Astral Codex Ten

Communist

4 min read

Communist

Article

Communist is a recurring concept in the Astral Codex Ten archive, appearing 2 times across 2 issues between June 10, 2021 and April 06, 2022. The archive places it in contexts such as “À bas la bourgeoisie! Did any man alive ever see me working when I could avoid it? No. And not only that I don’t wear myself out working, … I steal, just to show my independence”; “descendant of Communist “royalty”“. It most often appears alongside US, 1984, America.

Metadata

  • Category: Concepts
  • Mention count: 2
  • Issue count: 2
  • First seen: June 10, 2021
  • Last seen: April 06, 2022

Appears In

Source Context

Recovered passages from the original issue text. When the raw archive preserved outbound links inside the source passage, they are listed directly under the quote.

Your Book Review: Down And Out In Paris And London
June 10, 2021 · Original source
And that was the last we ever heard of the secret society. Who or what they really were, nobody knew. Personally I do not think they had anything to do with the Communist Party; I think they were simply swindlers, who preyed upon Russian refugees by extracting entrance fees to an imaginary society. It was quite safe, and no doubt they are still doing it in some other city. They were clever fellows, and played their part admirably. Their office looked exactly as a secret Communist office should look, and as for that touch about bringing a parcel of washing, it was genius.
Time wears on, and Orwell finally gets a position at a newly opened restaraunt that he’d been promised several months previous. The most notable character here is the ardent-communist-by-affiliation-and-temperment whom Orwell(a socialist himself) regards with passing interest. Here’s him scolding Orwell for daring to work:
'Besides, mon vieux, don't forget that I'm a Communist. À bas la bourgeoisie! Did any man alive ever see me working when I could avoid it? No. And not only that I don't wear myself out working, like you other fools, but I steal, just to show my independence. Once I was in a restaurant where the patron thought he could treat me like a dog. Well, in revenge I found out a way to steal milk from the milk-cans and seal them up again so that no one should know. I tell you I just swilled that milk down night and morning. Every day I drank four litres of milk, besides half a litre of cream. The patron was at his wits' end to know where the milk was going. It wasn't that I wanted milk, you understand, because I hate the stuff; it was principle, just principle.
Dictator Book Club: Xi Jinping
April 06, 2022 · Original source
When Jiang reached his term limit, he stepped down in favor of Hu Jintao, former secretary of the Communist Youth League. The CYLers formed a power bloc distinct from the Shanghai Gang, drawing more on inland rural commoners. The two blocs may have made some kind of power-sharing agreement behind closed doors, probably involving a pledge to alternate who got the Paramount Leader position
Xi’s father, Xi Zhongxun, was former Vice-President of China. That made Xi a “princeling”, ie a descendant of Communist “royalty”. China-watchers disagree on how organized the princelings are and whether they count as a “faction”. But they’re at least kind of a faction, and it didn’t hurt that he represented them too.