All 4 Uses of
oligarchy
in
1984, by Orwell
- It had long been realized that the only secure basis for oligarchy is collectivism.
p. 206.3oligarchy = a political system governed by a few people
- He did not see that the continuity of an oligarchy need not be physical, nor did he pause to reflect that hereditary aristocracies have always been short-lived, whereas adoptive organizations such as the Catholic Church have sometimes lasted for hundreds or thousands of years.
p. 209.9
- All past oligarchies have fallen from power either because they ossified or because they grew soft.
p. 215.1 *
- We are different from all the oligarchies of the past, in that we know what we are doing.
p. 263.4