Capitalism

“Before the Revolution, they had been hideously oppressed by the capitalists...” (Page 153)

Capitalism is an economic system that is characterized by the private ownership of the means of production. Often times, this system is called a free market or free enterprise economy, and it has been the dominant sociopolitical structure in the Western world since the collapse of the feudalism around the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Capitalism consists of wage labor, rather than self employment, where income is distributed through the operation of the market; the employees. It is interesting that Orwell creates a negative connotation for capitalism, describing it as being “hideously oppressing,” when in fact, the economy and social state of Oceania is clearly overpowering. Orwell purposely creates this irony in order to demonstrate how ill-informed the people of Oceania are. He also makes this reference to show that, although it is a modern society, Oceania has essentially reverted to older forms of government, like feudalism, by working for a single entity, Big Brother.

"capitalism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010. Web. 11 May 2010  http://www.search.eb.com.prxy2.ursus.maine.edu/eb/article-9020150.

Pyramid of Capitalist System. Digital image. Web. 11 May 2010. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Pyramid_of_Capitalist_System.png.