George Orwell, after being subjected to drone attacks, asked: What’s the big deal?

For some reason I've been reading a lot of H.L.
Mencken and George Orwell lately. Both are terrific writers and interesting
political observers. I enjoy both but prefer Orwell's politics as well as his
prose.

I noticed that in June 1944, Orwell wrote
this about the German buzz bombs hitting London:

I notice that apart from the widespread
complaint that the German pilotless planes "seem so unnatural" (a bomb dropped
by a live airman is quite natural, apparently), some journalists are denouncing
them as barbarous, inhumane, and "an indiscriminate attack on civilians."...
But I would not deny that the pilotless plane, flying bomb, or whatever its
correct name may be, is an exceptionally unpleasant thing, because, unlike most
other projectiles, it gives you time to think. What is your first reaction when
you hear that droning, zooming noise? Inevitably, it is a hope that the noise
won't stop. You want to hear the bomb pass safely overhead and die away into
the distance before the engine cuts out. In other words, you are hoping that it
will fall on somebody else.

Tom
again: Speaking of Orwell, I bet he wouldn't be surprised to see that the
Chinese parliament now features 83
billionaires. Some animals are just more
equal than others.