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Blink 3 von 12 - Eine kurze Geschichte der Menschheit
von Yuval Noah Harari
A Political Satire on the Corrupting Influence of Power
All of the animals on Manor Farm were talking about one thing. Old Major had a dream. Apparently it was so important that there was going to be a special meeting about it in the barn. Old Major was a 12-year-old prize-winning Middle White boar who was held in the highest regard. He was the wise elder among them, and if he had something important to say, no one complained about losing an hour’s sleep in order to hear what it was.
Once the farmer, Mr. Jones, stumbled home drunk from the pub and fell asleep, the coast was clear and everyone was free to gather in the barn. From a slightly elevated platform, Old Major addressed the crowd from his bed of straw. In front of him were the hens, the sheep, the ducklings, the horses, the dogs, the pigs, the donkey – even the pigeons were all ears.
Old Major cleared his throat and explained that part of his reason for this meeting was to describe the fantastic dream he had, but also, the time had come to pass on his wisdom. He was an old boar, and his days were numbered. But from his years of experience he believed he had come to understand the nature of life as well as any other creature alive. And the nature of life was: miserable, laborious, and short.
As the stout old boar made clear, the life of an animal in England was that of cruel slavery. They were forced into strenuous work and fed the bare minimum. Then, when they were no longer of service, they were brutally slaughtered. And what was the cause of all this misery? Well, quite simply: Man. Man serves his interests, and his interests alone. Man is the only beast who consumes and produces nothing. Man doesn’t provide milk or eggs. He’s not strong enough to pull a plow or fast enough to catch rabbits. He uses and abuses animals for these purposes and it all goes down his throat or is turned into profit. For their toil, all the animals get are meager rations and a cold, dry place to sleep.
Old Major then gets to his main point, and says, “This is my message to you, comrades: Rebellion! We must work to overthrow the human race. It may not happen tomorrow, or even a hundred years from now. But justice will eventually prevail. And in the meantime, we must spread the word. Tell every animal that we will no longer work under the cruel thumb of man. That we can and will work for our own benefit. That one day we will be free and wealthy from our own efforts. Tell them we can be united in our struggle and our reward. That all men are enemies and all animals are comrades!”
Cheers broke out in the barn. A vote was quickly held in which nearly everyone, save for a couple cats and dogs, unanimously agreed that even wild animals such as rabbits and rats, were to be considered comrades. Old Major then laid the foundational principles of their rebellion – what would become known as the Seven Commandments.
Finally, Old Major began to talk about the dream he had. It was a vision of a world without Man. He could not accurately describe the details of the dream. But he could describe the song the dream invoked. It was a song his mother used to sing, though she could not remember all the words. It was a song lost to past generations. But in his dream, Old Major heard every last verse.
He then proceeded to teach the animals the song, called Beasts of England. Its verses painted the scene of a golden future time, when the fruitful fields of England would be trod by beasts alone. It resonated with every animal in the barn, and they sang it over and over until they memorized every line.
Animal Farm (1945) is a classic satirical novella that transplants the events of the Russian Revolution of 1917 to a small English farm. Once the animals stage an uprising, a political battle ensues between an ideological pig named Snowball and a power-hungry pig named Napoleon.
Ich bin begeistert. Ich liebe Bücher aber durch zwei kleine Kinder komme ich einfach nicht zum Lesen. Und ja, viele Bücher haben viel bla bla und die Quintessenz ist eigentlich ein Bruchteil.
Genau dafür ist Blinkist total genial! Es wird auf das Wesentliche reduziert, die Blinks sind gut verständlich, gut zusammengefasst und auch hörbar! Das ist super. 80 Euro für ein ganzes Jahr klingt viel, aber dafür unbegrenzt Zugriff auf 3000 Bücher. Und dieses Wissen und die Zeitersparnis ist unbezahlbar.
Extrem empfehlenswert. Statt sinnlos im Facebook zu scrollen höre ich jetzt täglich zwischen 3-4 "Bücher". Bei manchen wird schnelle klar, dass der Kauf unnötig ist, da schon das wichtigste zusammen gefasst wurde..bei anderen macht es Lust doch das Buch selbständig zu lesen. Wirklich toll
Einer der besten, bequemsten und sinnvollsten Apps die auf ein Handy gehören. Jeden morgen 15-20 Minuten für die eigene Weiterbildung/Entwicklung oder Wissen.
Viele tolle Bücher, auf deren Kernaussagen reduziert- präzise und ansprechend zusammengefasst. Endlich habe ich das Gefühl, Zeit für Bücher zu finden, für die ich sonst keine Zeit habe.
Hol dir mit Blinkist die besten Erkenntnisse aus mehr als 7.000 Sachbüchern und Podcasts. In 15 Minuten lesen oder anhören!
Jetzt kostenlos testenBlink 3 von 12 - Eine kurze Geschichte der Menschheit
von Yuval Noah Harari