It is literally the foundation this capitalist world order is built upon :parenti:. The wealth of the western world is gained from the exploitation of the global south, and this philosophy of "equal exchange" in life: that one must suffer so other may prosper; is nothing more than a cowardly attempt to justify this system.

I find this incredibly funny personally because my mom tried to team up with the mom of this incredibly sheltered kid who was also evangelical to try to get us to not read this book. The entire time she didn't realize the book essentially reinforced her beliefs.

it undeniably reflects the liberal politics of the author, but to me it reads as more incidental than a pointed anti-communist allegory, since the society as presented doesn't really make sense, and it's not made clear why the elements of total central control are necessitated by the elements of stability and material comfort. i think it works better at a baser emotional level in its depiction of a single, secret point of cruelty shattering the protagonist's understanding of his apparently harmonious world. i know it definitely affected me greatly as a kid.