I understand that Animal Farm is a satire of Stalin and the russian revolution, but I don't understand the message that is trying to tell us.

The book is about a group of farm animals that is being oppressed by the farmers, so the animals, commanded by the pigs overthrow the farmers and the animals get in control but in reality is the pigs who end up controlling the farm and they are as bad as the farmer.

So to me the message is simple: "don't revolt, don't try to change the status quo, nothing will change if you try, so don't do it"

  • LeninWeave [none/use name]
    ·
    2 years ago

    So to me the message is simple: “don’t revolt, don’t try to change the status quo, nothing will change if you try, so don’t do it”

    Yeah, you pretty much got it.

        • 4zi [he/him, comrade/them]
          ·
          2 years ago

          The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. But uhhh this time uhhh just uh Pokémon go to the polls

          • TrashCompact [none/use name]
            ·
            2 years ago

            I think it's that the tyrants are all somewhere else now. The Tree of Liberty just sent me a telegram that it's actually really thirsty for Putin's blood. Yeah, that's how this metaphor works.

        • Frank [he/him, he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          That is one of the real headscratchers of American life. "Revolutionary violence doesn't solve anything except exactly one time when it solved all of this country's problems and lead to the creation of our glorious, divinely ordained and faultless republic. But don't you dare get any ideas."

        • AssortedBiscuits [they/them]
          ·
          2 years ago

          That's where the hagiography of the founding fathers come in. When you combine the two, it becomes "revolution always leads to societal ruin except for the revolutionary war because the founding fathers were just that smart."

    • Neckbeard_Prime [they/them,he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      In other words, you can probably save yourself the read by listening to a shitty 4-minute song by The Who, assuming you can stomach boomer rock put out by a bunch of Bri*ish pedophiles. Then again, if the alternative is reading Orwell, you're already in the ballpark.

        • Neckbeard_Prime [they/them,he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          That song ("Won't Get Fooled Again") certainly is. The message is literally "don't ever fight for what you believe in, because the new order will be exactly like the old one," which is a textbook hardline British anticommunist stance if I've ever heard one. It's extra hilarious, because Pete Townshend was briefly in the CPGB's Young Communist League, and is allegedly a Labour supporter:
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Townshend#Political_views

          (Also notably absent from that NATOpedia page is the incident in which Townshend got busted for downloading images of CSA, and was promptly cleared of any wrongdoing because British courts just do that if you can throw enough money at them.)

          Lyrics; CW: boomer lib shit

          We'll be fighting in the streets
          With our children at our feet
          And the morals that they worship will be gone
          And the men who spurred us on
          Sit in judgement of all wrong
          They decide and the shotgun sings the song

          I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution
          Take a bow for the new revolution
          Smile and grin at the change all around
          Pick up my guitar and play
          Just like yesterday
          Then I'll get on my knees and pray
          We don't get fooled again

          A change, it had to come
          We knew it all along
          We were liberated from the fold, that's all
          And the world looks just the same
          And history ain't changed
          'Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war

          I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution
          Take a bow for the new revolution
          Smile and grin at the change all around
          Pick up my guitar and play
          Just like yesterday
          Then I'll get on my knees and pray
          We don't get fooled again, no, no

          I'll move myself and my family aside
          If we happen to be left half-alive
          I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
          For I know that the hypnotized never lie

          Do you?
          Yeah

          There's nothing in the street
          Looks any different to me
          And the slogans are effaced, by-the-bye
          And the parting on the left
          Is now parting on the right
          And the beards have all grown longer overnight

          I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution
          Take a bow for the new revolution
          Smile and grin at the change all around
          Pick up my guitar and play
          Just like yesterday
          Then I'll get on my knees and pray
          We don't get fooled again
          Don't get fooled again, no, no

          Yeah
          Meet the new boss
          Same as the old boss