Almost thirty three years have passed since 1984, the fateful year that was to have seen George Orwell’s prediction of totalitarian government control become a frightening reality. However, the year passed without any sweeping electoral victories by Big Brother, and as social critic Neil Postman contemplates in his essay, our world has become much more reflective of Aldous Huxley’s view of the future in his novel Brave New World. Based on evidence of contemporary society, Postman’s assertion that Brave New World is more relevant than Orwell’s 1984 is accurate.
The bulk of Postman’s essay contrasts the two novels, and points out that, contrary to popular belief, the two books “did not prophesy the same thing.” As Postman explains it, Orwell warns against the control of outside governmental forces that will rob the people of their rights and freedoms. Huxley, on the other hand, fears that people will be so immersed in technology and pleasure and information that they will not need Big Brother to “deprive [them] of their autonomy.” For example, Orwell feared the banning of books, while Huxley feared that people would be so distracted by other things that they would not want to read books. Postman goes on to make the distinction that, in 1984, people are ruled by pain, while in World, they are ruled by pleasure. It is this last view that Postman agrees with more strongly, and it is also the more accurate view.
A critic of this view might point to the control that the Communist party holds over several nations as evidence that Orwell’s vision is the more accurate one. In China, North Korea, and Cuba, totalitarian governments have taken over and denied many citizens of their rights much in the same way that Big Brother did in 1984. However, after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990’s, the influence of Communism has been diminishing rapidly, especially in the face of competition from a decidedly democratic United States. In fact, the U.S. is the only true superpower remaining in the world, and its dominance has assured that such totalitarian government will never maintain the kind of control envisioned in Orwell’s novel.
It is Huxley’s novel that provides a more relevant, and therefore more disturbing, picture of our world as it could very likely become. Postman describes Huxley as fearing that we would become so inundated with information (as opposed to being deprived of information) that we “would be reduced to passivity and egoism.” One example the deluge of information in our modern world is the Internet, which offers us such an array and expanse of facts, opinions, sound bites, and graphics that one cannot but wonder at the size and scope of it all. People can and do become consumed by the Internet, drawn into a virtual world where the self is mutable and identity is optional. TV, radio, and newspapers also offer endless and mind-numbing entertainments, conveniently packaged into bite-sized articles and programs in order to capitalize on the ever-shrinking attention span of their audiences. Magazines offer an influx of information for any kind of specialized interest, from sex to guns to cake-making.
Indeed, we as a culture have become “trivial,” consumed by our passing interests and voracious appetites for any kind of pleasure. We are pre-occupied with sports, where men can be paid millions for bouncing a ball in front of screaming fans, and later be arrested for illegal activity – never losing a dollar or a fan. Our societal standards of morality are melting away, as evidenced by the rise of sex and violence on television and at the movies. One mention of the name Jerry Springer brings to mind every last detail of mindless shame and ignorance that we as a country accept as entertainment – and successful entertainment as that. There is even a type of soma being marketed to cure all of our ills and let us go through our day in a haze of contentment – Prozac. Huxley’s vision of a people ruled by pursuit of pleasure is becoming a reality with every new talk show and anti-depressant drug: Postman’s phrase “what we love will ruin us” has never seemed so true.
It is what Postman calls the human race’s “almost infinite appetite for distractions” that will lead us to the degradation pictured by Huxley, as people become ruled by their basest lusts and desires – certainly an atmosphere ripe for a conqueror, if anyone would have the initiative or will to conquer. Although 1984 might still be a chilling portrayal of what we could have become, it is our earth that has become the brave new world.
What do you think, do you agree with Orwell’s fear of those who would ban books. Or could you see where Huxley comes from with his fear that there would be no reason to ban books because there would be nobody that wants to read them. MUST USE QUOTES FROM “AMUSING OURSELVES TO DEATH” (Neil Postman) PDF below.
https://quote.ucsd.edu/childhood/files/2013/05/postman-amusing.pdf
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