ANIMAL FARM

1. ANIMAL FARM By George Orwell An Introduction

2. Revolution… • What is a revolution? • Write down 2-3 examples of revolutions from history. • What circumstances (if any) do these revolutions have in common? • What were the goals of the revolutionaries? • In retrospect, were these revolutions successful?

3. communism • COMMUNISM is a system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single (often authoritarian) party holds power. State controls are imposed with the elimination of private ownership of property or capital, while claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are shared equally by the people. It is a classless society. • EXAMPLES: Cuba, the People’s Republic of China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

4. THINK ABOut: • Based upon the ideas of communism, think about how it would affect your future if you realized that tomorrow morning our country would become a communist nation. Consider: • Your future and your plans for college. Does this change your long-term goal? How? What occupation(s) might you pursue instead?

5. marxism • MARXISM is the political, economic, and social principles espoused by 19th century economist Karl Marx. He viewed the struggle of workers as a progression of historical forces that would proceed from a class struggle of the proletariat (workers) exploited by capitalists (business owners), to a socialist “dictatorship of the proletariat,” to, finally, a classless society (communism).

6. DEMOCRACY • DEMOCRACY is a form of government in which the supreme power is retained by the people, but which is usually exercised indirectly through a system of representation and delegated authority, periodically renewed.

7. DICTATORSHIP • A DICTATORSHIP is a form of government in which a ruler or small clique wield absolute power (not restricted by a constitution or laws). Also, a system in which the citizens do not possess the right to choose their own leaders. • Examples: Zimbabwe, Sudan, Hitler’s Germany

8. MONARCHY • A MONARCHY is a government in which the supreme power is in the hands of a monarch who reigns over a state or territory, usually for life and by hereditary right. The monarch may be either a sole, absolute ruler or a sovereign, such as a king, queen, or prince, with constitutionally limited authority. Did you know that Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of Jamaica?

9. socialism • SOCIALISM is a government in which the means of planning, producing, and distributing goods is controlled by a central government that theoretically seeks a more just and equitable distribution of property and labor; in actuality, most socialist governments have ended up being no more than dictatorships over workers by a ruling elite.

10. CAPITALISM • CAPITALISM is the economic system in which the means of production are owned by private persons, and operated for profit and where investments, distribution of income, production and pricing of goods and services are predominantly determined through the operation of a free market. Capitalism is usually considered to involve the right of individuals and corporations to trade, using money, in goods, services, labor, and land. Ideally, capitalist systems are governed by the free price system set by the law of supply and demand rather than government regulation, though this does not exclude government defining and enforcing the basic rules of the market.

11. THINK ABOUT • Which system makes the most sense to you? • Which system makes the least sense? • What factors keep your ideal system from working?

12. YOU HAVE 2 COWS… • PURE SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need. • BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and as many eggs as the regulations say you should need. • FASCISM: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk. • PURE COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You help to take care of them, and you all share the milk. • RUSSIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk. • DICTATORSHIP: You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you. • PURE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk. • REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk. • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY: The government promises to give you two cows if you vote for it. After the election, the president is impeached for speculating in cow futures. The press dubs the affair "Cowgate". • BUREAUCRACY: You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. After that it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows. • ANARCHY: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbours try to kill you and take the cows. • CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull • ENVIRONMENTALISM: You have two cows. The government bans you from milking or killing them. • TOTALITARIANISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and denies they ever existed. Milk is banned. • POLITICAL CORRECTNESS: You are associated with (the concept of "ownership" is a symbol of the male-centric, war-mongering, intolerant past) two differently-aged (but no less valuable to society) bovines of non-specified gender. • COUNTER CULTURE: Wow, dude, there's like... these two cows, man. You got to have some of this milk. • SURREALISM: You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.