To Orwell Today,
ORWELL NOT A FABIAN and FABIAN'S WEBB WORSHIPPED LENIN

Dear Jackie:

Thanks for posting my Fabian Freeway inquiry. You cannot imagine how many people have been misled by the quote.

For example, when I asked author Ralph Epperson of "The Unseen Hand" why he considered Orwell a Fabian, he answered, "Everybody Knows."

The book, "The New Dark Ages" also places Orwell in a category with H. G. Wells, again from Fabian Freeway.

Orwell I found to be a speaker twice at Fabian Society meetings and he worked at BBC with three members of the Fabian Research Bureau.

In my mind, Orwell criticized Beatrice and Sidney Webb again and again, from childhood and again in Wigan Pier and subsequently when he complained how one of his Fabian speeches put into type was rewritten without his permission.

I can understand how his name appears in Fabian Freeway. I cannot understand the why.

Sincerely,
David Alan Goodman

Greetings David,

I'm so glad I was able to clear up the Orwell and Fabianism confusion because it's annoying the way people perpetuate these misconceptions about him.

Some people accuse Orwell of being a Communist, others accuse him of working for MI-5 or MI-6. Others accuse him of being a "traitor" because he gave names of people he thought were crypto (as in secret) Communists or MAYBE-Communists. This always amazes me because I don't think it's being a "traitor" to out Communists when they are seeking positions of influence or power in a person's country (as was the case when Orwell made his famous Crypto Communist list). See ORWELL'S CRYPTO-COMMIE LIST.

You say you understand "how" Orwell's name appears in Fabian Freeway but you don't understand "why". Well, I know the reason why and it is because some people want to discredit Orwell by associating him with a disreputable organization and some people want to credit themselves by having their disreputable organization associated with Orwell.

The essence of Orwell is his purity. In reality he belonged to no status-quo organization. He was fighting for a philosophy and political system that up to his time (and ours) had never yet been put into true practice - Democratic Socialism. See ORWELL'S UTOPIA.

Orwell is someone everyone wants to claim but who belongs to no one and yet at the same time he belongs to everyone - that is, everyone who truly wants what is best for individual nations and mankind.

All the best,
Jackie Jura

PS - I recognize that your "I understand how, I don't understand why" comment is an Orwell quote, ie it was the question Winston kept asking himself and which he finally asked O'Brien. See 17.Falsification of Past and 41.The Party Tells 'How' and 42.The Party Tells 'Why'

Dear Jackie:

Thanks.

Cordially,
David G.