[jacobr1]

Out of curiosity, were your prior beliefs about your home country, America, or global civilization? Would you mind sharing a few of them?

> I really wonder how Orwell could see through things

While he certainly had a fine mind and intellectual curiosity, it also seems he required exposure to different cultures, places, and events such as the Spanish civil war. Your own experiences provide similar anecdote, and my own travels certainly reinforce they idea.