“ The intellectuals who are so fond of balancing democracy against totalitarianism and “proving” that one is as bad as the other are simply frivolous people who have never been shoved up against realities. ”
George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius (1941). copy citation
| Author | George Orwell |
|---|---|
| Source | The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius |
| Topic | democracy reality |
| Date | 1941 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and... |
Context
“But in a sense it is irrelevant whether democracy, at its highest or at its lowest, is “better” than totalitarianism. To decide that one would have to have access to absolute standards. The only question that matters is where one’s real sympathies will lie when the pinch comes. The intellectuals who are so fond of balancing democracy against totalitarianism and “proving” that one is as bad as the other are simply frivolous people who have never been shoved up against realities. They show the same shallow misunderstanding of Fascism now, when they are beginning to flirt with it, as a year or two ago, when they were squealing against it. The question is not, “Can you make out a debating-society ‘case’ in favour of Hitler?””
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