[Initial Insight] Putin Joins the Ranks of 'Animal Farm' Protagonists

Russian President Vladimir Putin [Photo by AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] On the 21st, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine. Putin finally made his move.

Breaking news flooded foreign media. One headline stood out: "Putin just put Kafka & Orwell to shame." This was a tweet by Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida ?imonyt?. While it is difficult to grasp the full intent of Prime Minister ?imonyt?, one thing that comes to mind is the British novelist George Orwell (1903?1950) and his 1945 publication, Animal Farm. ?imonyt? also added that "there are no limits to a dictator’s imagination."

Animal Farm is known as an allegory written by Orwell, a socialist, criticizing the Soviet socialism as a sham.

In a farm run by humans, a revolution led by pigs drives out the human owner. The farm, now inhabited only by animals, dreams of an equal society. The seven commandments are established, with the first being "Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy." However, the pigs who led the revolution become the new ruling class, and as power struggles ensue among them, the farm collapses into a state no different from when humans ran it.

The reality Orwell depicted in Animal Farm resembles the Soviet Union that emerged after the revolution that overthrew the autocratic Russian Empire.

The reason the animals’ lives are miserable and hard is that humans take almost all the products of the animals’ labor. The old boar "Major," who emphasizes the need for revolution by saying the farm’s owner is not human but animals, is likened to Marx and Lenin. The pigs "Napoleon" and "Snowball," who engage in power struggles, represent Stalin and Trotsky, who fought for power in reality.

Prime Minister ?imonyt? apparently wanted to criticize President Putin, who has effectively ruled Russia for 23 years, as a dictator lost in delusion, leading Russia in the wrong direction.

Animal Farm is often referenced in political criticism because it shows how a specific class’s obsession with power struggles and corruption distances the community from its ideal.

During the decline of a particular class, the seven commandments of Animal Farm are also changed. The pigs alter the commandments to justify their actions. The fifth commandment, "No animal shall drink alcohol," is changed to "No animal shall drink alcohol to excess," a kind of double standard. The final seventh commandment changes from "All animals are equal" to "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others," emphasizing equality while denying it in a contradictory manner.

Thirteen days remain until the presidential election. There are countless agendas to address for the future of the Republic of Korea, such as whether to increase or decrease taxes, how to expand welfare, and how to strengthen national defense. However, the two major parties, focused solely on winning power, are busy exposing each other’s faults. The term "Naeronambul," introduced last year in The New York Times, has become a symbolic expression of Korea’s political reality, meaning "double standards." Both parties accuse each other of Naeronambul, but there seems to be little difference. As they focus on pointing out faults, only frames abound. It is almost unbearable. Voters must not be swayed by frames, as frames are merely ways of viewing the world and differ from objective facts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.