Aldous Huxley
Jun 8, 2018 9:38:15 GMT -5
Post by 40oz on Jun 8, 2018 9:38:15 GMT -5
This interview with Aldous Huxley (author of the novel Brave New World) takes place in 1958 on ABC (heh)
He discusses some of the points in his book and addresses some of the criticism of his writing. Here are some key points from the interview.
The book describes a future where democracy could inadvertently deteriorate into a totalitarian government with certain enemies of freedom. These enemies of freedom are:
● Overpopulation - fewer resources leads to social unrest; the concern of birth control
● Overorganization - hierarchies, people choosing positions of subordination
● Technology - Propaganda; Hitler imposed his will with radio; We need to know what are the repercussions of our constantly evolving technology;
● Drug Use - distraction from reality; give the consent to be ruled; make people happy in a state of living where they ought not to be happy.
In Huxley's words, TV and Radio, when misused, are instruments for power. Instruments of power are attractive to people who have nefarious motivations. The fundamentals of democracy are to limit power and distribute it fairly. Advertising bypasses the rational choice of man, and in effect, influences them to make bad decisions unconcsiously. At one point, the methods of propaganda were only in the hands of some select groups of people. The presidents' campaigns are backed by advertising companies, making them into puppets of advertising agencies that influence their personality, particularly as it appears on tv. This most certainly must have an effect on people's votes when people can be persuaded below the level of choice and reason. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Huxley says the value of freedom is based these days. We should be stressing the importance of education and strengthen our minds to be aware of when we're being provoked in some way. The creative life of man is impossible without a large measure of freedom. It needs to be exercised and strengthened so that we do not subject ourselves to voluntary slavery in the future.
I do wonder what it might have been like to live 60 years ago, to know how close to world domination our leaders really were, or if what we're living in now is so much better or worse than the average 1958 man would ever have imagined.