They come to the conclusion that we can be controlled by
the government. They take different paths to that end. in 1984, it's all done through
power. The interrogation of Winston by O'Brien makes this clear. Thought control,
manipulation of the past (another form of thought control), constant surveillance ---
all these techniques make the people fearful of yet dependent on the
government.
Brave New World does this without power (in the
traditional sense). They get people to love and choose their slavery. By encouraging
them to invest their energies in the pursuit of pleasure rather than meaning (sex, the
feelies, soma), they actually deprive them of a personal life (the real enemy --- when
the individual feels, the community reels!) --- but the best part is that the people
willingly buy into this way of life. The government provides them with the drugs and
other pleasures, and the people willingly become slaves for
them.
Again, if there's one conclusion they come to it's
that we're a lot easier to control than you would think.
As
an editorial comment, I think that our ever increasing dependency on government and
government programs is frightening like their societies. I hope you read "Brave New
World Revisited" which is included in many Brave New World texts; if not, please do.
It's an eye opener.
No comments:
Post a Comment