George Orwell's writings have experienced a spike in popularity over the past decade, and for a simple reason:
modern societies are becoming evermore like the dystopia depicted in Orwell's most famous book 1984.
Whether it be mass surveillance, the incessant use of propaganda, perpetual war or the cult of personality
surrounding political leaders, it is not surprising that many see Orwell's novel as prescient in many ways.
With that said the West remains much freer than the dystopian society of 1984
But the trend does not bode well for those who favor a free society
Orwell in fact believe that totalitarianism of the type he satirized in his novel was a distinct possibility
For the West and at times he went as far as to suggest that it may in fact be inevitable
"Almost certainly,"  he wrote in 1940, "we are moving into an age of
Totalitarian dictatorships. In this video we will look at what caused Orwell's pessimism,
focusing on two trends in particular the move toward collectivism in the rise of hedonism.
Collectivism is a doctrine or set of
ideologies in which the goals of a certain collective, such as a state and nation or society, are given precedence over the goals of individuals.
Socialism Communism Nationalism and Fascism are all collectivist ideologies. Orwell believed that a precondition for the rise of
Totalitarianism was the emergence of a collectivist social structure as this permits the centralization of power
needed to exert total societal control. Orwell's view of the connection between
totalitarianism and collectivism has proved puzzling, as Orwell was a staunch leftist a critic of capitalism and a socialist.
How could someone who favoured socialism (a collectivist ideology) at the same time write a
dystopian novel which portrays a collectivist society in such a horrific manner?
To understand his position it must first be realized that Orwell did not consider capitalism to be a viable system.
"It is not  certain that socialism is an always superior to capitalism," he wrote, "but it is certain that
unlike capitalism it can solve the problems of production and consumption."
Capitalism was such an inadequate system in Orwell's mind
Like many leftists of his day
He believed that it was on its deathbed in would soon be replaced by some form of collectivism
He saw this as inevitable. The issue for Orwell was what type of collectivism would take its place.
The real question he wrote is whether capitalism now obviously doomed is to give way to oligarchy
totalitarianism or to true democracy
Democratic socialism following the impending death of capitalism Orwell, hope that democratic socialism would be adopted in the West
democratic socialists like Orwell advocated for a centrally planned economy
 
nationalization of all major industry and a radical decrease in wealth
Inequality they were also strong supporters of civil liberties such as freedom of speech and freedom of assembly
Which they hoped could be maintained in a society?
Which would largely deprive people of their economic freedoms
The problem however which Orwell and other socialists had to grapple with were the lack of examples either past or present of any countries
successfully adopting democratic socialism even worse the states that had turned to
Collectivism in the first half of the 20th century such as Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia were becoming increasingly
totalitarian they were adopting what Orwell called oligarchical collectivism not democratic socialism
Oligarchy called collectivism is a system in which an elite view under the guise of a certain collectivist ideology
Centralize power using force and deception once in power these oligarchs crushed not only the economic
freedoms of their citizens a move which socialists like Orwell favored, but also their civil liberties
Orwell was concerned that following the death of capitalism the entire Western world would perhaps succumb to
oligarchical collectivism this fear was in part due to his perception that hedonism was on the rise in Western societies
hedonism is an ethical position that maintains that life's ultimate goal should be the maximization of pleasure in the
minimization of pain and discomfort in an increasingly urban and
consumerist West or will believe that many people were structuring their lives in a hedonistic manner and
this did not bode well for the freedom of Western civilization a hedonistic lifestyle according to or
weakens people it makes them Fievel and incapable of mounting any
Resistance to fanatical ideologues who desire to rule over society this fear of Orwell's has proven unfounded
Up to this point while the West since his death in 1950 has in many respects become more hedonistic this has not led to
totalitarian dictators taking over control rather Adil's Huxley the author of another famous 20th century
Dystopian novel brave new world may have had a better grasp of the way Western societies would become enslaved in the late
20th and early 21st
centuries
Huxley like Orwell was an anti hedonist but his aversion to hedonism differed from Orwell's
Huxley's main concern was that hedonism could be used as an effective tool to oppress a society because people will willingly
forego freedom in exchange for sensory pleasure and endless
Consumption if a society can be structured so that people can devote much of their time to pursuing pleasures
Gratifying material wants and even drugging themselves to escape from reality
than persuasion and
Conditioning rather than physical coercion will be sufficient to exert extreme control over a society Neil postman in his book
amusing ourselves to death
Nicely contrasts the different years of Orwell and Huxley what Orwell feared were those who would ban books
What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book for there would be no one who wanted to read one?
Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us
Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance
Orwell feared we would become a captive culture Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture in
1984 people are controlled by inflicting pain in brave new world
They are controlled by inflicting pleasure in short
Or well feared that what we fear will ruin us Huxley feared that what we desire will ruin us
The West it seems finds itself in a situation somewhat analogous to what Huxley feared for like the proverbial
frog in boiling water
citizens in the West accept greater and greater intrusions into their freedoms and with a little resistance
The overt physical coercion that or wolf thought would be required to enslave a society has so far proved unnecessary
Before dismissing, or walls fears completely however it must be noted that Orwell was familiar with Huxley's position
And he did not deny that the hedonistic society Huxley feared was a possibility
But he saw it as a temporary stage
Creating the ideal conditions for a more brutal regime to seize control and impose its will on society
Whether or well will be proven correct in the end remains to be seen yet as was pointed out Orwell did not believe that
totalitarianism which he feared could emerge in a society without at first becoming collectivist
so perhaps what has prevented his fears from coming true thus far is that capitalism did not die as he believed it would and
Collectivism has yet to emerge fully formed in the West
