I just finished my annual re-reading of Animal Farm, and it takes some remarkable self-restraint on my part to not further allegorize Orwell’s classic into something like “Animal Pharm.” Although it does almost seem like the novella functions as a handbook for the egregious policies of many Healthcare Systems…ok, I’ll stop

But ask yourself…

Are you among the sheep who fall prey to Squealer-like propaganda? Or do you emulate the pigs who leverage intelligence to redefine vocabulary and reframe the narrative to ascend the societal hierarchy?

Do you lose touch with reality when Moses the Raven dreamily describes Sugarcandy Mountain? Has the illusory magnetism of ritualistic religion lulled you into a false sense of security? Or is your Sugarcandy Mountain a fragile identity forged by ketogenic diets, vegan virtue signaling, or “Influencer Status?” What would happen if that Windmill you’ve worked so hard to build suddenly comes crashing down?

Can you combine the work ethic of Boxer the Horse with the perceptiveness of Benjamin the Donkey? Can you steer clear of the slough of cynicism while avoiding the knackers who prey on naivete?

It’s easy to identify problems, but can you be part of a solution without insidiously becoming what you previously despised?

And if you have no idea what I’m talking about, you really need to read Animal Farm

“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”