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I've tried reading 1984, and Brave New World, a number of times but i found both hard going. I've seen the film based on 1984 a few times, and i've listened to audiobooks of both novels over the years. So i'm no expert on either.
I'm hoping there are people here who are much more familiar with them.
I have read that both were asked in interviews what they thought was in store for Western society. Apparently both said that democracy/freedom wouldn't last very long at all. That it would be replaced with Authoritarianism and Totalitarianism.
I'm no history expert so my question is, how long has democracy been around? I always think of it as a mid-twentieth century thing? However, has it made appearances occasionally throughout human history at all?
Was the Greek Empire a democracy? If it was, was it quite different to what he call democracy these days?
Hasn't the human race lived in political systems or under royalty most of the time, and basically struggled in a shitty existence?
https://www.learning-mind.com/mental-slavery-orwell-huxley/
Excerpts from the link.
'In 1984, we see a gloomy world of the Party’s ruthless dictatorship that keeps everyone in fear. Orwell’s society doesn’t only suppress the freedom of speech – it suppresses the freedom of thought and the individuality itself.
Methods of terror such as absurd war propaganda and total surveillance kill the tiniest seed of critical thought in people’s minds. Those who are still capable of some extent of critical thinking are persecuted and eventually destroyed by the Thought Police.
No one is safe – in this totalitarian society, people report their neighbors and co-workers for unorthodox behavior to the authorities as easily as children report their own parents.'
'Brave New World describes a society that is similar to ours in so many ways. It is built on mindless consumerism and superficial desires for endless fun and casual sex.
There is no concept of family, relationship, or love – ‘everyone belongs to everyone else’, meaning that there are no commitments or attachments between people.
Not only are family and emotional bonds non-existent, but the very idea of such connections between human beings is considered inappropriate and shameful.
Here, the freedom of thought is abolished in a different way than in 1984 – by feeding people with the illusion of global happiness and abundance. There is a variety of foods to eat, goods to buy, and fun things to fill your free time with.
Who could possibly be unhappy in such a society?'
From what i've read recently, a lot of people seem to think that Huxley's vision of the future is more likely to become a reality.
Douglas Murray in an interview said look at China. People can have a decent life as long as they don't criticize the regime. They can enjoy the latest technology, work hard and become rich, just turn a blind eye to certain things, don't protest, and end up with a 'good' life.
He was comparing life in China with what people had to put up with living in the old Soviet Union.
People will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think. - Huxley.
There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it. - Huxley.
The legalization of Cannabis, the call by some to legalize all drugs in the 21st century.
The victim of mind-manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him, the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to be free. - Huxley.
The following seems most apt at the moment in America concerning the idea of reprogramming conservatives being floated around.
The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human. - Huxley.
I'm hoping there are people here who are much more familiar with them.
I have read that both were asked in interviews what they thought was in store for Western society. Apparently both said that democracy/freedom wouldn't last very long at all. That it would be replaced with Authoritarianism and Totalitarianism.
I'm no history expert so my question is, how long has democracy been around? I always think of it as a mid-twentieth century thing? However, has it made appearances occasionally throughout human history at all?
Was the Greek Empire a democracy? If it was, was it quite different to what he call democracy these days?
Hasn't the human race lived in political systems or under royalty most of the time, and basically struggled in a shitty existence?
https://www.learning-mind.com/mental-slavery-orwell-huxley/
Excerpts from the link.
'In 1984, we see a gloomy world of the Party’s ruthless dictatorship that keeps everyone in fear. Orwell’s society doesn’t only suppress the freedom of speech – it suppresses the freedom of thought and the individuality itself.
Methods of terror such as absurd war propaganda and total surveillance kill the tiniest seed of critical thought in people’s minds. Those who are still capable of some extent of critical thinking are persecuted and eventually destroyed by the Thought Police.
No one is safe – in this totalitarian society, people report their neighbors and co-workers for unorthodox behavior to the authorities as easily as children report their own parents.'
'Brave New World describes a society that is similar to ours in so many ways. It is built on mindless consumerism and superficial desires for endless fun and casual sex.
There is no concept of family, relationship, or love – ‘everyone belongs to everyone else’, meaning that there are no commitments or attachments between people.
Not only are family and emotional bonds non-existent, but the very idea of such connections between human beings is considered inappropriate and shameful.
Here, the freedom of thought is abolished in a different way than in 1984 – by feeding people with the illusion of global happiness and abundance. There is a variety of foods to eat, goods to buy, and fun things to fill your free time with.
Who could possibly be unhappy in such a society?'
From what i've read recently, a lot of people seem to think that Huxley's vision of the future is more likely to become a reality.
Douglas Murray in an interview said look at China. People can have a decent life as long as they don't criticize the regime. They can enjoy the latest technology, work hard and become rich, just turn a blind eye to certain things, don't protest, and end up with a 'good' life.
He was comparing life in China with what people had to put up with living in the old Soviet Union.
People will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think. - Huxley.
There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it. - Huxley.
The legalization of Cannabis, the call by some to legalize all drugs in the 21st century.
The victim of mind-manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him, the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to be free. - Huxley.
The following seems most apt at the moment in America concerning the idea of reprogramming conservatives being floated around.
The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human. - Huxley.
