Us vs Them

Similarities abound when one compares our current society to that found in Brave New World. The three aspects I found to be most similar were: pleasure at the expense of integrity (Id driven society), the power of repetition as a persuasive method (the ad space affect), and the focus on wanton consumption as a vehicle of economic stability (use it and loose it ad infinitum). The hedonism of BNW should be obvious to those who have read the book; soma abuse, casual polygamy, and attempts to oversaturate the senses at all times are but a few examples of the pleasure of the characters of brave new world. An aside: pleasure is all fine-and-dandy but becomes a social ill when pleasure is pursued to the point where one sacrifices all pride and egotism in favor of the comfort of a null existence swallowed in waves of sensory overload. This is the direction our own society is taking with parallels like super sizing, drug abuse, and a shift of focus from achievement to reward dispensed by others like soma to a crowd of deltas. The second aspect found in both societies is the use of repetition by those in power. While BNW has the government using repetition to control the masses, it is the corporation that is utilizing repetition in the form of ad campaign bombardments which-results show- has a tangible affect on the decision of those who view them, different in magnitude perhaps, but both of the societies have essentially the same method of control. Both societies also favor the use and discarding of material goods, relying on the steady consumption of the populous to fuel the economy. Yet again, the magnitude is different, but both societies make it far easier to purchase new goods rather than repairing what the already have. Thus, three parallels emerge when comparing our society to the one way may become someday.