.... [It] was probably headed toward Soviet-style totalitarianism before Franco ever launched his rebellion.... Stalin was among the Spanish government’s first arms suppliers of choice." George Packer, "[http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/10/31/051031crbo_books#ixzz0mOubjsda The Spanish Prisoner]," ''The New Yorker'', October 31, 2005. Cf. Stanley G. Payne, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Mmfv1Z4Z18YC The Spanish Civil War, the Soviet Union, and Communism]'' (Yale University Press, 2004) ISBN 030010068X</ref> in the [[Spаnish Civil War]] (1936-1939). He enlisted in the POUM (In English, Workers Party for Marxist Unity) Militia, and saw action on the Aragon front, where he fought side by side with Anаrchists and Communists, as well as Republican regulars.  

He became disillusioned with the Spanish government's policy of withholding arms from the POUM and the Anarchists, which he saw as an attempt by the Communists to water down the revolutionary nature of the Anti-Fascist resistance, and centralize power in the hands of the Moscow-backed Communist Party. Taking a bullet through his neck but surviving, Orwell was invalided to Barcelona, where he witnessed the [[Stalin]]ist repression of [[Trotsky]]ist and [[Anarchist]] parties. Orwell and his wife were forced to escape from Spain as fugitives, after the POUM was banned by the increasingly repressive regime.  

He became disillusioned with the Spanish government's policy of withholding arms from the POUM and the Anarchists, which he saw as an attempt by the Communists to water down the revolutionary nature of the Anti-Fascist resistance, and centralize power in the hands of the Moscow-backed Communist Party. Taking a bullet through his neck but surviving, Orwell was invalided to Barcelona, where he witnessed the [[Stalin]]ist repression of [[Trotsky]]ist and [[Anarchist]] parties. Orwell and his wife were forced to escape from Spain as fugitives, after the POUM was banned by the increasingly repressive regime.  

*"In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia."<ref>http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm</ref>

*"In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia."<ref>http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm</ref>

*"It cannot be said too often&mdash; at any rate, it is not being said nearly often enough&mdash; that [[collectivism]] is not inherently [[democratic]], but, on the contrary, gives to a [[tyranny|tyrannical]] minority such powers as the [[Spanish Inquisition|Spanish Inquisitors]] never dreamt of."<ref>George Orwell, "Review, ''The Road to Serfdom'' by F. A. Hayek," The London ''Observer'', April 9, 1944, reprinted in Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus (eds.), ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=fCRLPIbLP8IC The Collected Essays, Journalism, & Letters of George Orwell, Vol. 3: As I Please, 1943-1945]'' (London: David R. Godine Publisher, 2000) ISBN 1567921353, p. 118</ref>

*"It cannot be said too often&mdash; at any rate, it is not being said nearly often enough&mdash; that [[collectivism]] is not inherently [[democratic]], but, on the contrary, gives to a [[tyranny|tyrannical]] minority such powers as the [[Spanish Inquisition|Spanish Inquisitors]] never dreamt of."<ref>George Orwell, "Review, ''The Road to Serfdom'' by F. A. Hayek," The London ''Observer'', April 9, 1944, reprinted in Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus (eds.), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=fCRLPIbLP8IC The Collected Essays, Journalism, & Letters of George Orwell, Vol. 3: As I Please, 1943-1945]'' (London: David R. Godine Publisher, 2000) ISBN 1567921353, p. 118</ref>

*"To this day it gives me a faint feeling of sacrilege not to stand to attention during ‘God save the King’. That is childish, of course, but I would sooner have had that kind of upbringing than be like the [[left-wing]] intellectuals who are so ‘enlightened’ that they cannot understand the most ordinary emotions."<ref>George Orwell, "My Country, Right or Left," ''New Folios of Writing'', Autumn 1940, reprinted in Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus (eds.), [http://books.google.com/books?id=0j2qODEJkdoC ''The Collected Essays, Journalism, & Letters of George Orwell, Vol. 1: An age like this, 1920-1940]'' (London: David R. Godine Publisher, 2000) ISBN 1567921337, p. 540</ref>

*"To this day it gives me a faint feeling of sacrilege not to stand to attention during ‘God save the King’. That is childish, of course, but I would sooner have had that kind of upbringing than be like the [[left-wing]] intellectuals who are so ‘enlightened’ that they cannot understand the most ordinary emotions."<ref>George Orwell, "My Country, Right or Left," ''New Folios of Writing'', Autumn 1940, reprinted in Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus (eds.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=0j2qODEJkdoC ''The Collected Essays, Journalism, & Letters of George Orwell, Vol. 1: An age like this, 1920-1940]'' (London: David R. Godine Publisher, 2000) ISBN 1567921337, p. 540</ref>

*"It is all very well to be 'advanced' and 'enlightened,' to snigger at Colonel Blimp and proclaim your emancipation from all traditional loyalties, but a time comes when the sand of the desert is sodden red and what have I done for thee, England, my England? As I was brought up in this tradition myself I can recognise it under strange disguises, and also sympathise with it, for even at its stupidest and most sentimental it is a comelier thing than the shallow self-righteousness of the left-wing intelligentsia."<ref>George Orwell, "The Limit to Pessimism," ''New English Weekly'', April 25, 1940, reprinted in Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus (eds.), [http://books.google.com/books?id=0j2qODEJkdoC ''The Collected Essays, Journalism, & Letters of George Orwell, Vol. 1: An age like this, 1920-1940]'' (London: David R. Godine Publisher, 2000) ISBN 1567921337, p. 535</ref>

*"It is all very well to be 'advanced' and 'enlightened,' to snigger at Colonel Blimp and proclaim your emancipation from all traditional loyalties, but a time comes when the sand of the desert is sodden red and what have I done for thee, England, my England? As I was brought up in this tradition myself I can recognise it under strange disguises, and also sympathise with it, for even at its stupidest and most sentimental it is a comelier thing than the shallow self-righteousness of the left-wing intelligentsia."<ref>George Orwell, "The Limit to Pessimism," ''New English Weekly'', April 25, 1940, reprinted in Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus (eds.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=0j2qODEJkdoC ''The Collected Essays, Journalism, & Letters of George Orwell, Vol. 1: An age like this, 1920-1940]'' (London: David R. Godine Publisher, 2000) ISBN 1567921337, p. 535</ref>

*"One sometimes gets the impression that the mere words '[[Socialism]]' and '[[Communism]]' draw towards them with magnetic force every fruit-juice drinker, nudist, sandal-wearer, sex-maniac, Quaker, 'Nature Cure' quack, [[pacifist]] and [[feminist]] in England."<ref>George Orwell, ''[http://www.feedbooks.com/book/1259.pdf The Road to Wigan Pier]'' (London: Victor Gollancz, 1937), p. 115</ref>

*"One sometimes gets the impression that the mere words '[[Socialism]]' and '[[Communism]]' draw towards them with magnetic force every fruit-juice drinker, nudist, sandal-wearer, sex-maniac, Quaker, 'Nature Cure' quack, [[pacifist]] and [[feminist]] in England."<ref>George Orwell, ''[http://www.feedbooks.com/book/1259.pdf The Road to Wigan Pier]'' (London: Victor Gollancz, 1937), p. 115</ref>

*"If only the sandals and pistachio-colored shirts could be put in a pile and burnt, and every vegetarian, [[teetotalism|teetotaler]] and creeping Jesus sent home to Welwyn Garden City to do his yoga exercises quietly. As with the Christian religion, the worst advertisement for Socialism is its adherents."<ref>George Orwell, ''[http://www.feedbooks.com/book/1259.pdf The Road to Wigan Pier]'' (London: Victor Gollancz, 1937), p. 147</ref>

*"If only the sandals and pistachio-colored shirts could be put in a pile and burnt, and every vegetarian, [[teetotalism|teetotaler]] and creeping Jesus sent home to Welwyn Garden City to do his yoga exercises quietly. As with the Christian religion, the worst advertisement for Socialism is its adherents."<ref>George Orwell, ''[http://www.feedbooks.com/book/1259.pdf The Road to Wigan Pier]'' (London: Victor Gollancz, 1937), p. 147</ref>

*"The word ''[[Fascism]]'' has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies 'something not desirable'.... Since you don't know what Fascism is, how can you struggle against Fascism?"<ref>George Orwell, "[http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm Politics and the English Language]," ''Horizon'', vol. 13, issue 76 (April 1946), reprinted in Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus (eds.), [http://books.google.com/books?id=0j2qODEJkdoC ''The Collected Essays, Journalism, & Letters of George Orwell, Vol. 4: In Front of Your Nose, 1946-1950]'' (London: David R. Godine Publisher, 2000) ISBN 1567921337, pp. 132-139</ref>

*"The word ''[[Fascism]]'' has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies 'something not desirable'.... Since you don't know what Fascism is, how can you struggle against Fascism?"<ref>George Orwell, "[http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm Politics and the English Language]," ''Horizon'', vol. 13, issue 76 (April 1946), reprinted in Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus (eds.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=0j2qODEJkdoC ''The Collected Essays, Journalism, & Letters of George Orwell, Vol. 4: In Front of Your Nose, 1946-1950]'' (London: David R. Godine Publisher, 2000) ISBN 1567921337, pp. 132-139</ref>

*"[T]here is a minority of intellectual pacifists whose real though unadmitted motive appears to be hatred of [[Western]] [[democracy]] and admiration for [[totalitarianism]]. Pacifist [[propaganda]] usually boils down to saying that one side is as bad as the other, but if one looks closely at the writings of younger intellectual pacifists, one finds that they do not by any means express impartial disapproval but are directed almost entirely against [[Britain]] and the [[United States]]."<ref>George Orwell, "Notes on Nationalism," ''Polemic'', October 1945, reprinted in Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus (eds.), ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=fCRLPIbLP8IC The Collected Essays, Journalism, & Letters of George Orwell, Vol. 3: As I Please, 1943-1945]'' (London: David R. Godine Publisher, 2000) ISBN 1567921353, p. 374</ref>

*"[T]here is a minority of intellectual pacifists whose real though unadmitted motive appears to be hatred of [[Western]] [[democracy]] and admiration for [[totalitarianism]]. Pacifist [[propaganda]] usually boils down to saying that one side is as bad as the other, but if one looks closely at the writings of younger intellectual pacifists, one finds that they do not by any means express impartial disapproval but are directed almost entirely against [[Britain]] and the [[United States]]."<ref>George Orwell, "Notes on Nationalism," ''Polemic'', October 1945, reprinted in Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus (eds.), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=fCRLPIbLP8IC The Collected Essays, Journalism, & Letters of George Orwell, Vol. 3: As I Please, 1943-1945]'' (London: David R. Godine Publisher, 2000) ISBN 1567921353, p. 374</ref>

*"Fifteen years ago, when one defended the freedom of the intellect, one had to defend it against [[Conservative]]s, against [[Catholic]]s, and to some extent&mdash;for they were not of great importance in England&mdash;against  Fascists. Today one has to defend it against [[Communist]]s and ‘fellow travellers’"<ref>George Orwell, "The Prevention of Literature," ''Polemic'', No. 2 (January 1946), reprinted in Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus (eds.), ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=zaxG_3ivhVAC The Collected Essays, Journalism, & Letters of George Orwell, Vol. 4: In Front of Your Nose, 1946-1950]'' (London: David R. Godine Publisher, 2000) ISBN 1567921361, p. 62</ref>

*"Fifteen years ago, when one defended the freedom of the intellect, one had to defend it against [[Conservative]]s, against [[Catholic]]s, and to some extent&mdash;for they were not of great importance in England&mdash;against  Fascists. Today one has to defend it against [[Communist]]s and ‘fellow travellers’"<ref>George Orwell, "The Prevention of Literature," ''Polemic'', No. 2 (January 1946), reprinted in Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus (eds.), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=zaxG_3ivhVAC The Collected Essays, Journalism, & Letters of George Orwell, Vol. 4: In Front of Your Nose, 1946-1950]'' (London: David R. Godine Publisher, 2000) ISBN 1567921361, p. 62</ref>

*"War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it."

*"War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it."