Date: Sun, 03 Mar 1996 12:45:00 +0100
From: Luciano Dondero <DOND001-AT-IT.net>
Subject: Re: Scary novels/future



Ralph Dumain wrote: 

Jukka, I'm disappointed.

>I've thought Orwell's 1984 as manifestation of all hidden fears
>of bourgeoisie in the cold war period..

Rubbish!  You're saying that Orwell is taking the side of the
Western bourgeoisie in the Cold War?  Wrong.  Orwell overtly
criticizes Stalinism to be sure, but the roots he drew from in
creating his nightmare of totalitarianism were British social
democracy, fascism, and Stalinism.  One could say that Orwell drew
on convergence theory, except that he publicly denounced James
Burnham as a reactionary pig.

>I mean, who thinks Orwell's vision is scary today?

You don't think so?  Finland must be paradise.  Look.  Orwell's
vision represents the horrors of the 1930s and '40s, which weighed
a lot of people's minds.  If terror, sadism, mass murder and
destruction has resources thanks to modern technology to commit
barbarities undreamed of in prior times, and has the ability to be
self-sustaining and conquer territory beyond the reach of former
ages, that is something to be frightened of.

Luciano adds:

I wonder why nobody has mentioned Jack London's "The Iron Heel".
This was written in 1905, long before fascism and Stalinism had raised their
ugly heads.
Yet in it London managed to convey a much more powerful (and scary) view of
a future dominated by the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.

It is noteworthy that Trotsky only read the book many decades later and he
wrote to London's daughter a nice letter expressing his admiration for the
enormous artistic abilities of her father. (This letter has been reproduced
as an intro to a recent Italian-language version of the book - it's dated 16
Oct 1937).

BTW, the hero of the book who goes by the revealing name of "Ernest
Everhard" inspired Che Guevara's father into giving his child the name
Ernesto. So there.

So long,
--Luciano Dondero--



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