jaylar
George Orwell was spot on in many aspects of the future, but was wrong on some.
Writing:
” If … machine were used … hunger, overwork, dirt, illiteracy, and disease could be eliminated within a few generations …But … an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction … of a hierarchical society.”
Orwell did not appreciate that the value of money, its purchasing power would decrease. Where in the 1950s one thousand pounds was a huge amount of money, today, it is not.
Further, despite the use of machines, there is still hunger and overwork, dirt, illiteracy and disease.
Orwell believed;
” In a world in which everyone worked short hours, had enough to eat…the most important form of inequality would already have disappeared. ….wealth would confer no distinction…while power remained in the hands of a small privileged caste.”
This is true, although Orwell believed…”…such a society could not long remain stable.”
It could, and it has.
Orwell believed poverty is important to stupefy people
” for if they became literate and would learn to think for themselves; and when once they had done this, they would sooner or later realize that the privileged minority had no function, and they would sweep it away.”
Many people are so called ‘literate’ but don’t really understand what they read. Many people do not think for themselves, they give their mental processes over to a leader.
The effect of dumbing down the population, by poor education, denial of nutrition… although junk food is in abundance, has had the desired effect. The creation of sheep.
