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amusing ourselves to death
Published Jul. 22, 2009Views: 375
Foreward from Amusing Ourselves to Death, by Neil Postman:
We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn't, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The roots of liberal democracy had held. Wherever else the terror had happened, we, at least, had not been visited by Orwellian nightmares.
But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell's dark vision, there was another - slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression.
But in Huxley's vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.
Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism.
Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.
Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy.
As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions". In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.
This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right.
From: http://www.serendipity.li/jsmill/post_1.html
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Will it be "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" or an episode of "Repo Man"?
;-)
GOLO member since March 18, 2008
July 22, 2009 11:02 a.m.
GOLO member since March 27, 2009
July 22, 2009 11:05 a.m.
Indeed. What complicates the matter is the increasing skill of would-be tyrants at exploiting this appetite for distraction with politically-created distractions, like the "War on Terror," the Defense of Marriage Act, etc. Your actual liberties are being eroded, even as the number of cable channels and on-demand programming available to you increases. Huxley and Orwell were both right.
GOLO member since September 11, 2007
July 22, 2009 11:15 a.m.
Something Obama said recently stuck in my mind this morning. Talking about his healthcare initiatives, he said "...What Americans need...". He didn't say what America wants, he seems to be deciding what we need. Hmmmm, I don't recall asking for healthcare nationalization and I don't recall needing him to change it for me. We are gently sailing down the river, some of us without a clue as to what is being done.
GOLO member since August 20, 2007
July 22, 2009 11:25 a.m.
I just can't summon up any conspiratorial fears of our government; the very same gob-smacked, plasma-watching anti-intellectuals inhabiting America's living rooms are sitting in congress as we speak, twittering away (literally) at nonsense while important legislation languishes.
GOLO member since March 18, 2008
July 22, 2009 11:31 a.m.
Health care issues in general would be best discussed on a blog post about health care, before this goes too far...
GOLO member since August 31, 2007
July 22, 2009 11:47 a.m.
LOL! Blogging is the 'Huxleyan' way to appease and otherwise entertain the various tiers of intelligencia who might otherwise target a thoughtfully-composed missive in the direction of their elected representative.
Hmm. On second thought, the elected representatives might be too busy twittering golf stories and insults about members of the opposition party to have time ask their assistants (also twittering and blogging) if any messages arrived from constituents.
GOLO member since March 18, 2008
July 22, 2009 12:09 p.m.
GOLO member since August 1, 2007
July 23, 2009 7:31 p.m.
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