The Absurdity of Doing The Same Thing…

The absurdity of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is beyond comprehension. This happens in people’s lives, organizations, and governments. 

Having the ability to see what is going on before it actually happens is a rare gift; it is called insight. Winston Churchill had the insight to see that Hitler was a dictator intent on conquering the world. At the same time, Hitler appeared to people like Charles Lindbergh and Lady Astor as a gifted world leader. Lady Astor hated Churchill for his criticisms of Hitler, so once she said to him, “If you were my husband, I would put arsenic in your tea.” Churchill responded, “If I were your husband, I would drink it.” There were plenty in the world media who praised Stalin for his transformation of the Soviet Union while ignoring the atrocities that were so common. They said that Stalin was a man of the people who really cared about lasting and meaningful change.

George Orwell saw through the lies and deception of the purported utopia of Communism by Comrade Stalin before most of the world did. Orwell wrote an allegory of what Stalin’s Communism really was in the short book, Animal Farm. It was published in 1945, though it could have been published earlier; publishers were afraid to do so.

The book describes a rebellion led by a pig named Napoleon, who took over the farm owned by Mr. Jones. Napoleon made many wonderful promises to the animals—all animals would be equal; all animals would have an equal share. Life would be better on Animal Farm now that Napoleon was in charge. But, life didn’t turn out to be too good for the animals—except for Napoleon, of course, and the rest of the pigs and his dogs who served as his guards. Napoleon took care of himself and frequently changed the rules to benefit himself and his fellow pigs. I highly recommend the book because it is relevant to what we see happening around us today, with the fascination with Socialism and Communism.

Socialism and Communism order everyone to be, act, and think alike. They do not tolerate any diverse thought. Totalitarians always have a strawman—someone who is responsible for the chaos. For Hitler, it was the Jews; for Stalin, it was the wealthy, educated classes. Their arrows are pointed at someone. Anyone who does not endorse and affirm everything they espouse is targeted and harassed, and even harmed. Search the world over, and you will not find a country with a better justice system or less prejudice than the United States. Yet, there are people intent on overthrowing our system of government. This revolution is about Napoleon and his fellow henchmen taking over the farm. Napoleon will constantly change the rules and lie to his followers. Still, it’s the animals that really get hurt —and it’s we, the ordinary people, who are losing our freedoms.