Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

It's been too long since I've read Homage to Catalonia as well, and I agree with your understanding.

However, he did have quite complex views after learning more.




The one thing that is constant from the beginning of the book until the end is Orwell's antifascism. He believed it was essential to kill fascists, and that he had a duty to personally kill as many as he could.

At the beginning, he didn't really care whether he killed fascists under an anarchist flag or a socialist flag.

By the end, he was disillusioned with the unwillingness of the free world to support the underequipped antifascist forces. And he discovered to his dismay how Soviet authoritarians undermined the antifascist cause in their own drive to seize power.

It doesn't seem that he ever figured out the best way to fight fascism and authoritarianism and totalitarianism, but it's pretty clear that he still thought it was important to destroy them, and he saw up close how Spanish anarchism by itself wasn't very effective at doing that.


This makes him sound like a serial killer rather than a soldier or a writer. I don't think he gave a damn about killing any individual private or corporal on the fascist side except in pursuit of fighting their ideology, and so far as I know he never tried to assassinate Mosley. Opposing fascism itself was his goal.

The controversial second half of The Road to Wigan Pier contains a section where it seems Orwell regards individual fascists almost as mislead socialists and is strikingly sympathetic to them. See the paragraph that begins "In order to combat Fascism it is necessary to understand it, which involves admitting that it contains some good as well as much evil." It is obvious to me that he'd much rather stop them from becoming fascists before the declaration of war than kill them afterwards.


He also states pretty clearly, that he did not feel any hate towards the fascist sniper who shot him. Very british sportsmanlike, he said he would have rather congratulate him for the great shot.


> where it seems Orwell regards individual fascists almost as mislead socialists

Mussolini, the guy who, like, invented Fascism, was the editor of a socialist newspaper for a while. His views definitely grew out of Socialism, but with the stuff he didn't like taken out, and a whole heap of nationalism added in.


Sure, but he labeled himself a Libertarian Socialist afterwards, which was what I was referring to.

And I would argue he did figure out the best way, he wrote books about it.


An article that clarifies that somewhat: https://www.biographyonline.net/socialism-george-orwell/

Eric Blair uses the word socialism in a way that is somewhat different from modern usage and especially he is not communist "Unfortunately, many in America equate Socialism with Soviet Communism.".


That isn't different in modern usage, Libertarian Socialism has nothing to do with Soviet Communism.

Libertarian Socialism, means Anarchism, the topic of this thread.

And the reason why America equates Socialism with Soviet Communism is the same reason America associates Libertarianism with Right Wing Corporatism.

Propaganda.


Libertarian Socialism also includes groups that do not consider themselves anarchist, such as Libertarian Marxist. All of which are closer to and more sympathetic to anarchism than "Soviet Communism", though.


i read Homage to Catalonia on the TGV to... Catalonia drinking a bottle from De Wijnerij in Amsterdam. it was fantastic

2018. Rebellion broke out on the Spanish side of Catalonia a week later.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: