What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism.
Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy.
As Huxley wrote in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny “failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.” In 1984 Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us…This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right.
Neil Postman Amusing Ourselves to Death
Censorship is all about mind control. On the one hand, you can construct a totalitarian culture based on fear and punishment, and control minds that way. On the other hand, you can endlessly distract people with bullshit and crap (bread and circuses), keep them stupid, shallow and doped-up, and then the powers that be can do whatever the Hell they want to with the country because everyone will be too fat and lazy to care one way or the other. This is an example of a culture that self-censors. Orwell’s world is where the state gives you a lobotomy. In Huxley’s world, we give ourselves lobotomies because they feel so good.
This sound like modern America, or the Idiocracy?
There would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Keep them stupid.
They give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Fat and lazy pleasure addicted couch potatoes.
The truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Distract the people endlessly with trivia, then do whatever you want behind the scenes and people will be too distracted to care.
Create a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. Bread and circuses, the self-censoring lobotomy street drug, the best high of them all.
they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. Keep people doped up on whatever and then those that run society can do whatever they want and people will be too high to notice.
A culture in which that which we love will ruin us. Suicidal ignorance by hedonism.
