Talking Tuesday: Orwell and the Modern World

We live in uncertain times.  In many ways, our current times are reminiscent of the first years of any modern century--political upheaval and stagnation, wars, instability, major systems of governance under fire.  One of the blessings and burdens of studying history is the ability see things at a sweep.  To put current events in context, to understand the broader picture of what is happening in the world today.  Sometimes it is helpful (knowing that nothing lasts forever is sometimes very useful indeed); sometimes it is terrifying.  Understanding what comes after a plague, or seeing the end of a system of government, and knowing what that may entail for the future can be scary stuff.

Rod Dreher wrote yesterday about the emotional appeal of ISIS for many followers of Islam, and how we Westerners cannot possibly begin to understand all that undergirds the religious fervor and worldview that informs the jihadist movement.  He largely quotes Graeme Wood, writing in the Atlantic, who writes:

"There is a temptation to rehearse this observation—that jihadists are modern secular people, with modern political concerns, wearing medieval religious disguise—and make it fit the Islamic State. In fact, much of what the group does looks nonsensical except in light of a sincere, carefully considered commitment to returning civilization to a seventh-century legal environment, and ultimately to bringing about the apocalypse."

Like Dreher, I object to modern writers' use of the term "medieval" to connote a backward, unthinking, unlearned society, as so much of the world's knowledge, understanding, and flourishing came from the medieval period, both in Europe and elsewhere.  One thing that stood out to me, however, was the Orwellian observation that:

"Fascism is psychologically far sounder than any hedonistic conception of life … Whereas Socialism, and even capitalism in a more grudging way, have said to people “I offer you a good time,” Hitler has said to them, “I offer you struggle, danger, and death,” and as a result a whole nation flings itself at his feet … We ought not to underrate its emotional appeal."

I read recently that the whole history of modern development has been a slow process of getting comfortable.  We now live quite comfortable lives, from the perspective of history.  We don't have to worry about growing or gathering our own food, (for the most part), our furniture and beds are soft and supportive (and largely inexpensive), our clothing is cheap and accessible, our medical knowledge and access unparalleled, our gadgets increasingly do our mental and manual work for us.  I think one of the appealing things about earlier ways of doing, at least for me, is the sense that there is something soul-good about the physicality of it, and the lack of insularity in that life can be scary and exhilarating at the same time.