Seriously thoughtful Huxley was right, not Orwell. Just sayin'.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

This great link from last August's ProsBeforeHos revisits a 2009 cartoon which presents clear evidence that we are not progressing to an Orwellian future... in fact, our world is becoming increasingly Huxleyan (and if that's not really a word, maybe it oughtta be).

It compares the "government oppression" tropes predicted by Orwell's 1984, and compares them to the "infinite distraction" tropes presented in Huxley's Brave New World. In each case, it is clear which prediction seems to have come true.

One in particular is relevant to MR members:

[lestatar]

Indeed, an interesting perspective and one I am inclined to agree with on a number of levels. Though, to be honest, it has been decades since I read both books - thanks for the idea to re-read these classics. I look forward to see how I interpret them now, through the lens of more than 2 decades of life experience.

[Greg Anos]

Hmmmm.... London has cameras all over the City, virtually every corner.

When the tools exist, somebody will eventuall used them...

[Ditchleyportrait]

i relate more to huxley's vision, but they're probably equally invalid and valid.

their purp is deflated when you can walk into b&n and buy their tomes. they were the cogs they talked about.

[Pablo]

I don't think Orwell was trying to predict anything with 1984. The book is clearly a critic of totalitarian regimes in general and Stalinism in particular.
Saying that 1984's predictions haven't come true is like saying that Animal Farm's haven't come true because no farm has been taken over by animals.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Hmmmm.... London has cameras all over the City, virtually every corner.

From the Washington Post:

The circulation of the four national red tops (tabloids, to the yanks)-- The Sun, Mirror, Daily Star and Daily Sport -- in June was more than double that of the five serious papers -- Telegraph, Times of London, the Guardian, the Independent and Financial Times -- and by and large, red tops are much more profitable. And as the red tops continue to eye middle-class readers, they do so with panache.

In explaining the opera to its readers, the Sun elucidated: "Most operas are dirtier than Amy Winehouse's beehive . . . and more violent than a Tarantino bloodfest."

So, are Londoners complaining about cameras... or are they gossiping about Winehouse and Tarantino?

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

From the Washington Post:



So, are Londoners complaining about cameras... or are they gossiping about Winehouse and Tarantino?

But why are we so against soma? (War on Drugs.)

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

But why are we so against soma? (War on Drugs.)

What war on drugs? All I see is a competition for who'll profit the most from it.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

We do have a war against illegal drugs... that's not the same as a war on drugs, any more than a war against speeding is the same as a war against cars.

Meanwhile, legal drugs, from Abilify to Zantac, are one of the U.S.' largest and most profitable industries right now. And they are used to "cure" everything that makes you different from everyone else... whether it's really a problem or not.