Home >> Africa >> North Africa

     Email   Print 

Gathafi’s Orwellian Jamahiriya (People’s State)

Nizar Awad - 7/7/2011

What do George Orwell’s allegorical novella “Animal Farm” and Muammar Gathafi’s fabled “Jamahiriya” have in common?

The answer is that they both reveal authoritarianism disguised as utopianism. Both books speak of visionaries who are either a white boar named Major, a reference to Joseph Stalin, in the Animal Farm or a colonel named Muammar in the Jamahiriya and who had visions of perfect systems enshrined in a motto promising justice and liberty for all. While the revolt to dismantle the old systems in Orwell’s book was led by three pigs namely Napoleon, Snowball and Squealer the revolt in Gathafi’s book was led by a group of army officers including Khuwaildi, Kharubi and Yunis who are nowadays involved in the onslaught against the Libyan people. Just as the pigs’ revolution succeeded in overthrowing Mr. Jones the human owner of the manor farm, freed all the other farm animals from bondage and declared the establishment of an independent animal farm, Muammar and his coconspirators succeeded in overthrowing the Libyan Monarchy and later on changed the name of the state to a Jamahiriya or government of all the people. As a matter of fact the victorious insurrecters in both scenarios vowed to establish a new order in which all members are equal regardless of any minor or major differences in characters and capacities.

What should make the similarity between the two books even more obvious is that Orwell’s novella is actually an allegory of the Russian 1917 Revolution and the Soviet totalitarianism that followed. It reveals how the so-called ideals of Communism degenerated into anarchy and totalitarianism and as such resembles the situation in Libya during Gathafi’s reign of terror. The characters in the book are actually based on exponents and enforcers of Communism. The character of the pig Napoleon that was the leader of the insurrection is based on that of Joseph Stalin. Leon Trotsky who was Stalin’s rival is represented by the pig Snowball and the pig Squealer stands for Vyacheslav Molotov who was Stalin’s propagandist. Along with the subject matter which is in this case the fallacies of utopianism the two books also reveal how power and greed could easily reveal the essence of those who hide behind appealing ideals to further their own goals and ambitions. Even the ideals of equality and justice that they raised to legitimize their rules eventually degenerated into self serving slogans and pronouncements that curtailed freedoms and increasingly tightened the noose around the necks of unsuspecting populace.

When we put Orwell’s Animal Farm and Muammar’s Jamahiriya side by side we can clearly see the similarities in both scenarios. While the top pig Napoleon declared the creation of an ideal state to be named Animal Farm Muammar declared the creation of a Jamahiriya (government of the masses) which will turn Libya into a paradise on earth. However in both cases it did not take long for the lure of power and authority to cause both leaders to veer from their ideal pursuits and focus instead on personal fulfillments. Muammar eventually turned his back on the promises of his Jamahiriya and instead devoted his energy and the state’s money on glorifying his own legacy just as the pig Napoleon abandoned his pursuits of the ideals of the Animal Farm and instead instructed his propagandist Squealer to sing his praises and extol his personal virtues. While carrying on with the deception of being a simple nomad still living in a tent and drinking camel’s milk Gathafi created numerous titles to satisfy his vanity including “Africa’s king of kings” and “worldwide leader of Muslims”. In essence the two books show that when ruthless people act as purveyors of human ideals they would only condemn their socities to descend into brutality, lawlessness and chaos. The message in Orwell’s work is universal and therefore still applies to similar situations in today’s world. It is not only about the Bolshevik Revolution but about any mass movement that is exploited by an imposter or imposters as a Trojan horse to infiltrate society and impose a vision that undermines people’s aspirations for freedom, justice and equality. Is it any wonder that Gathafi in an addendum (short commentary) to his so called “People’s State” rephrased his Jamahiriya to “State of the contemptibles” as in the title “Long live state of the contemptibles” hence an obvious reference to the Libyan people who he vowed to emancipate rather than ruthlessly decimate.