Amusing Ourselves to Death

I remember reading Brave New World in grade eleven. I remember how ridiculous I thought the mock society was, and how we as a class discussed Huxley and how he was a genius who predicted the future. Not that we are all taking SOMA of course, but we talked about the birth control pills idea (they didn’t even have BCP then) and the sexual freedom that they all had. We talked about their docile society and how they were being controlled through their ignorance and bliss. What I don’t remember talking about, however, is how their book related entirely to our world today.

I also remember 1984, and the totalitarian-like society they had, with a run-down apartment named something like paradise and the crappy alcohol that he drank with another deceiving name. We talked about their control through fear and deception and how the two societies (Orwell’s and Huxley’s) contrasted.

Postman talks about these as well, but he lays his emphasis(obviously) onto Huxley’s world, the dream world, where everyone is supposedly happy. I agree with postman in that we truly are amusing ourselves to death. Our society is too liberal with our rights and our freedoms and we would not stand to be controlled with an iron fist. We love our amusements, our TV, our cars and our toys. We love our drugs, our lovers and our “good taste.” Entirely related to media hegemony, we are quietly and peacefully being led along and are living out our meaningless media muddled lives.

It’s depressing to think that giving into our addictions, our wants and our pleasures are what is keeping us wrapped up in their palms. Postman claims that TV is our downfall, but it is not only that, it is everything to do with TV and more. TV is only the beginning. Of course, without the beginning there is no end.

“We may safely assume [...] that the television commercial has greatly influenced American habits of thought. [...] It has become an important paradigm for the structure of every type of public discourse” (Postman 126). Again with the advertising. TV is a visual and hilarious representation of our world. 200 years from now, what would someone say about us if they saw the programming that we have?

I know that 1984 has been compared to Bush’s empire over and again, but I feel the need to rebel against this slightly and say, yes, Bush is using a doctrine of fear, but is it not the lavish overspending that American habit condones that has placed their dollar below ours? It is the gluttony of our nation that will eventually consequence our demise.

This scares me a little bit, too. Procrastination is my one luxurious habit. The luxury of having the time to put something off only brings me to a point where there is no more time for procrastination and I don’t sleep for a day as punishment. It’s like the brutal hangover after a night of partying. What I wonder is, what will be our nation’s hangover?