Socialism’s Big Lie

After witnessing how mendacious, megalomaniacal dictators Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin used linguistic trickery to tout “the greatest good for the greatest number,” thereby manipulating whole nations of people into accepting increasingly oppressive levels of collectivism, author George Orwell focused his inimitable satirical skills on debunking the type of social injustice they promoted. In Animal Farm, Orwell anthropomorphized barnyard creatures to demonstrate how evolution from a progressive welfare state to totalitarian tyranny is a self-replicating cycle. He did so by endowing animal characters with a skill authoritarian autocrats hone to perfection: making lies sound incontrovertibly truthful.

In this novel, the pigs prevaricate their way into positions of power and disguise their stratification of the farm menagerie by asserting that all animals are equal … even though some are more equal than others. The following allegorical story, which also humanizes animals, shows how such duplicity plays out. One spring day, Brewster the Bantam rooster discovered a sack of wheat that fell from a passing wagon. An industrious fowl, he decided to plant it, and tried enlisting the help of pigs, goats, sheep, cows, ducks, geese, and horses, but all refused. Disgusted but determined, Brewster sowed the seed alone. When the crop matured, Brewster knew rainy fall weather would ruin the ripened grain if he and the other animals didn’t reap it in a team effort, but nobody volunteered to help. Frustrated, he toiled sunup to sundown. When the rains came, the harvest was stored safely in the silo. Even though planting and harvesting didn’t appeal to the other animals, Brewster was certain they’d help bake bread that would taste mighty good on cold winter nights. But, when he began grinding the grain and preparing to bake loaves, everyone came up with excuses for not helping. The pig claimed to be a school dropout who never learned skills needed for gainful employment. The horse reasoned that some might view the benefits he would enjoy as privileged discrimination, and like the other animals, sat around and watched while Brewster did all the work.

---

When the bread’s delicious aroma wafted through the barn, everyone demanded a share. “No way,” Brewster crowed. “I did all the work — I’ll eat all the bread.” Immediately the non-workers screamed, “Unfair!” and accused the rooster of violating equal rights. About that time, the farmer came into the barn. After listening to the opposing arguments, he chided Brewster. “For shame! You mustn’t be so greedy.” “But I did all the work — I earned the bread!” “Under the doctrine of fairness, workers must divide the fruits of their labor with non-workers.” Reluctantly, the rooster doled out loaves, but it’s a good thing those bums didn’t live by bread alone, because Brewster not only quit baking, but also announced that he would relocate in an environment where productivity was profitable. Outraged, the socialistic leeches accused him of racism and crass capitalism. Chuckling, Brewster thought … now they will learn what “the greatest good for the greatest number” really is: Socialism’s big lie.