Churchill and Orwell by Thomas E. Ricks

Churchill and Orwell by Thomas E. Ricks

Two-fer, you only check out one book from the library but are delivered two biographies; both chosen for having the vision and courage to campaign tirelessly, in words and in deeds, against the totalitarian threat from both the left and the right. In a crucial moment, they responded first by seeking the facts, working through the lies and obfuscations, and then they acted on their beliefs and kept actively pursuing change. They both cherished individual privacy and freedom of speech. Philosophies yet valued today.

Observations:

- Of WWII: "This is no war for domination or imperial aggrandizement or material gain; no war to shut any country out of its sunlight and means of progress. It is a war viewed in it's inherent quality to establish on impregnable rocks the rights of the individual and is a war to establish and revive the stature of man"

- ‘that (in war) technological innovation is close to useless without carefully constructed organizational support’

-‘To see clearly that the issue was human freedom—that whatever its coloration, a government that denied its people basic freedoms was a totalitarian menace and had to be resisted. Whether it formed from the right or left they both may act evil’

-John Stuart Mill, "and then at the very core of liberty is the domain of the individual, the inward domain of consciousness - liberty of conscience - liberty of thought and feeling"

-‘Orwell like most about England - all the culture, most truly native centers around things which are communal. He would've been most alienated by America's determined self-centered individualism.’

-"It is clear that his (or Wells) works have instructed many people in how to be wary of the numbing rhetoric of government pronouncements, of pervasive official surveillance, and most of all of state intrusion into the realm of the private individual"

-'Work diligently to discern the facts of the matter and use your principles to respond. instead of shaping facts with your opinion, let the facts change your opinion.'

I like that in the closing part of the book bridges the gap between the history of these two historic figures and today thru Martin Luther King:

-"any law that degrades human personality is unjust"

-"Right defeated us stronger than evil triumphant"

-MLK outlines four steps to follow:

1- Collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive

2-negotiation

3- self purification

4- Direct action

'Those in power often want to divert people from the hard facts of a given matter .The struggle to see things as they are is perhaps the fundamental driver of western civilization. It is the agreement that objective reality exists, that people of goodwill can perceive it , and that other people will change their views when presented with the facts of the matter.'

Let's hope that the author stated common aspiration is indeed true today. Read this book.