Critics on Totalitarianism

I read “Animal Farm” by George Orwell in last January. The current situation in Japan is very similar to the world depicted in the novel.

In the Animal Farm, there is Mr. Jones. He is a human being and has been expelled from the Animal Farm. He is an ex-governor of the Animal Farm. The animals in the Firm hope to live their life without the interference of human beings.

Mr. Jones has repeatedly attacked the Animal Farm with his fellows in order to recapture the Farm, but the animals have fought against him to protect their Firm every time Mr. Jones invaded the Firm. The animals are living with being afraid of prospective future attacks by Mr. Jones. There is a simple structure; Mr. Jones and human beings are enemies to every animal in the Firm.

In this sense, Mr. Jones is equivalent to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. We Japanese people are currently living with the fear of the ongoing crisis at the plant. We wish that we could calm down and control the plant soon. We hate the very existence of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The Animal Farm is governed by pigs. Other animals such as horses, fowls, and goats are obedient to the pigs. There are two pigs called Napoleon and Squealer in the Animal Farm. Napoleon is the leader of the Firm and Squealer is the No.2 leader of the Firm. Napoleon seldom appears in front of the other animals. Instead, Squealer is distributing messages from Napoleon as well as the current situation of the fight against Mr. Jones. Squealer plays the role of a spokesperson. The reason why Napoleon has not so often showed his appearance to the other animals is not well explained by Squealer.

There is a similarity. Napoleon is similar to Mr. Kan, the prime minister. On the other hand, Squealer is similar to Mr. Edano, the chief cabinet secretary. Mr. Edano has been explaining the current situation of the nuclear power plant to the Japanese nationals on behalf of Mr. Kan since the nuclear crisis occurred on March 12th, 2011. We Japanese people have been nervously reacting to the explanation provided by Mr. Edano.

The living conditions in the Animal Farm are severe because many resources and works have to be spent in the preparation of the prospective fight against Mr. Jones. Food is always short of supply, thus the animals are always hungry except for the pigs. The pigs have been eating plenty of food with good nutrition because the pigs have to organize the Animal Farm, so enough nutrition is essential for such brainwork. The working conditions of the animals, except for the pigs, are not good. From early morning till night, the animals have to do muscular work without enough holidays.

I feel a similarity on this point, too. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is currently conducting a planned blackout because TEPCO lost a part of its power generating capacity after the crisis of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The planned blackout has been conducted inside the Kanto Area except for the central part of Tokyo. Of course, the central part of Tokyo includes the cabinet office, and the headquarter of TEPCO.

On the final page of the “Animal Firm”, there is one scene. The pigs are playing a card game with several people on a table on which plenty of food and wine are served. The pigs are trading daily necessities with the human beings. Initially, the Animal Firm hated all human beings. However, the pigs gradually earn a profit from the trade with human beings. Of course, the pigs refrain from trading with Mr. Jones.

We have to be very careful about totalitarianism. Totalitarianism emerges far too easily when an unprecedented event such as the ongoing nuclear crisis is occurring.