Before we talk about our current path, let's understand the content of both books. Let's start with Orwell: Orwellian surveillance state in 1984: A society governed by a big brother ➡️ Propaganda & Censorship as key tools
Huxley, on the other hand, envisions a hedonistic "pleasure society" with everything they desire: health, safety, and access to all knowledge. What is the price? Your fate is predetermined by science (eugenics) ➡️ Control through Pleasure
Huxley & Orwell disagreed, but they both addressed the same topic: a future society that is controlled & imprisoned. In contrast to most science fiction films of the time, it depicts a dystopian future.Which vision is more likely to come true in the twenty-first century?
Remember back on July 24th, 2018, when Trump coined the term "fake news" and stated, "What you're seeing and reading is not what's happening" in Kansas? This is very similar to what Orwell envisioned in 1984 with the "ministry of truth."
Huxley's ideas have also become a reality, with "fertility doctors" allowing you to create Alphas & choose the gender, eye color, size, and more traits for your baby. Can rich people's children become "gods" if money can buy superior genetics? It is already happening: https://www.fertility-docs.com/
Orwell feared a world in which a few withheld information from the majority. Huxley feared a world in which we are so bombarded with information that we become passive and egoistic. I think Huxley was more accurate, given our access to information overload via the internet
Surveillance states grew more powerful in the twenty-first century, and the digital age only accelerated this trend. Furthermore, the cancelculture movement is a signal for censorship and points to Orwell's future vision.
Our world is sadly a hybrid of the two, but I believe Huxley was far more accurate: we have everything we want, our consumption feeds our hedonistic appetite, and we are conditioned to "act" happy on social media.
We shout freedom from the rooftops, but is it really?
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The thoughts of Mario Kondo: Political Scientist and long time marketer
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