A Brief History
On August 17, 1945, George Orwell published his novella, Animal Farm, a cautionary tale that amounts to “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!” An allegory about the siren song of communism, Animal Farm was proven right when almost all the communist countries in the world reverted to at least somewhat of a market system.
Digging Deeper
Other authors have foretold the future, such as Jules Verne with his tales of submarines and space travel. Orwell himself struck again with Nineteen Eighty-Four in 1949, forecasting our descent into universal surveillance of the population and the development of politically correct language.
In 1968, John Brunner told of a future where Detroit would shrivel, gay issues would prevail, Europe would unite, marijuana becomes legal, and terrorism grips the globe in his novel Stand on Zanzibar, set in 2010.
We hope Silent Spring and The Population Bomb do not prove prophetic!
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: What book would you add to this list?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Brunner, John. Stand on Zanzibar. Macmillan Audio, 2011.
Orwell, George. Animal Farm. Blackstone Audio, Inc. 1999.
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