--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But it was also clear that an all-round…" description: "\"“But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction—indeed, in some sense was the destruction—of a hierarchical soci..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cd/george-orwell-57_long-run_but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round_667921.jpg" --- # But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth… ![“But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction—indeed, in some sense was the destruction—of a hierarchical society. In a world in which everyone worked short hours, had enough to eat, lived in a house with a bathroom and a refrigerator, and possessed a…” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cd/george-orwell-57_long-run_but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round_667921.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cd/george-orwell-57_long-run_but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round_667921.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cd/george-orwell-57_long-run_but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round_667921.jpg) > ““But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction—indeed, in some sense was the destruction—of a hierarchical society. In a world in which everyone worked short hours, had enough to eat, lived in a house with a bathroom and a refrigerator, and possessed a motor-car or even an airplane, the most obvious and perhaps the most important form of inequality would already have disappeared. If it once became general, wealth would confer no distinction. It was possible, no doubt, to imagine a society in which wealth, in the sense of personal possessions and luxuries, should be evenly distributed, while power remained in the hands of a small privileged caste. But in practice such a society could not long remain stable. For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty would become literate and would learn to think for themselves; and when once they had done this, they would sooner or later realize that the privileged minority had no function, and they would sweep it away. In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance.”” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Wealth equality erodes class hierarchy because without poverty and ignorance the privileged lose purpose and are challenged. **In simple terms:** Equal wealth removes class distinctions, leading to instability of hierarchies. Key Takeaway Recognize that material equality alone cannot sustain power structures. Themes equality hierarchy poverty ignorance social stability Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical political When to use this quote - political theory - economic policy - education reform - social movements Key Concepts Marxism social dynamics power structures Questions to Reflect On - What functions do elites serve beyond wealth? - How does education threaten entrenched power? A Different Perspective If everyone is well off, the ruling class loses justification for dominance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hierarchical Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hierarchical-society-686229/) [Inequality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inequality/) [Inequality Disappeared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inequality-disappeared-5308695/) [Long run](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-run/) [Society Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-wealth-829427/) [Sooner or later](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sooner-or-later/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) ## Related quotes > [“It was possible, no doubt, to imagine a society in which wealth, in the sense of personal possessions and luxuries, should be evenly distributed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-possible-no-doubt-to-imagine-a-society-in-which-wealth-in-the/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction — indeed, in some sense was the destruction — of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round-increase-in-wealth-threatened-2/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“If it once became general, wealth would confer no distraction. It was possible no doubt to imagine a society in the sense of personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-it-once-became-general-wealth-would-confer-no-distraction-it-was/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [A hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance, this new version is the past and no different past can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/a-hierarchical-society-is-only-possible-on-the-basis-of-poverty-and/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty would become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/for-if-leisure-and-security-were-enjoyed-by-all-alike-the-great-mass-2/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [But the problems of perpetuating a hierarchical society go deeper than this. There are only four ways in which a ruling group can fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-the-problems-of-perpetuating-a-hierarchical-society-go-deeper/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance. To”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-was-only-possible-on-a-basis/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“It was possible, no doubt, to imagine a society in which WEALTH, in the sense of personal pos- sessions and luxuries, should be evenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-possible-no-doubt-to-imagine-a-society-in-which-wealth-in-the-2/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Preindustrial living standards are predictable based on knowledge of disease and environment. Differences in social energy across societies were muted by the Malthusian constraints.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-clark/preindustrial-living-standards-are-predictable-based-on-knowledge-of/) [Gregory Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-clark/) > [“By contrast, the traditional revolutionary demand for council forms of organization (what Hannah Arendt describes as "the revolutionary heritage") does not break completely with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/by-contrast-the-traditional-revolutionary-demand-for-council-forms-of/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root," Henry David Thoreau famously remarked. Conventional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-adams/there-are-a-thousand-hacking-at-the-branches-of-evil-to-one-who-is-3/) [Martin Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-adams/) > [Tolerance and understanding won't 'trickle down' in our society any more than wealth does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/tolerance-and-understanding-won-t-trickle-down-in-our-society-any/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [The immense accumulations of fixed capital which, to the great benefit of mankind, were built up during the half century before the war, could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/the-immense-accumulations-of-fixed-capital-which-to-the-great-benefit/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [The more each nation contributes to world society from the wealth of its own aptitudes, its own race, and its own traditions, the greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernesto-teodoro-moneta/the-more-each-nation-contributes-to-world-society-from-the-wealth-of/) [Ernesto Teodoro Moneta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernesto-teodoro-moneta/) > [One of the great political and economic challenges of our time is figuring out the balance between wealth that benefits society and wealth that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-davidson/one-of-the-great-political-and-economic-challenges-of-our-time-is/) [Adam Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-davidson/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Inequality quotes > [Race is the idea that a human being is more superior than another human being, race in society grants illusional rights to mistreat each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/race-is-the-idea-that-a-human-being-is-more-superior-than-another/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [Inequality is pervasive but invisible. It's hard to see. You need a sort of tool to make it visible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hito-steyerl/inequality-is-pervasive-but-invisible-it-s-hard-to-see-you-need-a/) [Hito Steyerl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hito-steyerl/) > [It clearly follows that to make men moral it is necessary to make their social environment moral. And that can be done in only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/it-clearly-follows-that-to-make-men-moral-it-is-necessary-to-make/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > ['Inequality' has become the political theme/slogan of our time in both Europe and the U.S., yet political leaders do not even bother to consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-singer/inequality-has-become-the-political-theme-slogan-of-our-time-in-both/) [Paul Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-singer/) > [Income inequality isn't sexy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-c-pelosi/income-inequality-isn-t-sexy/) [Alexandra C. Pelosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-c-pelosi/) > [Yeah, maybe that's the way to solve the gender inequality that's naturally in relationships: to have a lot more power in the woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celine-song/yeah-maybe-that-s-the-way-to-solve-the-gender-inequality-that-s/) [Celine Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celine-song/) > [“In no country does the average income give the right picture of how people live but in a country with higher inequality it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ha-joon-chang/in-no-country-does-the-average-income-give-the-right-picture-of-how/) [Ha-Joon Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ha-joon-chang/) > [Any city, however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of the poor, the other of the rich; these are at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/any-city-however-small-is-in-fact-divided-into-two-one-the-city-of/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [I made an effort to ensure social safeguards. But our economy has to grow - and Chile, with a population of 17 million, cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-bachelet/i-made-an-effort-to-ensure-social-safeguards-but-our-economy-has-to/) [Michelle Bachelet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-bachelet/) > [I don't know another way to try to deal with income inequality than actually having entrepreneurs and inventors creating the kind of jobs that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-x-suarez/i-don-t-know-another-way-to-try-to-deal-with-income-inequality-than/) [Francis X. Suarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-x-suarez/) > [Unequal distribution of income is an excessively uneconomic method of getting the necessary saving done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/unequal-distribution-of-income-is-an-excessively-uneconomic-method-of/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [I don't see much future for the Americans ... it's a decayed country. And they have their racial problem, and the problem of social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/i-don-t-see-much-future-for-the-americans-it-s-a-decayed-country-and/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [The first person who, having enclosed a plot of land, took it into his head to say this is mine and found people simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-first-person-who-having-enclosed-a-plot-of-land-took-it-into-his/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The more I've been able to learn about gay rights and equal pay and gender equity and racial inequality, the more that it all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rapinoe/the-more-i-ve-been-able-to-learn-about-gay-rights-and-equal-pay-and/) [Megan Rapinoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rapinoe/) > [Communism is inequality, but not as property is. Property is exploitation of the weak by the strong. Communism is exploitation of the strong by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-joseph-proudhon/communism-is-inequality-but-not-as-property-is-property-is/) [Pierre-Joseph Proudhon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-joseph-proudhon/) [Browse all 1,442 Inequality quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inequality/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction—indeed, in some sense was the destruction—of a hierarchical society. In a world in which everyone worked short hours, had enough to eat, lived in a house with a bathroom and a refrigerator, and possessed a motor-car or even an airplane, the most obvious and perhaps the most important form of inequality would already have disappeared. If it once became general, wealth would confer no distinction. It was possible, no doubt, to imagine a society in which wealth, in the sense of personal possessions and luxuries, should be evenly distributed, while power remained in the hands of a small privileged caste. But in practice such a society could not long remain stable. For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty would become literate and would learn to think for themselves; and when once they had done this, they would sooner or later realize that the privileged minority had no function, and they would sweep it away. In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round-increase-in-wealth-threatened/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Inequality" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round-increase-in-wealth-threatened/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cd/george-orwell-57_long-run_but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round_667921.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cd/george-orwell-57_long-run_but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round_667921.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cd/george-orwell-57_long-run_but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round_667921.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction—indeed, in some sense…” — George Orwell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "George Orwell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“But it was also clear that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round-increase-in-wealth-threatened/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round-increase-in-wealth-threatened/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```