Although he has since apologised, in a quote wrongly attributed to George Orwell ‘truth is a revolutionary act’.
After a robust interview with Steve Baker MP I used a very offensive word in an unguarded moment off air. While it was not broadcast that word in any context is beneath the standards I set myself and I apologise unreservedly. I have reached out to Steve Baker to say sorry
— Krishnan Guru-Murthy (@krishgm) October 19, 2022
Actually it is worth spending a few moments on the origins of this quote while we are here to find the genesis as best we can.
Since circa 1982 ‘truth is a revolutionary act’ has been incorrectly assigned to George Orwell and his last novel ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’.
We have to go back to the second decade of the century to locate its probable birthplace.
In 1912 a periodical favouring women’s suffrage called “The Vote: The Organ of the Women’s Freedom League” edited by Charlotte Despard published an editorial titled “The Great Conspiracy” which criticized the political system of the United Kingdom and argued that many people were being deceived and should learn the truth. The editorial contained a statement that was thematically related to the said quotation.
‘The truth! But it is just the truth that cannot be known of the multitude, for truth is revolutionary.‘
The exposition continued with a claim about the necessity of seeking truth:
‘Truth has to be sought—in tears, in sorrow, in desperate revolt; here a little and there a little gained, and when gained held against all comers for the sake of humanity and sometimes at the cost of life itself.’
In 1919 the political theorist Antonio Gramsci co-wrote an article in the periodical “L’Ordine Nuovo” that contained a thematically related precursor expression.
‘But the concrete and complete solution to the problems of socialist living can only arise from communist practice: collective discussion, which sympathetically alters men’s consciousness, unifies them and inspires them to industrious enthusiasm. To tell the truth, to arrive together at the truth, is a communist and revolutionary act.‘
Unsigned, written by Antonio Gramsci in collaboration with Palmiro Togliatti, L’Ordine Nuovo, 21 June 1919, Vol. 1, No. 7.
Gramsci’s pronouncement about truth reverberated down the decades. In 1968 the New York Times printed some comments by the theologian Jürgen Moltmann of the University of Tübingen in Germany that invoked Gramsci:
‘By revolution he said that he meant “a change in the very basis of a system—whether of economics, of politics, of morality, or of religion.” He added, “To take up today the search for truth will involve discovering, as Gramsci did, that ‘truth is revolutionary.’”‘
Now we have that sorted over to Krishnan for an example both Orwell and Gramsci would be proud of.
Krish Guru-Merthy speaks for the nation on Steve Baker. pic.twitter.com/aZWTL4tm0x
— Parody Prime Minister (@Parody_PM) October 19, 2022
Steve Baker is a ****!
Why the controversy.
Douglas James
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