I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but reading the first few chapters of Brave New World I can't help but think the way of living in The World State is not such a bad idea. Yes it seems horrendous to say the world would be better with castes and not having the freedom to do what you want in life. However, this is a very selfish world and all of us are feeling pressure to do well in school and go to college to have a good paying job. I think it would be simpler to have a predetermined life, especially one that you enjoy because you don't know what you are missing anyways.
I am not naive enough to believe this is actually a possibility because as Americans, we all enjoy our freedom and liberty to do whatever we please. If there was a utopian society similar to Brave New World, there would always be an individual who would not take well to the conditioning and question the rules. Also, hypnopaedia has not been proven credible, just like putting on an audiobook while sleeping doesn't get retained in your brain, even though I'm sure we all wish it would. Similar to communism, I believe it is a good idea on paper, but in reality it can't work.
One unfortunate aspect of a society like the one mentioned in Brave New World, however, is that there is a lack of progress. The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning reveals the world state's attitude towards it himself: "Unorthodoxy threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it strikes at Society itself." They fear what the unknown could bring them, and as such lock their society into a stagnant nature; any radical ideas are removed in the event of their occurrence, and those who stand to question "Why?" to any previously established concepts are cast out. For example,in chapter 12 Mustapha Mond throws out a concept on Biology he considered ingenious, the minute he deemed it heretical. A stagnant community like this loses out on any chance it has to move forward with concepts that could further benefit them.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you! Due to my experiences of constantly hearing about getting good grades and getting a scholarship into college I think it would be easier to have a predetermined life. If everyone got a good job doing something they wanted that would be great, but who would do the tough jobs nobody wants? Who would be the trash men, sewer cleaners, and pest controllers of the world?
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