Examine the topical nature of George Orwell's Animal Farm in world politics.

The below answer is apt and covers the contemporary parallels in Orwell's day, some 70-90 years ago. If, however, we are talking about current parallels, Orwell's concerns can also be applied. He was worried about propaganda distorting truth and its use in controlling people. He was also concerned with a small group or a single individual seizing power and abusing it to the detriment of the common good. While he was trying in particular to...

The below answer is apt and covers the contemporary parallels in Orwell's day, some 70-90 years ago. If, however, we are talking about current parallels, Orwell's concerns can also be applied. He was worried about propaganda distorting truth and its use in controlling people. He was also concerned with a small group or a single individual seizing power and abusing it to the detriment of the common good. While he was trying in particular to expose the betrayal of communist ideals in Stalinist Russia, his larger message is that the ideals of any revolution or ideology can be betrayed. 

Many people are saying we are now living in quite interesting times in the United States and the world. Does a small group of extremists distort the values of Islam in the world today, much as Napoleon distorted Animalism? In our country, to switch gears, many have criticized a "24-hour news cycle" for distorting facts and producing news that treats politics as entertainment, thus debasing the political discourse in this country. Are we "dumbing down" our own political values in ways similar to the pigs' dumbing down and distorting the Seven Commandments of Animalism? Orwell would probably say yes. Do wealthy people have too much influence over the politics of the Eurozone the way the pigs had too much control over the Farm? Some would argue yes--but some no, given the way the power elites haven't been able to control the rise of nationalist parties in Europe. But the larger point is that these issues of language and power articulated by Orwell continue to trouble us today.