What Orwell Can Teach Obama

That's the title of an article on Slate.com. I particularly like this quote:

One key to the movement's lack of popularity, Orwell argues, is its supporters. "As with the Christian religion," he writes, "the worst advertisement for Socialism is its adherents." Then he wheels out the heavy rhetorical artillery. The typical socialist, according to Orwell, "is either a youthful snob-Bolshevik who in five years time will quite probably have made a wealthy marriage and been converted to Roman Catholicism, or, still more typically, a prim little man with a white-collar job, usually a secret teetotaler, and often with vegetarian leanings … with a social position he has no intention of forfeiting. … One sometimes gets the impression that the mere words 'Socialism' and 'Communism' draw towards them with magnetic force every fruit-juice drinker, nudist, sandal-wearer, sex-maniac, Quaker, 'Nature Cure' quack, pacifist and feminist in England." (Think "organic food lover," "militant nonsmoker," and "environmentalist with a private jet" for a more contemporary list.)

So if Orwell was correct why does 50% of the population identify it self as Democrat?

Is it because Americans are so much smarter than the British? Not if you believe the leaders of the Democratic Party. According to them we are all a bunch of illiterate, mouth breathing, booger eating morons who are fifty years behind all Europeans in our social policy. Of course I disagree, mainly because I eat paste not boogers but I digress.

My personal opinion is it arises out of our own prosperity. America on the whole has an incredibly high standard of living so that even the poorest has the time and energy to be a fruit-juice drinker, nudist, sandal-wearer, sex-maniac, Quaker, 'Nature Cure' quack, pacifist, feminist. Couple that with the TV taking the place of the pub as the center of social life and you have a recipe for incipient socialism.

Fortunately most of the Democrat leadership hasn't quite figured out how to not sound like someone running for upper-class twit of the year or Republicans like me would be screwed blue and tattooed.