> The Spanish war and other events in 1936-37 turned the scale and thereafter I knew where I stood. Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it.
When he was in his 30's he joined up with Trostkyists to fight in Spain, but said he would have preferred to have joined the anarchists. Despite his capabilities as a writer, I wouldn't really turn to him for political advice.
Not understand - I know a bunch of anarchists and their view of anarchy is definitely not "helter skelter". What specifically would you critique about Orwell's politics?
The most convincing depiction of anarchy I have seen is Ursula K. LeGuin's The Dispossessed, where they have deep social conventions that make claiming any kind of power over others taboo. But that never seemed to me a sufficient safeguard against power-hungry people finding ways around it - let along external enemies.
If I understand it correctly, The Dawn of Everything argues that (many) Native American societies had those kinds of strong taboos and that was a workable model until acted upon by an outside force.
I loved the Dispossessed. I agree with the critique that her portrayal of anarchy is a bit utopian and glosses over what happens with unscrupulous actors. But, I appreciate that her point was about the problems that can exist even in the breast case scenario
He also wrote quite a lot about his political views, which were sharpened after visiting anarchist Catalonia and fighting in the Spanish civil war. See e.g. https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwel...
> The Spanish war and other events in 1936-37 turned the scale and thereafter I knew where I stood. Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it.