Connections between Brave New World and Utopia are loose. Perhaps the most notable would be that in both Utopia and Brave New World people live in totally controlled societies. Another vague connection might be seen in crime and disease for in Utopia these things exist only rarely and in Brave New World they do not exist at all; or a connection might be drawn in the fact that both societies strictly regulate the information available to their citizens and only privileged members are allowed to view certain materials. Another connection might be found in the attitudes of the people in Utopia and Brave New World where everyone seems to be locked in this eerie state of blissful unawareness. People don’t seem to truly care about anything as long as they are satisfied in their physical and mental wants; though in Utopia there are quite a few significant differences in how those needs are satisfied. The love of work in both societies is also quite similar; everyone loves their job and loves to work; a lack of leisure time is also noticeable in both Utopia and Brave New World in the form of reading, thinking, writing, or exclusive conversation.
As to what might be good in Brave New World there are actually a few things that I like about the dystopia, the most notable would be the elimination of disease which consumes vast amounts of human lives and causes uncounted human misery and pain that just adds to all the other misery and pain that we suffer as we go through life; this also eliminates the need for healthcare and health insurance and all those bothersome trips to the doctor and the hospital for minor sniffles and cuts; with vaccinations for just about everything under the sun we’ve finally conquered our greatest foe.
I also enjoyed the eternal youth aspect of Brave New World in which aging has been eliminated by science; face it, no one wants to grow old physically; I don’t want to live forever but I could certainly go without arthritis, back problems, diminished hearing and eyesight, and the general decay of my body and all its functions. Living with the beauty and vitality of my twenty year old self makes me quite anxious and happy indeed.
*Note* I have refrained from putting any problems that might arise out of the “good” in Brave New World so in no way do I think that any “good” in Brave New World is attained without terrible price but I would say that eternal youth until death and the elimination of disease are scientific advancements that I would not mind having available; without, of course, the negative side effects I might have a chance to talk about later on an additional post.
The most disturbing trait by far in Brave New World is two things (Sorry I couldn’t pick one) those being the conditioning and the obsession with a sexual subculture. The conditioning just because from birth to death you’ve been brainwashed to serve ten men (maybe a women or two) and you cannot do anything about it; any attempt to change the social structure is impossible because everyone else would treat you as an exile and you’d be ostracized from society. That kind of imprisonment just scares the crap out of me; my independent thought is my most prized possession so I get completely out of joint when I read about any society where it no longer exists or, even worse, that gave it up just for comfort and false happiness!
The sexual culture obsession also bothered me quite a bit. Sex is an essential part of human existence (Obviously) and essential in relationships; sex performed merely for pleasure in copious quantities takes away all the intimacy and love that make sex so wonderful and beautiful; sex for pure pleasure is okay within a relationship but sex merely for having sex disturbs me especially with multiple partners some of whom you may not even like let alone want to touch naked. Ugh, how could anyone enjoy that?
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3 comments:
James, what do you think Huxley would think if he were able to view the prominence of sex and sexuality in our culture today? Compared to his time, even the time he died, we are much closer to his vision of BNW, don't you think?
I agree with you that we are quite obessed with sex and that our culture values sex and sexuality quite a bit. I would say that I would not be all to shocked if in the future we became a society with erotic play games for younger children.
To the comments made already, we have progressed in the direction of BNW as far as sex goes. However, I personally can not imagine erotic play games for youth. Even in out current society where sex is found everywhere (literature, magazines, billboards, television, movies, etc.) the vast majority of people do not condone child sex. In fact, those who do are thrown in prison if this excitement is discovered. I completely agree with you about the elimination of disease and physical aging. I was so fascinated by planes and the thought of flying all over the world that I did not even think of this at all.
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