Freedom of the Press by George Orwell - 3887 Words

George Orwell – The Freedom of the Press (alternate preface) This book was first thought of, so far as the central idea goes, in 1937, but was not written down until about the end of 1943. By the time when it came to be written it was obvious that there would be great difficulty in getting it published (in spite of the present book shortage which ensures that anything describable as a book will sell ), and in the event it was refused by four publishers. Only one of these had any ideological motive. Two had been publishing anti-Russian books for years, and the other had no noticeable political colour. One publisher actually started by accepting the book, but after making the preliminary arrangements he decided to consult the Ministry†¦show more content†¦It is not exactly forbidden to say this, that or the other, but it is not done to say it, just as in mid-Victorian times it was not done to mention trousers in the presence of a lady. Anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectivene ss. A genuinely unfashionable opinion is almost never given a fair hearing, either in the popular press or in the highbrow periodicals. At this moment what is demanded by the prevailing orthodoxy is an uncritical admiration of Soviet Russia. Every-one knows this, nearly everyone acts on it. Any serious criticism of the Soviet rà ©gime, any disclosure of facts which the Soviet government would prefer to keep hidden, is next door to unprintable. And this nation-wide conspiracy to flatter our ally takes place, curiously enough, against a background of genuine intellectual tolerance. For though you are not allowed to criticize the Soviet government, at least you are reasonably free to criticize our own. Hardly anyone will print an attack on Stalin, but it is quite safe to attack Churchill, at any rate in books and periodicals. And throughout five years of war, during two or three of which we were fighting for national survival, countless books, pamphlets and articles advocating a compromise peace have been published without interference. More, they have been published without exciting much disapproval. So long as the pr estige of the USSR is not involved,Show MoreRelatedEssay on Watchful Government in George Orwells 1984914 Words   |  4 PagesGovernment in George Orwells 1984 No one likes being overly supervised and watched. Whether it is a teenager with protective parents or an adult in the workplace with an ever-watching boss the feeling of continuously being watched is unnerving. Throughout history the levels of government supervision have fluctuated from lows to extremes but sometimes the future seems to hold even more watchful governments. These were the feelings when George Orwell wrote the novel 1984. George Orwell showed a worldRead MoreTotalitarianism In George Orwells 19841028 Words   |  5 Pagesdifferent opinions nor freedom with a centralized government, therefore totalitarianism and dystopian societies are similar. In 1984, written by George Orwell, Big Brother is a dictator who gives the Oceanian population no personal freedoms and strictly dominates all of the country for their own selfish ways. Unlike Oceania, the United States governs their country with a different approach. 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Orwell didnt just intend 1984 as an attack on communism or socialism; instead it is both an attack and a rather prophetic warning against any authoritarian structure, including the authoritarian structure of capitalist democracies. Often we do not equate