Read your George Orwell, damnit!
Subject: What George Orwell Still Teaches Us About Today’s March Toward Fascism
If George Orwell were alive today, he wouldn’t be surprised. Disgusted, maybe. A bit exhausted, certainly. But surprised? Not a chance. He warned us. Over and over. And we didn’t listen.
Orwell didn’t just write 1984 and Animal Farm as gripping fiction. He wrote them as sirens—urgent, flashing warnings against authoritarianism, thought control, and the brutal efficiency of propaganda. In today’s political climate, where gaslighting is policy and truth is treated like an inconvenience, Orwell feels less like an author and more like a prophet.
Let’s start with 1984. When Orwell gave us Big Brother, he wasn’t crafting an elaborate dystopian fantasy—he was showing us where unchecked power leads. Mass surveillance. Government doublespeak. Constant wars to distract from domestic oppression. Sound familiar? Whether it’s the erosion of privacy through digital tracking or the rebranding of lies as “alternative facts,” we’re living in a world where reality is increasingly manipulated by those in charge.
His concept of “Newspeak” wasn’t just clever wordplay—it was a roadmap for how authoritarian regimes distort language to control thought. Today, we don’t call lies lies anymore. We call them “narratives.” We don’t say people are banned from speaking—we say they’re being “de-platformed for public safety.” Orwell knew that if you can twist the language, you can twist the mind.
Then there’s Animal Farm. The pigs who promised equality but ended up walking on two legs, sipping scotch, and cutting deals with the very humans they overthrew? That’s not just a cautionary tale—that’s politics on a loop. Populists campaign on behalf of “the people,” then consolidate power and enrich themselves while blaming outsiders for every problem. “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Replace “animals” with “voters” or “citizens” and welcome to modern governance.
So what does Orwell teach us about fascism today?
First: Fascism doesn’t always arrive in jackboots and armbands. It can come smiling in a suit, talking about “law and order,” “patriotism,” or “saving the children.” It wraps itself in flags and talks about “real Americans.” Orwell teaches us to watch for the function, not the form. It’s not what they call themselves—it’s what they do that matters.
Second: Be vigilant with language. The moment words lose meaning, democracy loses oxygen. Watch how power uses language. When censorship is called “protecting freedom,” when propaganda is sold as “truth,” when war is declared to “ensure peace,” Orwell is whispering, “They’re doing it again.”
Third: The enemy of fascism is not violence. The enemy of fascism is truth. That’s why authoritarians work so hard to discredit journalists, academics, and artists. It’s why books get banned. It’s why protesters are demonized. Orwell teaches us that to resist fascism, we must protect truth—even when it’s inconvenient, uncomfortable, or dangerous.
George Orwell didn’t predict the future. He decoded it. And if we’re paying attention, we’ll use his warnings not as bedtime stories but as wake-up calls.
Big Brother isn’t coming. He’s here. The question is: are we still brave enough to say so?
Forward this to a friend who still believes in freedom of thought. Or one who needs a nudge.
Here is a Facebook link from on of my anti-fascist comrades, Benjamin Gorman, who left the US to continue his work without interface by US MAGA brownshirts. Benjamin is currently writing and publishing from Barcelona. He'd welcome your following him.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14ETc45fKko/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Julie Bolejack, MBA
