"All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." George Orwell - Animal Farm
Anybody who has read Animal Farm by George Orwell, will surely remember this statement found in the last chapter. We all remember reading those words and thinking, "More equal? How can one animal be more equal than another?" And after thinking it over for a moment or so we continued reading the book. And as we closed the book we then pondered that line again, but this time in context. We find ourselves asking, “More equal? Is it actually possible for one animal to be more equal than another?" and then the thought, "Could one group of humans be more equal than another?" Later I was reading it again, looking for the path that lead to this Unequal Equality, what I found stunned me. The government control of education, the complacent working class, and the use of a common enemy were the major things that caused Animal Farm to turn from it's vision of plenty, into the hideous Manor Farm. Those three things struck me because of their similarities to modern America.
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." (George Orwell, 1984), Orwell alluded to this idea in Animal Farm as the pigs would change the past to fit how they wanted the future to be. The process of changing the past was simple-control what the animals learn and you will control how they view the world, past and present. All that was required to generate those results was for the government to take control of the education. Similarly, Washington has been taking more and more ownership over our lives, especially education. The Common Core initiative, for example, is removing all local authority on education. Those in favor of the program would tell you that it is a purely optional program, state to state. But our Federal Government saw that as an opportunity to gain more control over education. After all, it's much easier to brainwash a nation when one group of bureaucrats determines what the entire nation's minds are filled with. It is scary to watch Orwell's prophecy of 1984 and the allegory of Animal Farm taking shape in our own government. The even scarier part is to see the brainwashed masses sitting idle as their government slowly but surely steals away their liberties, one pail of milk and one innocent puppy at a time.
The key to keeping a society brainwashed is to keep them from asking questions. That way, when Napoleon comes in the night and steals the milk to put in the pigs mash nobody asks, or even wonders. If they do ask questions about it, Squealer quickly has a press conference to clear up the matter, dismissing all suspicion. And because pigs control the way people think, that is accepted as the sure truth. Likewise, when a bunch of cronies on Wall Street need help because of their errors, and people start asking questions (as we saw with Occupy Wall Street) the government stands up and blames the Economy. Because we don't think anymore, everyone accepts that as the sure truth. Back in Animal Farm we see the animals doing what they're told, because the pigs know better than everyone else. Comparing this to America, we've seen our Nation forming an Aristocracy, and because the politicians are so much smarter than we are, we neglect our responsibility to control them, and they run rampant. The worst example in Animal Farm is when Napoleon deceives the uneducated. He blamed everything and anything that went wrong, on the infamous terrorist, Snowball!
In 2001 several hijacked planes shook the way we see the world. The terrorists were at fault then and the "terrorists" are at fault for most everything now. Back at the farm, the sudden destruction of the windmill was deemed Snowball's fault, and then "Snowball" was blamed for just about everything else. Now, I am not saying that 9/11 was not the terrorists fault, nor am I saying that many other things are not their fault. But I am saying that in both America and in Animal Farm the current leaders, Bush and Napoleon, used their common enemies to their advantage. Napoleon immediately heightened security, and cracked down on all those who may have been in league with Snowball. He used this increase of security to cover and justify many very un-Animalist actions. In striking similarity, Bush heightened out national security with the Patriot Act. That security has not been used as we were told it was intended to be, and has been used more to spy on and keep it's own citizens in line than anything else. Since then our government has done even more un-Constitutional things in the name of security and to protect us from "the terrorists". We only have to look to Orwell to see what we are to expect to come from that.
Orwell had vision. He understood the natural human mind, and did us all a favor by writing a fairy-story to show not only what had happened in the past, but what would surely happen again if we are not careful. Because of our lack to maintain local control of education, there is a sharp decrease in our nations thinking and questioning ability. As a result our nation has become more complacent and stupid than ever before. Now our government is using our common enemy the "terrorists" to pave the way for our demise.Comrades, even as we speak, our government is becoming more equal than the rest of us. Washington has moved into the Manor and the Presidency is putting on Mr. Jones' clothes.
