Penance in Paris, London, and the Trenches

In Orwell's writing and life I think we see a better reaction to colonialism than that presented by O'Brien, Conrad, McKibben's analysis and Achebe's criticisms. Like O'Brien and Conrad, he lived in the fields of colonialism, serving in Burma a post that showed to him the "futility of white man's presence in the East." However, in contrast to the two mentioned above, Orwell seems more morally and intellectually offended by his country's occupation of the East, and because of this reception molds his future life to, in a way, pay penance for the Burmese woes. Instead of calling the rich to give to the poor or lamenting the poor in public speeches or writings, he seeks to understand their situation and so falls willingly into poverty. He trades a comfortable life for a "down and out" toil in Paris and London.
We see a similar move by Churchill of comprimising his comfort and luxury to relate and justify himself to the people when, after his failed military plan turned into a massacre, he enlisted in the trenches. Such was his penance. Such is real empathy - not to damn privilege, but to willingly forgo it and so, by choice, live a life without it.