"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns ... instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink." and "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." George Orwell, the writer made famous by his book Animal Farm, who was born today in 1903. He died in 1950 just after his last book 1984 was published. At a time when most British intellectuals still supported Communism, Orwell became one of the first leftist writers to speak out against Stalin. In 'Why Write?' and 'Politics and the English Language' (1948) Orwell argued that writers have an obligation of fighting social injustice, oppression, and the power of totalitarian regimes.
In today’s Rocky Mountain News, Colorado State Senator Shawn Mitchell is critical of the Denver Chamber of Commerce for opposing Amendment 47, which he says will return the balance of power to business-labor relations in the state after then actions of the past couple of years.
The large organizations that are increasingly dominating our society, government, corporate, and labor, naturally seek power and control of the individual. This country was founded on the belief that there is another way.
We each need to think for our self about the many issues that we face at this critical time in our nations history, and then speak out. This is difficult when collecting a paycheck from one of those large dominate economic organizations, as an increasing proportion of our population is today.
That’s why I just posted a comment at the end of Sen. Mitchell’s column encouraging people to join us for Socrates Café and Denver Speakers Corner. Will you?
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