George Orwell's Biggest Flaw

George Orwell is perhaps the most famous English language writer of the 20th century, whose most famous novels are Animal Farm and 1984. In this video, I dicuss George Orwell's life, novels, philosophy and shortcomings in 10 lessons. This is a very brief introduction to George Orwell as an author, his worldviews, his criticism and his own weaknesses.

00.00 Intro
0:00 Introduction
0:02 George Orwell
1:07 Animal Farm
3:12 Lesson 2
4:39 Lesson 3
5:09 1933 (homelessness)
5:43 Lesson 4
7:09 Lesson 5
9:15 Lesson 6
11:33 Lesson 7
13:44 Lesson 8
16:03 Lesson 9
19:14 Lesson 10
20:23 Brutalist architecture

Music:
#georgeorwell
#1984
#animalfarm

[CatApocalypse]

Orwell is one of those writers whose works absolutely deserve their classic status. It's been a long time since I've read Animal Farm, so I think I need to do a reread soon.

[avijnanganguly]

Can't Beleive your channel's so underrated. Really love your content, please don't stop making videos.

[albretchmueller]

Saying that Orwell's "1984" is "boring" would be like saying that a medical diagnosis is "boring", "because" "it lacks story telling" ... (I can't begin to understand what you could have possibly meant by that, you either didn't notice the reasons, depths and silences of the conversations between Winston and Julia or read their romance in your own ways!), and who said: "all art is propaganda"?, and that:
* "all the papers that matter live off their advertisements, and the advertisers exercise an indirect censorship over news";
* "if you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself";
* "if you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever";
the same author who very clearly and repeatedly stated that he didn't write "1984" thinking of Stalinism?
You have to first understand the genre and then what social aspects it is shedding some light onto and how. Orwell wrote his dystopian novel as some sort of futuristic moral journalism.
If anything, as Snowden revelations clearly and undeniably showed, I find his idiocy off the mark. Compare his two-way telescreens with cell phones nowadays, minitrue with the U.S. Homeland Security's "Disinformation Board" (greenwald: substack; theintercept.com 2016 04 28 new-study-shows-mass-surveillance-breeds-meekness-fear-and-self-censorship), his hopefully described proles with "we the people" nowadays who can't take their heads off their cell phones' rear end, his "war is peace" with "war is good for business" (tm) (but until very recently they seemed to have had a hard time finding Russia and China on a map and/or employing doublethink when it comes to them), his ideas about how the three air strips would somehow coexist, when these days the U.S. government is "freedom loving" European countries like banana republics in what seems to be developing into a 3rd world war with a sure nuclear end ...
Also, did Orwell have "a sort of aesthetic distaste for Gandhi" and later was more in agreement with British colonialism? Well, Gandhi had his views about Adolf Hitler and the holocaust (I personally don't agree with, but I do understand where he is coming from), Newton did alchemy as a full time job (he almost killed himself!) and Physics as a hobby, Leibniz made fun of Descarte's for not interpreting well very basic conservation problems, Voltaire mercilessly ridiculed Leibniz' "the best of all possible worlds" kind of optimism ...

[methods]

The story telling in 1984 is incredibly gripping and original, quite apart from the prescient warning it delivers, now unfolding in front of our very eyes. It is one of the mist powerful novels ever written, being accessible to ordinary people and intellectuals alike.

[laurasnow]

Nicely done. Careful and thoughtful analysis. Your view of Dostoyevsky and Orwell was excellent. Nicely put together.

[perlefisker]

I usually agree with you in many different topics, but not on Soviet Union having no understand of art. To me it's the contrary. You'll see in the most remote towns in Russia today - with very vital roots to the Soviet Union - an amazingly strong and thriving tradition of culture, which was encouraged during the era: visual arts, dance, cinematography. No film studies come in my opinion close to those of the Soviet Union. Even the smallest towns in Russia has it's Culture House, with art school, dance institute, and not to forget, extremely qualified musical schools.
This was all begun in the Soviet Union, and this 'suplimation' is actually part of a Marxist/Socialist/Communist program.
Artistic endeavours were always encouraged, and I would like to see any other country, where people exchanged their experiences with literature in the metro trains, or where a town can put up a concert of classical music, choir, folklore- and ballet dance.
I find it sad that this is so unknown - on the other hand it's rather inevitable owing to the lack of knowledge (and interest) about Eastern Europe.
Even when it comes to architecture there's a misconception. Yes, Soviet Union concrete buildings are not beautiful, but they are hardly worse than other concrete buildings. What they lack in inner charm they had in abundance when it comes to outdoor life: lots and lots of green, an enormous amount of trees and areas of grass. The many benches were actually used, and that's why a suburb of even Moscow, Minsk or Kiev resembles a village.
Today modern buildings like those in the rest of the world mushroom everywhere in former Soviet Union countries, and they are uglier and deprived of any living atmosphere.
I find the narrative of Soviet Union architecture to be a standard western 'we-are-better' thinking, which is not surprising, but sad to see continue, nonetheless.

[karnajeetshelke]

The information is quite intriguing and feeds our inquisitiveness about human, their behavior, society, government and incessant conflict in human society.... Pls keep making these videos. You deserves kudos.

[stephaniesilvia]

I listened to vets and the hardest obstacle is the climbing wall. Decending from the wall, or climbing a wall. People get stuck. So, it takes a tremendous amount of courage to overcome those obstacles.

[ThirdLens]

As always really great video. A must watch for many people.

[talon]

I loved your Plato's cave mic drop. Well done

[stealthhumor]

Neither the book nor the movie held my attention from beginning to end, and I would agree with FB about the lackluster storytelling. So I got “1984, ” the audiobook, and found it incredible. My favorite writer has always been Michael Crichton, scoring his work based on the number of books I had to finish in one sitting (all of them). Listening to “1984” as a story added a dimension that’s impossible to forget, and Orwell didn’t use the word “said” 100, 000 times either.

[davidcopson]

I am in awe, well, nearly. Keep your novel aspects flying.

[kevgh]

This is a great video. Thank you. You should have many more views.

[boysonthm]

I don't necessarily think that people become religious as they are getting old and getting close to their deathbed, because the idea of eternal life gives comfort,

I think some people have been always religious but they just wanted to participate in the world's ideologies without using their religious belief as a reason not to contribute to the world's literally work or other artistic ways of expressing intellectual endeavours.

I love your videos overall, 🔥

[methods]

The limited number of subscribers and likes for this excellent channel is a clear indication of the illiteracy of modern society. If truth be told before the advent of television and social media people were far better educated than they are today.

[albobbydusty]

Do a comparison and analysis between 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

[nosferatu.]

6:40 I as an Indian, I agree. Nothing changed in Life of poor people. The freedom of nation doesn't provide food in plate of poors. Indian life remain same. Revolution doesn't change anything.

[uowjugu]

George Orwell’s Hommage to Catalonia is one of his most moving and hopeful books. It says that there is an alternative to fascism and socialism and that human freedom and self governance is possible. That is perhaps the lesson #11 that you didn’t speak about.!

[levinb]

The last question is just Plato’s Cave but perhaps with a Foucault style reinterpretation.

[chuntoon]

1984 is my favorite book ever. I don't know how you have that scene at the end of 1984 and see the state has won & he no longer loves his gf but big brother and don't feel an emotional impact, but we all like what we like