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The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius (Penguin Modern Classics)

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El libro de Orwell que aquí comento fue uno de ellos. En sus páginas, supe encontrarme con un Orwell que no conocía: más reflexivo, menos adoctrinante, capaz más crítico (con todo y que Rebelión en la granja y 1984 son dos grandes textos críticos), preocupado por sus problemas tanto materiales como existenciales; en síntesis, alguien capaz de abrir su vida a sus lectores, no sin los titubeos propios del que reconoce que es susceptible a fallar. De sus ensayos, tres me resultaron especialmente iluminadores: 1) Raffles y Miss Blandish, un estudio en el que se aventuran un par de tesis sobre la literatura y su relación con los intereses de las personas inmiscuidas en la guerra; 2) El león y el unicornio, una reflexión profunda sobre las posibilidades del socialismo a partir de la Segunda Guerra a partir del análisis del carácter y cultura inglesa; 3) Por qué escribo, texto violento en el que se desgranan las ambiciones y precariedades de aquel que decide someter su vida a las palabras. Con esto, no quiero decir que el resto de ensayos que componen este compilado sean de menor calidad que los que he mencionado; por el contrario, están a la altura. El análisis sobre la obra de Henry Miller y la literatura inglesa de 1920 y 30 resulta ser interesante; sobre todo por la capacidad que tiene Orwell para valorar las cosas en su justa proporción. A pesar de los problemas que puede entrever en las obras de Miller o de Kipling, por citar dos ejemplos, Orwell es capaz de reconocer los aciertos y errores que, a su juicio, se encuentran presentes. As soon as one considers any problem of this war – and it does not matter whether it is the widest aspect of strategy or the tiniest detail of home organization – one sees that the necessary moves cannot be made while the social structure of England remains what it is. Inevitably, because of their position and upbringing, the ruling class are fighting for their own privileges, which cannot possibly be reconciled with the public interest. It is a mistake to imagine that war aims, strategy, propaganda and industrial organization exist in watertight compartments. All are interconnected. Every strategic plan, every tactical method, even every weapon will bear the stamp of the social system that produced it. The British ruling class are fighting against Hitler, whom they have always regarded and whom some of them still regard as their protector against Bolshevism. That does not mean that they will deliberately sell out; but it does mean that at every decisive moment they are likely to falter, pull their punches, do the wrong thing. If you cannot open a .mobi file on your mobile device, please use .epub with an appropriate eReader.

For the academic journal, see The Lion and the Unicorn (journal). For the essay by George Orwell, see The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius. One thing which is worth mentioning is that he hates Communists and Marxists in general only slightly less than he hates fascists, partly because they’ve tainted socialism in the eyes of a great many otherwise well-meaning people. Eric Arthur Blair, better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. His work is marked by keen intelligence and wit, a profound awareness of social injustice, an intense opposition to totalitarianism, a passion for clarity in language, and a belief in democratic socialism.

The Lion and the Unicorn: An Anniversary Commemoration

In intention, at any rate, the English intelligentsia are Europeanized. They take their cookery from Paris and their opinions from Moscow. In the general patriotism of the country they form a sort of island of dissident thought. England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality. In left-wing circles it is always felt that there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution, from horse racing to suet puddings. It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true that almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during ‘God save the King’ than of stealing from a poor box. All through the critical years many left-wingers were chipping away at English morale, trying to spread an outlook that was sometimes squashily pacifist, sometimes violently pro-Russian, but always anti-British. It is questionable how much effect this had, but it certainly had some. If the English people suffered for several years a real weakening of morale, so that the Fascist nations judged that they were ‘decadent’ and that it was safe to plunge into war, the intellectual sabotage from the Left was partly responsible. Both the New Statesman and the News Chronicle cried out against the Munich settlement, but even they had done something to make it possible. Ten years of systematic Blimp-baiting affected even the Blimps themselves and made it harder than it had been before to get intelligent young men to enter the armed forces. Given the stagnation of the Empire, the military middle class must have decayed in any case, but the spread of a shallow Leftism hastened the process. Politics and the Press, 4pm, Sunday 1 April: Gaby Hinsliff, Martin Moore, Lance Price, chaired by Jean Seaton

Bağımsızlığını kazandıktan sonra çökeceğini, Japonya ve Rusya tarafından işgal edileceğini düşündüğü Hindistan ile ilgili öngörülerinde ise maalesef sınıfta kaldı diyebiliriz. Evet, Hindistan, Pakistan ve Hindistan olarak ikiye bölündü ama o da İngilizlerin yüzyıllar boyunca sürdürdüğü Hindu ve müslüman halkları kışkırtma politikası sonucu olmadı mı?.. This was the darkest point of the war for Britain. Orwell is saying here that the war will not be won if the same old upper class fools are in charge, and that a socialist revolution is needed to get the right ruthlessness into the fight. It expressed his opinion that the outdated British class system was hampering the war effort and that to defeat Nazi Germany, Britain needed a socialist revolution. Therefore, Orwell argued, being a socialist and a patriot were no longer antithetical, but complementary. As a result, "The Lion and the Unicorn" became an emblem of the revolution which would create a new kind of socialism, a democratic "English Socialism" in contrast to the oppressing Soviet totalitarian communism and also a new form of Britishness, a socialist one liberated from empire and the decadent old ruling classes. Orwell specified that the revolutionary regime might keep on the royal family as a national symbol but would sweep away the rest of the British aristocracy. George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius (London: Penguin Books, 1982 [1941]), p. 100. It’s all a bit stodgy because half of what he says is right and the other half either wrong or so localised to 1941 England that you can’t tell.

His description of the inevitable and desirable socialist revolution in England was hopelessly utopian. Revolutions rarely go so well despite the best intentions of the instigators. Orwell, 2. Dünya savaşında Hitler'in Londra'yı bombaladığı günlerde kaleme aldığı bu uzun makalesinde; İngiliz, İrlandalı, Galli ve İskoçlardan oluşan Birleşik Krallık halklarının, kısaca Britanyalıların analizini yaparken, 19. yüzyılın sonlarından beri kendini yenileyemeyen, dış politikada zayıf kalan, 1931-40 arası faşist ve ırkçı Hitler'in yükselişini ve savaş hazırlıklarını adeta seyreden, hatta onu tehdit olarak görmek yerine Komünist Rusya'ya karşı bir koruyucu addeden, Franco ve Mussolini'yi destekleyen Muhafazakar Tory yönetimini, ülkedeki kapitalist ekonomik sistemi, gelir eşitsizliği ve toplumsal refah dengesizliğini ateşli bir şekilde eleştiriyor, kapitalizm, faşizm, komünizm ve sosyalizmin açık ve net tanımını yaptıktan sonra savaşı kazanmanın ve geleceğe güvenle bakmanın sembolü Aslan ve Tekboynuzlu At olan "Demokratik Sosyalist bir İngiltere" ile mümkün olacağını savunuyor.

Fascinating to read such amazing predictions of England's position in the world and its future while "highly civilized human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me." Paul Mason, part of Newsnight’s Special Prize win and shortlisted for the Blog Prize in 2011 and 2009, chooses his top ten books on China… The lion and the unicorn as they appear on both versions of the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom. In the Scottish version (shown right) the two have switched places and both are crowned, and the lion on top is coloured red.

His understanding of English patriotism matches mine exactly and reminds me of Billy Bragg's call for people on the left to love their country as much as people on the right seem to. I love the small observations on how the English character is distinctive and different from that of other nationalities. Orwell's analysis of the state of India (and other colonies) and how we should leave colonialism was spot on. If only we had had the self-confidence to do this. He proceeds to deconstruct, with polemical vigour, the paper’s pretensions – noting that its proprietor is M. Coty ‘a great industrial capitalist and also proprietor of the Figaro and the Gaulois’. In other words, it is merely putting across ‘the sort of propaganda wanted by M. Coty and his associates’. At the heart of Homage to Catalonia, his eye-witness account of fighting in a Republican militia during the Spanish Civil War, is Orwell’s anger at the coverage of the conflict by both mainstream and alternative/left newspapers – and his desire to put the record straight. As he writes: ‘One of the dreariest effects of this war has been to teach me that the Left-wing press is every bit as spurious and dishonest as that of the Right’ (though he excludes the Manchester Guardian from this criticism) (Orwell 1962 [1938]: 64). With typical wry humour, he tells of the ‘fat Russian agent’ at the Hotel Continental, in Barcelona: ‘I watched him with some interest, for it was the first time that I had seen a person whose profession was telling lies – unless one counts journalists’ (ibid: 135). Given the recent, unprecedented avalanche of complaints to the BBC over its coverage of Prince Philip’s death, it’s interesting to consider George Orwell’s views on the press handling of the royals of his day.

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