Of course, in George Orwell’s day, Myanmar wasn’t Myanmar it was Burma, a British colony on the cusp of great change.
Born in British India, Orwell’s post as a colonial police officer in Upper Burma was a kind of coming home for someone who never felt entirely at home in England. As a schoolboy in Eton, he had always been made to feel like an outlier and was horribly bullied. This experience shaped his new adventures in Burma in the 1920s and beyond, from his low-level position as a cog in the British Empire to freedom fighter in fascist Spain to essayist of genius than double-think the author of classics like 1984 and Animal Farm. These texts are more relevant than ever with all the double-think noise over fake news and the high-level deceit exhibited by heads of state of nations like Russia, China, and yes even the USA. Social media can be a lot of fun, yet it can also be an engine for misinformation. Even the Nobel Peace Prize-winning leader of Burma often speaks out of both sides of her mouth and walks on both sides of the street while Burma burns. George Orwell lives on through his highly respected body of work. Even today, Burma is still playing word games while many of its citizens suffer. George Orwell would not be a bit surprised.
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