Aldous Huxley prophesized the things that society could become in the future through his novel Brave New World in 1932. When Huxley, wrote Brave New World it was during a time of chaos and scientific advancement. Historical events such as World War I took place, the production of the assembly line was invented for mass production, and theories on classical conditioning and propaganda gave way to scientific research. Now we see many parallels to his novel today in our worlds such as a growing loss of individualism and societal conditioning through technological advancements and media. These factors have foreshadowed the direction our society has headed, if we continue to let media control us and if we do not stand up for our freedom of press and speech. While Brave New World was not entirely accurate in describing the future, our society would succumb to, there are many similar issues we have witnessed throughout our time.
Our loss of individuality has affected our freedom of press and speech. Many people today are losing their freedom of speech and individuality due to growing issues or racism and cultural backlash. In an article on freedom of speech, Jonathan Dimbleby states that on this issue people feel you should be able “to say what you like” so long as other people “agree with you” (For Freedom of Speech). This has been a recurring issue since about 2015 that I can remember, that people are hesitant to speak their mind because it might offend someone else.
It can even be seen in Brave New World when the Director states that there is no offense more “heinous as unorthodoxy of behavior” (Huxley 148). The subject of freedom of speech relates very closely in our loss of individualism. We are seeing an increased loss of individuality because we are not able to speak our true opinion on controversial subject matters. In an article from Fox News on the crisis of individualism, Phyllis Chesler Ph.D., stated that people nowadays are “being attacked for their ideas” (crisis of individualism). This is like Brave New World in that when the characters felt themselves having a behavior unorthodox. They take soma, so they didn’t speak what they really felt and hid their true opinions. Limiting individuality creates conformity and creates an easier society for the government to control.
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In the same Fox News article Dr. Chesler shares concern about the direction our society is headed for suppressing freedom of speech. She feels as if our society must be willing to “risk unpopularity and discomfort” for the sake of freedom (crisis of individualism). This suppression of speech is causing us to lose our freedom of speech which ultimately puts us in a situation like Brave New World where we are controlled to say things that don’t question the government or other people. This is scary to think about that our society is willing to suppress our freedom of speech and we are to blind to see it.
Another similarity between our world and Brave New World is the use of conditioning and through that conditioning, gaining conformity in society. We see in Brave New World the use of conditioning in order to create their so-called perfect society, and they have conditioned their citizens to accept their fate and caste. In an article on classical conditioning in everyday life Dr. Ezequiel Morsella suggests that classical conditioning in our society is “more prevalent” than we would care to “normally appreciate” (Classical Conditioning).
We see conditioning in our society today as well using commercials and social media. This conditioning in our society creates “unconscious awareness” of things we do (Classical Conditioning). This is like Brave New World as conditioning created a society in which it was easier to control and to manipulate. There are many other ways our society such as using our social medias and technologies. We have been constantly conditioned to check our phones every second of the day and has caused some of us to even become addicted to it. It seems as if it is an escape from reality for some of us (Are we all Becoming).
This is scary to think about as well, that Huxley could have foreseen many similarities that would take place in the future. We see conditioning in Brave New World, with the Infant Nurseries that use “Neo-Pavlov Conditioning” to manipulate their citizens at a young age to form a better society (Huxley 19). We can see conditioning in our society through consumerism as well. We are unconsciously conditioned to go out and by goods when we run low, or when we see something that catches our eye through commercials and advertisements on social media.
There are other similarities that we see in Brave New World such as the growth of consumerism. Consumerism grew in the 1920s as shown in Huxley’s satire and now it is even bigger today in our world with sports, entertainment, and indulgences. Television and automobile sales skyrocketed in the 1950s and the term “the good life” was used as things within economic reach that were considered luxury items (American Experience). Consumerism as greatly affected our economy by giving the world a variety of options to choose from when shopping for products and created a ‘mass consumption economy” (American Experience). Consumerism has created big business competition and a standard of living for our society. Huxley shows consumerism through the sports so that the people will “consume manufactured articles” (23). Consumerism has affected our society greatly through economic growth and variety of products to choose from
Huxley shows many similarities and creates a dystopian society in his attire that foreshadows where our society is heading. Many events such as a rise in consumerism, societal conditioning, and limitations on individuality will plague our society and we will ultimately reach the dystopia that Huxley has predicted for us. Huxley brought great insight for the future back in 1932 and it is scary to see that our world is very similar to what he predicted in his book. We represent some similarities of his dark dystopia.
