I reread Animal Farm today and I was struck again how similar George Orwell's writings mimic the JW's. If you are not familiar with the story, it is a tale wherein the animals take over a farm from their oppressive human masters and begin to run it for their own benefit. However, the pigs, being the smartest of the farm animals, soon begin to direct the animals work and toil for their own benefit and in the end succeed in oppressing the other animals to a far greater extent. I believe it written as a metaphor for communism under Stalin. My question is, if you were to apply the metaphor to the JW's, who would the pigs be? I mean, who really benefits from the JW Organization? I don't see that elders receive any really special compensation other perhaps a feeling of importance, but that really only extends to the KH and to other Jovies. Even the Gov Body doesn't appear to reap any rewards of real benefit - other than that smug, self righteous feeling of being right and better than everyone else. I feel like perhaps I'm missing something, so if anyone could explain what great benefits the JW leaders receive I would appreciate it.
Animal Farm
by All_These_Kids 5 Replies latest jw friends
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Elsewhere
Power is an end unto itself.
What greater power than to control every aspect of another's life?
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Farkel
: I believe it written as a metaphor for communism under Stalin.
It was. So was "1984."
: My question is, if you were to apply the metaphor to the JW's, who would the pigs be? I mean, who really benefits from the JW Organization?
The pigs would be the elite Watchtower leaders, of course.
Oh, wait! That couldn't be a metaphor. The Watchtower leaders already ARE a pack of pigs!
Farkel -
carla
Animal Farm and 1984 both are great comparisons to jw's. In a weird way so was the new "Horton Hears a Who", anybody see it? The kangaroo is just like a jw until the end.
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All_These_Kids
I guess what I'm getting at is that Orwell's pigs enjoyed obvious benefits from running their organization - they had more and better food than everyone else, were excused from manual labor, and slept in better quarters. Further, the lead pig, Napolean, exercised great personal power over everyone else - to the point of life and death. The impression that I've gotten from reading books by those who have been in high positions in the organization, such as Ray Franz, is that the best anyone gets, no matter how far up the ladder they were able to go, is to be the pig that tells everyone else what the great Napolean (or Watchtower) has decided and why you should do what your told. There doesn't seem to be any of the baser motivations for leadership that you would expect such as money, sex, or real, personal power over others. It seems that the leaders are just as duped as we were. Does anyone know of any real examples of elders, overseers or bethelites that used their position for personal gain? Was it an isolated case or is there real personal corruption at higher levels? Or perhaps noone is really in charge at all and the great majority of people are just going along because thats the way things have always been done?
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BizzyBee
You should get hold of The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses. It is a very good analysis of the novels of George Orwell as related to JWs. Quite a good read.