Anurag Agrawal

30^th 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.