Excellent posts, Lalwendė. You presented some British history alongside personal observations - all with Tolkien references. Pick out a shiny medal from those that you were prepared to distribute and pin it on.
My father lived through what we call here the Great Depression. That colored how he lived the rest of his life. My parents/in-laws were, by American standards, poor folk, and hearing stories about their lives have made some impression - learning that my step-father's toys would disappear a few weeks before Christmas to reappear newly painted under the tree, and that my father-in-law got shoes once a year, to wear on Easter Sunday then not again until the winter - and (hopefully) makes me realize how good life is.
I personally remember the Nixon price- and wage-fixing, and the gasoline shortages caused by Carter. Not sure if it were Reagan, my parents, reading 1984 or some other influence, but I'm big on the
invisible hand as described by
Adam Smith. We the people will figure it out, given the freedom to act (or not).
Lotho, at first, may just have wanted to increase his wealth, but mammon took over his head, and he begun lording himself around. To me this then is about wanting/having power, and as you say, not about socialism. He may have began treating other hobbits as things, replaceable cogs in the machine, as eventually he was replaced. (Interestingly, the Chief, like Big Brother, becomes a name and not a physical person as actions are done in the name of, but not exactly by, the person).
Saruman, obviously, wanted to acquire the Ring that he might order Middle Earth as he saw fit. Power he wanted. Depravity and deficiency he created because he cared not for the means, but only the end.
The Party, in 1984, obviously acquired and kept power to ensure its perpetual existence. The shortages weren't the result of socialism ("IngSoc") but were by design. By keeping the Low in a state of 'bare survival' (typically below), the riches for the Party and Inner Party members were easily produced as it didn't take much to seem to be beyond the 'poor.' Plus, with everyone scraping for survival, time for thinking and plotting were kept to a minimum.