"A hierarchial society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance." - From George Orwell's 1984
My first thought for the meaning of this quote was that a leveled society (low-med-high "class") would only be established by the poor and ignorant people. Is this what the quote generally means? Thanks much for the help!
1 answer
I think Orwell meant that in a three-tiered society, that the middle class aspires to be in the high and ruling class, thus producing conflict between the two classes. However, the poor and ignorant at the bottom of the heap have no such aspirations and thus are fairly easily ruled by the hierarchy.