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| Which world do we live in, the Orwellian 1984 or Huxley's happy face world? (FT) |
Actor and former Hollywood heartthrob Channing Tatum freaks out over the downloadable Pattern app listening to him in therapy (because he was carrying his own microphone spying device called a cell phone) brought to us by Hot Videos, July 13, 2019. The free "astrology" app works by getting you to identify yourself with your birthdate and time without realizing your are identifying yourself in concordance with government records on you. It then listens in on you by your personal spying device (iPhone or Android), which you pay for and carry around because you are a good little citizen soldier spying on all your friends and acquaintances and being spied on by them for other government and private entities, like you do when you give away your data and talk to Alexa.
(AngelWalks, July 13, 2019) Is the Pattern app spying on us? Idiot tries the app in front of viewers after a moronic cold reading which he identifies with, as most of us would. After declaring, "That's facts, man!" AngelWalks concludes, "after using it [The Pattern app], it seemed like a generic astrology app."
Brave New World versus Nineteen Eighty-Four
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| Good little children marvel and the unquestioned power of Big Brother (alamy.com) |
Each book captured the nightmares of the 1930s and 40s. But which vision looks more like the 21st century? Are we living in Orwell’s sinister surveillance state? Or in Aldous Huxley’s vapid consumerist culture? To battle it out two celebrated writers, Adam Gopnik and Will Self, take the stage.
After Pres. Trump was elected, it seemed as if 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' had clinched it. The book shot to the top of the bestseller charts. It felt ominously familiar. In Orwell’s dystopia, the corporate state controls the news, insisting that ‘whatever the Party holds to be truth is truth.’ That sounds very much like Trump’s "alternative facts," and the war Trump is waging on the "fake news" media.
Orwell's book also describes an "Inner Party" -- two percent of the population -- enjoying all of the privileges and control of the society.
That is like the "one percent" railed against by the infiltrated, co-opted, and disemboweled Occupy Movement.
The 1% are reviled for their wealth and influence by anti-fascists and anti-capitalists today. No wonder everyone rushed out to read the book anew.
That is like the "one percent" railed against by the infiltrated, co-opted, and disemboweled Occupy Movement.
The 1% are reviled for their wealth and influence by anti-fascists and anti-capitalists today. No wonder everyone rushed out to read the book anew.
But Orwell’s critics say Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dated dystopia, a vision that died along with the hope and threat of communism.
The novel that better resonates with our present, they say, is Brave New World. Here Aldous Huxley imagined a plastic techno-society where sex is casual, entertainment light, and consumerism rampant.
There are pills to make people happy, virtual reality shows to distract the masses from actual reality, and hook-ups to take the place of love and commitment.
That all hits a bit too close to home. Huxley's book speaks of a caste system created by genetic engineering, from alpha and beta types right down to a slave underclass.
We may not have publicly announced having gone down that road, but gene-editing (CRISPR) may already be enabling Silicon Valley’s super-rich to extend their lifespans and enhance the looks and intelligence of their children. Will we soon witness the birth of a new genetic super-class?
Both novels warn of extraordinary futures, but which better captures our present and offers the keener warning about where we may be heading?
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