Orwell Castigates Wells, Defends Patriotism

I have frequently criticized our country for it behavior throughout the Twentieth Century. On the other hand, while doing so I simultaneous hold in my mind the conviction George Orwell put forth in his essay titled "Wells, Hitler and the World State" which was originally published in August 1941 in Horizon magazine. 

In this essay Orwell castigates H.G. Wells for his optimistic belief in scientific progress and a rational world state, which Orwell argued was naive in light of the rise of totalitarianism, particularly Hitler’s regime. Orwell saw Wells’ views as dangerously out of touch with the realities of power and human nature.  

For me, there were two significant takeaways here. First, I hadn't realized how long this idea of a "one world government" was being formulated and seriously discussed. Second, the importance of patriotism.

In his essay Orwell showed how H.G.Wells derided military analysts and experts as alarmists, insisting Hitler was little more than a grotesque caricature—dangerous only insofar as he fools the credulous. Orwell then shredded Wells with facts.

He then moved to his main point, that Wells was a one-world government advocate. Orwell saw this vision not just as naïve, but as fundamentally disconnected from human experience. “What is the point of pointing out that a World State is desirable?” Orwell asked. “What matters is that not one of the five great military powers would think of submitting to such a thing.”

“Whereas for the common-sense, essentially hedonistic world-view which Mr. Wells puts forward,” Orwell writes, “hardly a human creature is willing to shed a pint of blood.”

 

That sentence alone arrests the reader. Orwell’s point is not merely military. It is psychological and civilizational. In moments of existential peril, high-minded cosmopolitanism is no substitute for visceral, ingrained loyalties—loyalties which many elites had spent the past decades trying to dissolve.

This is precisely the point at which many have often struggled. When it comes to U.S. behavior on the world stage, we have much to be ashamed of. BUT... At America's core is there something left to believe in? Something worth fighting for? Even dying for?

This is the message of Stephen Kinzer's The True Flag, which documents America's imperialist aggressions on the world stage. The "true flag" is a metaphorical symbol representing the American flag as an emblem of human rights, self-determination, and serving as a positive example to the world, rather than a banner of conquest, imperialism, or military domination.

At America's heart, there really is something to believe in.