We have Seen Orwell's 1984, and it is a Brave New World

[old man emu]

Many times people make reference to George Orwell's novel, 1984, but how many can see that the concept that is the basis of the novel is, now is coming to fruition. The concept is the control of the population through Totalitarianism (a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state).

 

Complying with the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, I invite you to watch this video for an understanding of Orwell's idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37N0aFmO19o

 

 

Orwell's 1984 was written in the late 1940's after the "Free" world had defeated the Totalitarian regimes of Fascism and Japanese Militarism, but had let Communism remain. Orwell's 1984 society was controlled by the threat of punishment. On the other hand Aldous Huxley proposed a different kind of enslavement of the people in his novel Brave New World. For Huxley, control of the masses was gained by overdosing them with pleasure and instant gratification. Once again, I invite you to watch a video to gain an understanding of Huxley's point of view.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGkymdspups

 

Whichever is the correct forecast, both writers tell us that those who control information will use it and its products to dampen the Human Spirit and direct it to fulfilling their own self-centred needs.

 

[willedoo]

Very interesting. Both videos are well presented and to the point. As a personal opinion, my money is on Huxley with a small amount of Orwell thrown in. But it is hard to deny. As long as the baa lambs are happy with their toys and eye candy, then all is good. I don't think it's any sort of new concept, just a modern, evolving way of control. Since we moved out of caves, those in power have tried and succeeded in dominating the masses. The introduction of a system of value through currency has been the key to it. In the past, we were dominated by kings and chiefs. In modern times, the rise of the corporation has taken over that role. We work for the corporations to earn the shekels to buy the toys and necessities the corporations make. This cycle seemingly keeps us happy and peaceful.

 

Another relevant point is that while Orwell is commonly quoted and referred to, Huxley is generally less known despite the fact that arguably, his predictions are the more accurate of the two.

 

This screen grab from the second video speaks volumes.

 

 

Edited August 1, 2020 by willedoo

[old man emu]

Here's an interesting little video about Capitalism that, around the middle of the video starts to become similar to the views of Huxley in relation to the focus of Capitalism on providing the frivolous.

 

 

[Yenn]

I reckon the Huxley forecast was nearer what has happened.

Now we have governments trying to convince us we are hard up and they will be able to solve all our problems.

One good thing that helps the ordinary man is that we have federal and state governments. I have long said that there is too much government and we should do away with the states, but with the Covid problem I am changing my mind. We at least have some balance against one totalitarian government.

[octave]

I find it hard to relate to the dystopian predictions.  Now surely is the best time to be alive for the most people.  In terms of freedom I don't think we have ever been freer.   In no way am I saying that we have no problems to solve.   I can think of no time in history that I would have had a better life.  In my life I have had choices that were unavailable to my parents generation.     

[onetrack]

The greatest threat to our personal freedoms and choices - and our wealth - is the concentration of massive power into the owners and managers of corporations.

These faceless people now rule our lives without any form of democracy involved. They make decisions without reference to us and set conditions for dealing with them, on their terms.

 

You cannot argue with these mega-corporations, you cannot even contact anyone in them, they ensure that they are distant from us, and no personal contact is allowable.

If you wish to buy and sell, you have to do it on their terms, with no consideration for your needs, your profits, or your requirements. Everything is subservient to the God of the Corporation.

 

This grilling of the corporate giants was sorely needed, but I wonder what good will come of it. After all, Capitalism rules in the U.S. and the power wielded by enormous wealth is unstoppable and will destroy any Govt., if that Govt opposes them.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/07/29/apple-google-facebook-amazon-congress-hearing/

[nomadpete]

One-track, I agree with you regarding the higher levels of human society. And, let's face it, both communism an capitalism allow the fat cats to fatten at the expense of the working class.

 

Both Orwell and Huxley make valid observations on how everything can play out.

 

However, they both failed to think about the absolute necessity of some sort of greater power to over rule the natural instincts of the individual.

 

Individuals are driven by self interest and a desire to be the alpha male or female in each group. But this approach only works for small groups. Note it works for cricket, football, and forest tribes. Rational thought attempts to balance this instinct against the collective survival needs of the group.

 

This system worked well for eons whilst there was space between groups. Back then free will was an asset to survival.

 

Now that overpopulation is reaching a critical mass, the old system fails. Free thinkers are now a threat to the consistency needed for smooth cooperative behaviour of large masses.  We need the threat from higher authority to control the masses otherwise society breaks down and it becomes every man for himself. We are seeing the result of this in USA, where consistency of leadership has failed.

 

Authoritan government (maybe even by religion) is required to control masses, when the masses are as massive as we now have.

[spacesailor]

ALL DICTATORS, have said the exact same thing thoughout history.

Thats the reason we try to runaway to sea, to be our own boss.

spacesailor

[nomadpete]

You can't run away to sea in a plane, Space.

That's why I sold my plane and bought a sailboat. (Maybe it was partly due to the unhappy evolution of RAA that had something to do with it).

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

I agree with both Spacey and Nomadpete... The reality is, like most things, there is a balance.. unfortunately the pendulum tends to swing to one side or another. In any societal species, there are leaders and followers... Bees, ants, wolves, lions, etc. We are no different.

 

The trick is to find the balance. For example, London is one of the most surveilled city in the world and it is estimted your mug shot is stored on average 35 times a day.. There is the potential for abuse is there.. without it, many terrorist attacks would not be foiled nor solved (this goes for IRA, Islamic and white).. There was a case a few years ago where someone was terrorising LBGT venues in London by bombing them. Use of CCTV had him (white bloke) nabbed in a couple of weeks...

 

I have thought as a society we tend to care less about those less fortunate than ourselves than we used to. Also, we have seen draconian anti-terrorst laws that veil everything in secrecy, allow imprisonment without charge for extended periods and no access to legale representation or habius corpus (in the UK). It has been abused at least one.. Under provisions of the various anti-terrorist acts, assets of Icelandic banks were frozen to protect the council's deposits and had nothing to do with anti-terrorism. So, yes, we do have it good and we have freedom of choice.. but there are other threats...

 

Also, when it was revealed that Apple were recording their phine users locations, etc.. many people were shrugging it off akin the lines of they knew they should be angry about it, but they loved their phone too much to care.. We may not be at the dystopia yet, but what is the saying - eternal vigilance is the price of liberty...

Edited August 1, 2020 by Jerry_Atrick

[nomadpete]

I didn't say I like it, I just said it is the way I see it.

[Bruce Tuncks]

The good old days were pretty terrible too. We had the governor general as a pedophile and he could do it with impunity. We had aborigines being marched in chains to jail. We had abandoned mothers destitute. In the many wars, we had good soldiers needlessly wasted.

But I too hate the surveillance and control that we are seeing more of lately. Wouldn't it be great if a new bit of technology like ADSB was used to give little people more freedom rather than less? Alas I reckon it will be used to take freedoms away. They will be able to see us in the sky better.

[spacesailor]

AND NOW.

It,s Australia tax have taken our " innicent untill Proven guilty " away,

WITH THE GOVERNMENTS blessing !.

 spacesailor

[nomadpete]

Bruce, of course there were tough/difficult/cruel, etc aspects of life in the good ole daze.

 

But there will always be cruel predators in the pack. Nowadays they have adapted to use modern kinds of cunning.

 

Perhaps the modern levels of personal comfort and improved lifestyle is a result of using technology to provide a modern version of 'bread and circus' for the masses. This stops the proletariat from taking too much interest in the activities of our modern predators who are still exploiting their power at the top of our modern system.

 

IE, our apathy permits the fat cats (sociopathic predators) to commit crimes against individuals or masses, so long as there is a roof over our heads, beer in the fridge, and the TV/internet still brings footy into our loungerooms.

 

We still get the occassional scapegoat thrown to the wolves metaphorically through media scandal, usually by one of their own,  but that just adds to our circuses.

[Bruce Tuncks]

That's exactly right with confiscation of assets Space. That PNG plane has given rise to 3 million of assets "restrained " in Vic. The onus of proof is on the perps to show how they got those assets.

 

Personally, I reckon that is not so bad. It must be a great deterrent to the drug lords.