Anurag Agrawal
30th March, 2016
The book is set in AD 2350, 334 years ahead of
us in 2016 and 418 years ahead of when it was written in 1932. The world now a
utopia (or a dystopia- depends on your viewpoint), is based on the principle of
having a stable society by controlling how people think.
Another famous fiction "1984" by
George Orwell focused on a similar control philosophy, but used totalitarian
control, fear of repercussions from deviant behavior to bring people into line.
The brave new world whereas, approaches the
problem from another angle, using pleasure to achieve this stability. Giving
people a lot of tools like soma (An aphrodisiac (much like a drug) on
consumption of which you would get sensual gratification without
repercussions), free boundless sex, perfumes, un-aging vitality, cleanliness,
keeping them so distracted, that they do not have the time to think about
anything else. Removing any individualistic thought. The ultimate goal is to
have a society which can be easily controlled- restrained - managed so as to
increase consumption of goods and services. While, pleasure is one of the tools
employed to keep people happy, the society of AD 2350 has gone a step ahead and
is conditioning children from when they are infants, to think and talk like
they want them to. An example of one of key phrases used for molding the minds
-" Ending is better than mending, the more the stitches, the less
riches!" The family system has been completely abolished, children do not
have parents. Everyone is born out of test tubes, with a special class system
in place to determine - the intelligent ones, medium intelligence, functional
jobs, versus a menial worker. Everyone's destiny is pre-determined, bred for
specific roles. So, a menial worker would be given less nutrition, during the
developmental phases, to reduce the brains functionality! A person destined to
work in a low gravity environment, would be so conditioned in their growing
years that they are actually really happy only when they are in a low gravity
environment! Everyone belongs to everyone! Is another philosophy that is
prevalent at the time. There is no marriage; fidelity is actually frowned down
upon! If you spend too much time with a single male/female, you would attract
negative attention with the probability of being sent to a correctional center.
Children are encouraged from a very young age to explore themselves and their
partners an example of what is termed as erotic play! Calling men/women as
Fathers/Mothers are used as cuss words!
It’s astonishing, how a lot of these concepts
are actually coming true in our time. Yes, I agree, at a much slower pace, but
definitely happening. Think about it, people increasingly prefer to exchange
old phones for new ones instead of getting them repaired. There are practical
examples in place, where scientists could genetically engineer the right parts
of the brain, resulting in a more intelligent human! Sexual Promiscuity in
children is increasing day by day. If you watch cartoons these days, there are
sexual connotations thrown about very casually. Infidelity in partners is
increasingly common place, especially in places like the US, where family
systems are fast deteriorating. Sitcoms like "Two and Half men",
"Couplings" are gradually making it seem acceptable to be fooling
around with as many partners as you want!
You would think, India is too conservative a
nation to have any such behaviors out in the open! But you would be surprised
by the content the television sets are spouting these days! Serials like
"Bhabiji Ghar par hain" are getting increasingly popular amongst the
masses. While, these visual fantasies may not have translated into behavioral
characteristics as yet, believe me, let another decade pass, and you yourself
may consider it normal! That's how propaganda works. Advertisements, Social
media, etc., keep trumpeting a single message in different forms, and we
unknowingly start accepting it.
Now this may seem a little fantastical to you,
but that is how this sub conscious advocacy works. You don’t even realize you
have succumbed.
Take an example- who in their right minds,
would be willing to spend as much as 50, 60, 70, 80 even 90,000 Rs on a single
mobile phone. That is not the end of it. You are willing to shell a similar or
a higher amount of money for the same phone a year later, with a minuscule
difference to what you already own. The ironic part is, you actually don’t
require this new tool that the phone company has come up with.
All this is made possible by, a diva with
looks comparable to a roman goddess, the epitome of what you always wanted to
be or be with, a hunk of man, with chiseled pectorals smiling his shiny teeth
posing with the newest variant of the phone, willing you, the viewer to
believe, how complete their lives are now, and you the viewer could be in a
similar position by just paying an x amount of money.
There is behavioral research being undertaken to
study how the human brain reacts to different aspects. Say, if people react
better to the word "pleasant" in comparison to say
"pleasing", that is what the advertisers would use. Does the section
of the society you are targeting the product too, like blonde models better or
brunettes? Is dark skinned preferred or light skinned? Every aspect of what we
see, is being engineered to be more acceptable to us. What’s more, it’s
increasingly hard to ignore these calls for your attention- they are
everywhere- blaring away at your TV Screen, Pop up's on your Internet browsers,
Notifications on your mobile phones from online marketplaces, hoardings on
flyovers.
You may be inclined to think, this works with
only the rich, with enough money to spare for such superfluous needs, but you
would be wrong. Ignoring the poor class, would be ignoring a market with
incredible potential, especially since they make up for a majority of the
population. So, what do corporations do, they come up with different low priced
variants of goods for the poor. "Even you can be cool!"- is the
undercurrent of the messages the corporations are trying to communicate.
The effect that these messages have on the
human thought process is that, without realizing it, we start taking an idea
for granted, just because it is the zeitgeist currently (popular thought
prevalent today). Say, keep showing an advertisement that wearing clothes
made from plastic is more comfortable and cooler than clothes made from cotton,
and there you have it, after some suitable repetitions for a period of time
from two or three different sources, the idea will take hold. After a time,
people aware of the phenomena would wonder, if a product they are attracted
towards, is really something they want, or are being subtly being nudged into
buying, just because the corporations know, all the right buttons to push.
The society we live in, has progressed into a
structure where, respect and social standing is determined by your possessions.
Ahhhhhh...this guy owns an iPhone 6s, the latest one, the immediate reaction is
that of - wow, with a slight twinge of jealousy. Now compare this to a guy
owning an old Nokia. Not your thought process?
Alright then-
Think of the US president- what if the guy is
seen using an old Nokia instead of the latest iPhone, or Samsung. What would
your impression be? Is he any less the man he was before you knew his phone's
model?
Now a counter argument may be that this is
more prevalent in the younger generation.....the youth.....the 15 to 35's.(The
1995's and the 2000's born)........But think of this, this youth is actually
going to take over the reins very soon- The youth which has been brought up on
ideals of consumerism bliss.....constant commercials of the latest chocolates,
the latest video games, the latest sport wear, the latest pencil boxes, the
latest milk drinks- Horlicks, Bournvita.....ahh...a new improved
version....with 40% more DHA......ahh.......another improved product, has been
known to improve child's brain concentration by another 20%, oh another
upgrade, known to improve memory by 90%.....Do we seriously believe all this
conditioning is just going to fade away!....
An example-
Q. Do you think smoking is bad for health?
Q. It is an established fact that women who smoke,
have more complicated pregnancies. A much higher rate of children born with
deformities....Agreed?
Now how do you think our perception of women
smoking has changed over the last 10 years? Is it becoming more acceptable? I
know, it would depend on your social clique, but generally how do you think our
perception has changed. (Now I am not being a feminist, I think men smoking I
uncool too.....)
Most would agree with me that this has
gradually started becoming acceptable, or at least, less frowned upon! Give it
some more time, do you think it would get all the more acceptable?
How do you think this has come about? We who
were born into conservative families, how did this change of heart occur? - The
answer is, the constant subtle notions being fed to us by all sorts of visual
and audio media. Humans are like parrots. There are very few new ideas that
people come up with. A single idea or a thought takes hold of the society's
mood, and is repeated by each section of the society. Starting with the liberals,
who take up the theme and immediately take the role of the oppressed. Of how
their idea has been looked down upon for ages. Gradually, this becomes
mainstream, with the masses unable to out rightly speak against the idea,
because by now, the popular thought is that of the liberals. Accompanying this,
is the constant tirade of advertisements, which to be in the limelight, and to
be thought of as cool and thus sell more products, use the idea to garner
attention, thus further increasing popularity of the idea. Slowly it percolates
down to each corner of the society till most people believe it to be true! And
say you ask a person the reason for this unfaltering acceptance after a
suitable period of time. The person would answer, because most other people think
so too!
We are being molded by corporations, looking
to eke every single dime from our pockets.......there are consumer studies in
place.....all of it meant to slice us and dice us...to break us up in to
different markets.......ah........a durable diaper for the
masses.....ah...a diaper with 10hrs protection, another with 14hrs protection,
one for the night, one for the day, .ah...ah an elite diaper for that extra
touch for babies (Think this is ridiculous? see pampers premium care)
Think schools........there are a band of
different schools, the elites---willing to pay 10 times the salary of a common
man for child's education in a single month, then the middle man's school, who
doesn’t want his/her child to study with the lower classes, but wants the child
to get the treatment of elite, the lower class schools........A guilt
business....And think! Most of these schools follow a similar curriculum....the
CBSE or the ISCE
AND WE HAVE BEEN WILLING TO BE A PART OF
THIS....Firstly most of the masses remain unaware of such a shift and end up
easily fitting into brackets they are being placed into....acting all prim and
proper as they are expected to.....while others...who are aware...do nothing
about it....bound by the compulsion of being in line with the current social
structure.
I concede that my ramblings may have been
incoherent for most of the times, and thus I will try to condense my synopsis
further!
We may not be at a stage yet, where children
are being born for specific purposes, like a nut to fit a bolt, but we have
definitely started responding to conditioning via popular thought. And the
current popular theme is consumerism....You want to be a part of
society....consume......you want to pay lower taxes.....get a home loan....but
consume....
You may be wondering after all this, what my
point is? The bitter truth? I don’t know. Is all that is happening right? Is
there a right or wrong.......would it be better if humans are left alone to
their own devices? Is there a negative result of suppressing or influencing
independent human thought?
I don’t know.
