Has Orwell Still Something to Say About Spain

George Orwell lived just 46 years, always ill, always poor. Always it appeared, under criticism and suspicion. Yet in his brief lifetime he managed - almost uniquely amongst those of his time - to deconstruct the newspeak of imperialism. Stalinism. And fascism.

But more than this, orwell’s criticisms of the role of the intellectual left, the forces of Fascism in Spain and the blind adherence to party policy amongst Stalinist supporters, has a relevance and bearing for us even today, over 65 years later as Spain reels from pillar to post - from EU policy cuts, to self-imposed austerity measures - like a headless corpse on the battlefield of the Ebro.

No one today seems clear why we travel the roads we do any more, no-one seems any longer clear if the journey is worth the effort. For many look and see a failed and bankrupt system before their eyes. 
What steps should we take to initiate real change and is it even possible, Orwell asked back in 1937 and his croaking and bullet damaged voice echoes still unanswered from the past - is it even possible, he said - to ever create fundamental changes by democratic methods alone?”

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