Brave New World

I just finished reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I had never read it before, and it was definitely interesting. I found the setting and descriptions much more interesting than the plot, by the way.

In Brave New World, the dystopia is based on control of the people through entertainment and pleasure as opposed to force, as in 1984. The ideas of oppression and control are so similar, but the means are completely different. In 1984, control is through force and fear, whereas in Brave New World, the goal is for each individual to experience complete happiness so that they no longer understand or care about personhood.

With all the fears about the way America is changing and the government becoming such a large part of our lives, this is interesting if not suprising. In both dystopias, the government encompasses absolutely everything, leaving no room for individual choice or expression. Brave New World was published in the early 1930s, and it must have sounded crazy then. I read some other things Huxley wrote much later, looking back, and he wrote that it really was happening, and much faster than he imagined then.

Also intriguing is that Huxley was British and was condemning the Americanization of the world, the assembly line, interchangeable parts and people, the pursuit of pleasure above all else. (The most disturbing element of Brave New World to me is that humans are not robots at all but are completely interchangeable. They are "encouraged" to not form any lasting bonds with any one person.) That puts a new spin on seeing ourselves as others see us. Right now Americans are supposed to be understanding as never before that the rest of the world doesn't like us and doesn't want to be like us, and we are supposed to be ashamed for being Americans. This was written before that was a popular opinion here, as far as I know, and it's a fascinating thing to think about in retrospect.

Whether you've read Brave New World or not, what are your thoughts? I think the 1984 version is a scarier idea, but this is so much more likely to happen, already happening, that it's pretty frightening. Is it worth caring about and fighting, or is it really that bad? If there's no one to even really remember what freedom was, will it matter?