The Paradox of Being a Good Person - George Orwell's Warning to the World 

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Orwell’s dark vision, there was another-slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think. “What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny “failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.” In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us. - from article "Huxley was Right" re Neil Postman's book “Amusing Ourselves to Death” (1985)

"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the party is always right." More than an author, Orwell was a prophet.

My sister read “1984” in high school, when I was in elementary. She told me what it was about and it terrified me. Now, here I am living it’s reality, and my sister didn’t get to live long enough to see it happen. At least she’s mercifully resting in peace.

I read 1984 in 85 and it terrorfied me. I thought at the time "this will never happen in America ". Wrong! It's here. People must reject totalitarianism.

The hard part about being a genuine good person is the word doesn’t care. Nothing gets easier, people won’t treat you better. But the world around them is a “better place”. There isn’t a real reward People overlook “good people”. And you’ll know who’s a genuine good person by how they continue to be good even when they know the world couldn’t care less. But everyone has a breaking point ..

The most dangerous thing anyone can say about their home country is “it can’t happen here”.

It's scary that so many people are unaware of how full of lies our reality is. It's won't get any better until people understand how the system really works.

"I saw, in fact, history being written not in terms of what happened but of what ought to have happened according to various 'party lines'."

I was not the best student in high school but always had interest in social studies. My humanities teacher assigned us 1984 to read when i was probably 17 and still to this day no book has changed my mindset in such a way and so quickly. I will forever thank Orwell for his insight and for what his writings have instilled in me.

"amalgamation of impoverishment and snobbery" - beautifully put together words

I think its clear that his contempt for intellectuals was actually for the elitist academia. Not the state of being an intellectual, but being a part of that exclusive club that looks down on the ordinary man he preferred. The conflating of intellectualism and academia is deliberate.

Reading george orwell while living in current Bangladesh gives me chills

I think people should be aware that satire stories, dystopian future settings are not just made as a warning, rather its from the author observation of their society taken to an extreme but still resemble their surroundings. Its already happening on George Orwell times and what we are having now is no more than a repeat rather than a new phenomenon.

1984 Is actually one of the most banned books world wide and I do not believe public schools even offer that as an option to students anymore. I work in education and most high schoolers I work with tell me they have never even heard of the book before. It's pretty scary if I am being honest.

Am I missing something or is the title totally disconnected from the video? You made no claims that were your own. You don’t delve into a paradox about being a good person at all. This was a brief review of two books and a small biography.

recently, people are using unlive, instead of kill because instagram blocks "kill", we are on the right path to have big brother soon.

No person, nary even a close relation has had more impact on my life than Mr. Orwell. I hitchhiked 30,000 miles over 4 years without even leaving my birth nation of Canada as I was in search of the type of common and decent folk Orwell spoke of with great relish in, another favourite, "Down and Out in Paris and London". Finding these decent men and women at every corner I was truly rejuvenated by the oh-so-many who took me into their homes, on the long drives through Canadian wilderness and more than a few who, still with pride, shared with me their deepest emotional burdens. Common decency is all we require.

A few months back, as I was leaving a small shop out in the sticks, an old man was heading towards the door, I held it open for him. He was hunched over, walked with a cane, more of a shuffle than a walk, had to be in his 90's. The shop owner was talking to whomever the old fella was with, seemed like everyone knew each other and old man was there to hang for a bit. He sat down next to the registe, looked at me, knodded, said thanks, his eye brows were up he's just looking around. I said, "hey old-timer, you ever think you'd live long enough to be in an Orwell Novel?" Blank starte for like a min, then a big smile... "you're funny!" The other two look over and asked how I got the old man to laugh. Made both our day.

"Don't let it happen, it depends on you."

I never finished 1984 because of how dark the ending was. I never imagined then, that it was a potential version of the future we were heading towards. This was almost a decade ago, and now it's apparent that of all of the aspects of "Orwellian Society" is coming to light. What a terrifying thought.

Just a small correction: Orwell didn't come from anywhere near impoverishment. The middle class in the UK is financially well-off, and the upper middle class is very close to the aristocracy. Orwell was saying he was in the lower echelons of the upper middle class.

this is my absolutely favourite video of yours so far. As a BANGLADESHI, this video couldn't be more appropriate for me at this moment. Orwell's philosophy aligns with what I've been thinking about these days. Because of the massacre and destruction going on in my country. the public are being misled by the opposition political parties and the government is a bit arrogant and can only handle this so far. another country is about to be destablized and go to the poor list again from developing, just what the superpowers of the world want. my greatest wish is that humans will be able to think for themselves regardless how much brainwashed they're tried to be done and for them to work brutally to unlock their own greatness.

'I write [ ] because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing.' The best motivation to write at all, I would say.

It’s so important for Americans to see this Our language is being attacked so fervently without this context it’s almost impossible to see the bigger picture

You've left out some important information that elucidates Orwell's views on Socialism. 1984's INGSOC is Newspeak for 'English Socialism', a term that Orwell first introduced in an essay called "The Lion & The Unicorn". The essay highlights the inherent failures of the capitalist aristocracy to resist National Socialist aggression, and outlines a hypothetical framework for implementing a type of democratic or "English" socialism as a response. The point of the essay is that the war brought about the conditions by which socialism and patriotism could be seen as complementary ideals. Under normal conditions, socialism had been considered revolutionary, and as such it was necessarily antagonistic to British patriotism and the preservation of the entrenched aristocracy. The Nazi threat supplanted the need for a socialist revolution, and provided the incentive foe the aristocracy to adopt socialist ideals or risk being destroyed completely, which they did soon after the essay was published. The reason Orwell made 1984's totalitarian state an advanced form of English Socialism was because, in the aftermath of the war, he recognized that the British government had merely co-opted socialist ideals rather than truly embracing them. By applying labels such as "democratic" and "socialist" to itself, the aristocracy had duped the public into thinking the balance of power had shifted in their favor. In reality, the aristocracy was as powerful as they'd ever been - more so, in fact, since they now had the support of many self-professed "social democrats" that failed to see the deception that had occurred. This is underscored by INGSOC's use of language to control the minds of the working class. By changing the meaning of words, or applying them incorrectly, the ruling classes are able to give people the impression that political change has occurred when it has not; the same people wield the same power, except now they claim to do so on behalf of the people. We see this tactic being used in most western nations today; regimes claim they are "protecting democracy" and "defending individual liberties" by passing legislation that centralizes power and expands governmental authority. Because people seem to be more concerned with the definition of words than their application (as is the case here), they are deceived into supporting initiatives that are contrary to their own goals and beliefs.

My father told me when I was young to be nice to the nice and mean to the mean. And everything will balance out. And if it doesn't at least you tried. There is no way that I could go through life without being nice to people because it is part of my nature and it makes me feel good but at the same time those people out there who wish to be mean to me I could return the same favor on their terms. Because if that's the way they want it then that's the way they'll get it and if I end up being nice to these people I will lose in the long run because I will lose my dignity and self-esteem. And that's not going to happen. 😁

The comments in praise of Orwell are well taken. Here's are a few things to consider: - Both Animal Farm and 1984 should be read by everyone. - Orwell also wrote many essays, there are two volumes of these, up to 1945 and after 1945. These are very, very important. - Timothy Snyder (Prof. of History) is an expert on Eastern Europe History and Fascism. Much of his work overlaps with the work of Orwell. He has a new book coming out called, "On Freedom" and his previous book, "The Road To Unfreedom" is extremely relevant to our political situation today. He has written extensively on the war in Ukraine and these articles can be found on his substack blog called, "Thinking about..." These are very much worth everyone's time and attention.

"ministry of peace" totally doesnt sound like "department of defense" at ALL

As a person who finished reading 'Animal Farm' yesterday and '1984' a couple of months ago, I would say the way in which Orwell depicted the vices, malices lying underneath the superficial human society is totally magnificent. ! loved both the books ❤️

Learned too much about orwel and not enough about the paradox of being good.

You should be dead proud of the quality of this video. The animation and choice of b-roll content; the clarity of thought in the monologue; the sound design. Keep up the good work.

One of the few books that made me so terrified that I couldn't sleep that night. I was young and though how horrible would be living in this world... Oh well

Intellect is not wisdom Most modern intellect is the ability to memorize information Intellects worship access to information rather than the application of the lessons Without execution, information is useless. It turns information into wisdom others can learn from

If you ever listen to anything while reading comments, let it be this - go to borlest and read the book whispers of manifestation, then come back and thank me

Without an objective truth humanity drifts with every day further and further away from peace and love and draws closer to the very lie which Orwell warned against.

Pursuit of wonder never fails to rip my limb apart one by one as I scream in excrutiating pain and agony meanwhile my consciousness slowly fades away

If you work for any large capitalist company ... i would argue that you effectively are living in an Orwellian microcosm - just thinking or speaking a certain way to certain chain of command will make you enjoy a quick visit to HR (Ministry of Love)

One of the first real writers i found in the 90's that educated me then and still educating others now ❤

One of my favorite writers, can’t imagine a worse dystopia to live in that the portrayed in 1984

"1984" gave me an existential crisis when I read it last year, both that book and "Animal Farm" made me view the world in completely different perspectives.

we are literally living in it today, if george owell is alive he'd blush

I've read 1884 twice as well as Animal Farm; I see similarities in 2024. Canada, as well as other Western societies.

Life is not fair, never has been and never will be. Once I accepted that fact. I have been able to live a much happier life.

Orwell was born in Bengal. Here's a perfect example of his warnings about how they change language and meaning. No one on the planet would call Orwell a Bengali - he is nothing more or less than an Englishman. Yet today, in England itself we have people claiming that someone who arrived from elsewhere, with their own unique ancestral lands and bloodlines is 'as English as the rest of us" and even pointing out fallacy out gets one labelled for wrong-think - in this case wrong-think being 'racist' or 'bigot'.

"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Thomas Jefferson.

Read Orwell many times.. the fact that 1984 is so accurate, I'm sure TPTB are using it as a blueprint, rather than the warning it actually was. Fun fact: when Mexican President Felipe Calderón visited the Queen, she gifted him a first edition of 1984.

Absolutely gripping. Whom ever wrote the script for the narrator went off! What prose, brilliant

Orwell didnt travel through time, and die young for nothing. He did it to warn us. Ive been trying to say it for years, and why i have some of the oldest videos on my channel talking about it.

The Terminator was the greatest philosopher of all and he wasn't even human which permitted him to see this truth about humans "it's in your nature to destroy yourselves"

I just remembered that my parents showed me the animated version of Animal Farm when I was a child, maybe mistaking it with some whatever cartoon. No wonder I turned out to be super sceptic and critical of any kind of power and change of language.

Orwell was a prophet.

The Blacksmith and the Artist, reflected in their art, forged their creativity Closer to the Heart

To say that human beings are fallible, that none of us can grasp the fullness of reality, that even the wisest of us have blinders and limitations, and that humility is always necessary is one thing. To say that objective truth does not exist is quite another --- and something that utterly contradicts Orwell's life work.

"He who has a sword, and knows how to use it, but keeps it sheathed shall inherit the earth."

in order to be a good person, bad people need to exist, but can a good person who tolerates bad people really exist?

I dont know what to think anymore. Im so lost. I want to fight for a better world for a better tomorrow for all. But its such an uphill battle.

Just read Why Orwell Matters, by Hitchens. I bought 1984 and two other of his books.

Devices where you can watch AND being watched? That's never gonna happen, right? Right?

I’ve experienced some attacks on my freedom of speech where I work. I’ve had people harass me based on my appearance, I ignore them but they’ve actually become more aggressive. I’m not looking for advice, this is an outlet for me to express myself. Hopefully someone will see this and know they are not alone.

A very balanced & open narration. "We must accept this as ... ignorance... simple decency" There are many foundational truths in this narrative & the books they highlight.

This book should be called.. this is how you know you have narcissistic tendencies. He writing about his family, has created a wide world of change.

Down and out in London and Paris. Brilliant

Christopher Hitchens wrote a book called Why Orwell Matters. One of the best books ive ever read. There was a certain duality to Orwell. He was DEFINITELY socialist anti-fascist. Even though he mostly wrote about and communistic authoritarian power structures. He believed fascism to be so obviously misguided that it wasnt even worth writing about.

It truly is beautiful to see the direction that human psychology is progressing. It takes time to understand but we are slowly learning to accept true nature's in experiencing what it is like to be. Much love to you all!

What a thorough and insightful exploration of Orwell’s life and legacy! I was particularly moved by the line: "Orwell realized... that tyranny was always possible and can occur even in a society in which the intentions are noble or in a society in which the conditions appear prosperous and democratic." This observation is both profound and chilling, reminding us of how easily freedoms can slip away when we're not vigilant. Just look at the state of politics in America, we're close to having a one-party state. This trajectory is pretty clear for those with their eyes open - iykyk Your detailed breakdown of Orwell’s critique of totalitarianism across all political spectrums is an important reminder that these dangers lurk everywhere.

Since reading J K Galbraiths “ The Anatomy of Power” I have felt that a large part of the worlds issues are the result of an under understanding of the nature, construction, forms, uses and abuses of power and it is the exercise of power and the manner of its exercise that drives the world, far more than all the various political theories and philosophies. I feel my thoughts and leanings of several decades endorsed by listening to the article, Thank you to the presenter.

I love watching this channel when I’m coming down from a trip

Any discussion of George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' and '1984' should mention Yevgeny Zamyatin's 'We' and Nikolai Kostomarov's 'Animal Riot,' both of which Orwell 'borrowed' from without giving proper credit.

This makes me want to read more of George Orwell, and think that these books should be taught in schools. Thank you!

I’m a big Kurt Vonnegut fan myself, After I read jailbird, I had to read everything he had. He is such a master at the written word. Nothing long and drawn out however with a 10 word sentence, he could compell you to think for a solid month about whatever he had written.

Make 1984 fiction again.

I read Orwell's books back in 1988 behind the Iron curtain they were banned then and hard to come by. Now looking at what is happening in Britain it brings bad memories back to me, curbing freedom of speech, mainstream media toeing the government line, it's so worrying.

“There is no objective truth.” Proposed as an objective truth.

Some years ago, in an effort to augment my natural penchant for wickedness, I joined the local chapter of the ‘International E-e-v-e-e-e-l Club’, but ended up resigning soon thereafter, upon disappointedly discovering that most of my fellow members were essentially good, upstanding, decent folk...

I know this is a minor mistake, but since I have such high regard for this channel, I would like to point this out: <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="246">4:06</a>. I think it should be retelling rather than retailing. I really love your videos and some of your previous videos like "Reasons to stop worrying" and videos on western philosophies of absurdism and existentialism have given me profound food for thought. Thank you.

The paradox of Orwellian success: his works became very prominent, yet little are the benefits they brought. In contrast to 1984's idea of dictating the act of thought itself, the contemporary dystopia has transcended; transcended into a dystopia higher than the intervention of its subjects; a complex superstructure that even the the act of intervention is reinforcing it. A timeless superstructure that governs the laws of reality and ego. Alas, he was ahead of his time; he had an intellectual political clairvoyance, yet a portion of it nonetheless. A great man.

I love George Orwell's books, and I'm so thankful that we, here in the UK, heeded his warnings.

i remember that book from 7th grade. It was an amazing book

Thank you. It fills me with a sense of hope, that people still take this very seriously.

Orwell I view with absolute respect - even if there would be an area of disagreement: for noone can truly agree with one another all the time. But my first philosophy I came to realise through his work and my own knowing of history and it's machinations is that "History is truly written by those who won and not always do the good ones win; who then sort to lionise themselves by demonising those that were, in that evils become good and good evil. Therefore noone learns and history is thus doomed to repeat."

No need to read 1984. You're living it.

Excellent content. Beautiful production. Very relevant to today’s cacophony. Time for me to go back and re-read Animal Farm and 1984.

pausing at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="593">9:53</a> to say this all feels so relevent now. People used to wonder how the Nazis got to commit the holocaust and then living through the horrors of today, it's distressing living through a world sanctioned genocide in 2024 which is armed & funded by world superpowers like US, UK, EU..et , I don't understand why they don't see the graveness of normalizing the disregard for world order(international tribunals)/ justice & basic humanity and decency!! feels like we're watching the degradation of our society as a whole!

Very timely for The U.S. right now. We need a National book club.

After reading through (a lot) of the comments below I can only say thank god (whatever god is) I'm not alone out here. I thought I was surrounded by complacent subservient indoctrinated fools and yet here you are "thinkers" smart thoughtful intelligent people still in possession of your minds thinking for yourselves and forming your own educated opinions It's like a breath of fresh air in a house fire. Bless you, bless you all.

We are dominated by ruthless psychopaths since the dawn of time.

I remember reading animal farm in school as well as Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

literally just finished reading 1984 today!

"I saw, in fact, history being written not in terms of what happened but of what ought to have happened according to various 'party lines'." Something of this sort happened in India, search Kolkata Doctor Case. According to evidence, 10 men or more assaulted the doctor. It was allegedly about drug and sex rackets among other illegal proceedings and they committed the heinous crime against the female doctor to shut her up, then made it look like a rape case- which they did, too, but not with the motive of rape solely. It was initially portrayed as a suicide. The ruling party covered it up, the chief minister calling for "justice" -in a state where she is the home minister, health minister, chief minister- even as their goons tampered with the evidence. The medical college where it happened immediately started renovation work. The principal of the college resigned, only to be reinstated in another college.

We been living in 1984 in most ways for a few years now. Quite scary, but everyones so used to it that they no longer fear it💀.

We're waist deep right now into an orwellion world right now sadly enough is almost beyond recovery! Just look at Alaska's Juneau government! LoL

It's ironic, and even though known in a sober state, psychedelics show you vividly that the sober state IS the hallucination.

He saw actual democratic socialism flurish in parts of spain as he fought along side the anarchists. He wrote a book about it "HOMMAGE TO CATALONIA". They unfortunately got destroyed by the totalitarians (fascs, stalinists) and the reps and thus the libertarian socialist project which had big hopes and support found its ruins there.

This video must be translated to every language possible and shown to children of all ages for them to learn the environment in which they happen to be born.

The official who knows people won't hold him accountable for his corrupt acts is no different from the person that says all government official corrupt thus there is no point in helping the ones who are still trying to main order. If you don't see something and demand transparency, you get what you deserve. Either you're Responsible Civilian or Corrupt Traitor, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A INNOCENT CIVILIAN!

This video has nothing to do with the title. It is just a narration of Orwell's life.

When do you address the title?

It reminds me of: “Woe to those who say that good is bad and bad is good, those who substitute darkness for light…” Bible

Orwell got it 100% correct, only the date should have been 2024.