“ the object of waging a war is always to be in a better position in which to wage another war. ”
George Orwell, 1984 (1949). copy citation
Author | George Orwell |
---|---|
Source | 1984 |
Topic | war |
Date | 1949 |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | |
Weblink | http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100021.txt |
Context
“The frontiers of Eurasia flow back and forth between the basin of the Congo and the northern shore of the Mediterranean; the islands of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific are constantly being captured and recaptured by Oceania or by Eastasia; in Mongolia the dividing line between Eurasia and Eastasia is never stable; round the Pole all three powers lay claim to enormous territories which in fact arelargely unihabited and unexplored: but the balance of power always remains roughly even, and the territory which forms the heartland of each super-state always remains inviolate. Moreover, the labour of the exploited peoples round the Equator is not really necessary to the world's economy. They add nothing to the wealth of the world, since whatever they produce is used for purposes of war, and the object of waging a war is always to be in a better position in which to wage another war. By their labour the slave populations allow the tempo of continuous warfare to be speeded up. But if they did not exist, the structure of world society, and the process by which it maintains itself, would not be essentially different.”
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