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Brave New World Revisited for today.

brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,016
edited February 2023 in A Moving Train
No doubt, may of us have read Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.  Great book, prophetic, brilliant, everything we've ever heard about it.
But what about his book, Brave New World Revisited?  I wonder how often that follow-up book gets overlooked?  It's a bit hard to understand myself, but it was by me, until recently.
And what a revelation this book is.  Written 65 years ago, this minor masterpiece may not be so minor, and it explains a lot about where we are at today.
Take, for example, Huxley's examination of the differences between democracy and autocracies/dictatorships/despotism.  Relevant today?  Damn right!
You know, we have heard people compare 45 to Hitler and that comparison has most often been deemed as hyperbole and exaggeration even by the most avid detractors among us.  Maybe rightfully so, but read Huxley's Brave New World Revisited and tell me 45 hasn't take a lot of his cues straight out of Hitler's play book.  It's all right there, plain as day.
And there is much more here.  Huxley shows us why we are sold a bill of bogus goods on so many things including the people we vote for.  Why we function well in small group but are not to be trusted in large numbers.  And maybe, just maybe, how we can rise above the dysfunction that has crept into and galvanized itself onto our very existence as a society. 
Huxley warned us 65 years ago to act soon before it is too late.  Maybe he was right.  But what the hell, read the book and and see what you think!
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













Post edited by brianlux on

Comments

  • static111static111 Posts: 4,889
    brianlux said:
    No doubt, may of us have read Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.  Great book, prophetic, brilliant, everything we've ever heard about it.
    But what about his book, Brave New World Revisited?  I wonder how often that follow-up book gets overlooked?  It's a bit hard to understand myself, but it was by me, until recently.
    And what a revelation this book is.  Written 65 years ago, this minor masterpiece may not be so minor, and it explains a lot about where we are at today.
    Take, for example, Huxley's examination of the differences between democracy and autocracies/dictatorships/despotism.  Relevant today?  Damn right!
    You know, we have heard people compare 45 to Hitler and that comparison has most often been deemed as hyperbole and exaggeration even by the most avid detractors among us.  Maybe rightfully so, but read Huxley's Brave New World Revisited and tell me 45 hasn't take a lot of his cues straight out of Hitler's play book.  It's all right there, plain as day.
    And there is much more here.  Huxley shows us why we are sold a bill of bogus goods on so many things including the people we vote for.  Why we function well in small group but are not to be trusted in large numbers.  And maybe, just maybe, how we can rise above the dysfunction that has crept into and galvanized itself onto our very existence as a society. 
    Huxley warned us 65 years ago to act soon before it is too late.  Maybe he was right.  But what the hell, read the book and and see what you think!
    That was one of the books I read last year.  I reread Brave new world and followed it with Brave New World Revisited.  Brilliant mind.  I wish there were more thinkers and writers like him today.
    Scio me nihil scire

    There are no kings inside the gates of eden
  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,016
    static111 said:
    brianlux said:
    No doubt, may of us have read Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.  Great book, prophetic, brilliant, everything we've ever heard about it.
    But what about his book, Brave New World Revisited?  I wonder how often that follow-up book gets overlooked?  It's a bit hard to understand myself, but it was by me, until recently.
    And what a revelation this book is.  Written 65 years ago, this minor masterpiece may not be so minor, and it explains a lot about where we are at today.
    Take, for example, Huxley's examination of the differences between democracy and autocracies/dictatorships/despotism.  Relevant today?  Damn right!
    You know, we have heard people compare 45 to Hitler and that comparison has most often been deemed as hyperbole and exaggeration even by the most avid detractors among us.  Maybe rightfully so, but read Huxley's Brave New World Revisited and tell me 45 hasn't take a lot of his cues straight out of Hitler's play book.  It's all right there, plain as day.
    And there is much more here.  Huxley shows us why we are sold a bill of bogus goods on so many things including the people we vote for.  Why we function well in small group but are not to be trusted in large numbers.  And maybe, just maybe, how we can rise above the dysfunction that has crept into and galvanized itself onto our very existence as a society. 
    Huxley warned us 65 years ago to act soon before it is too late.  Maybe he was right.  But what the hell, read the book and and see what you think!
    That was one of the books I read last year.  I reread Brave new world and followed it with Brave New World Revisited.  Brilliant mind.  I wish there were more thinkers and writers like him today.

    Yes!  And Neil Postman (of course!)  I thought about Postman a number of times while reading BNW Revisited.
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • cincybearcatcincybearcat Posts: 16,443
    I'm waiting for the movie...
    hippiemom = goodness
  • tempo_n_groovetempo_n_groove Posts: 40,351
    I don't think Trump read either BNW or Mein Kampf.  Is MK even a playbook?

    He was/is a megalomaniac that was never told NO.
  • static111static111 Posts: 4,889
    We are talking about brave new world revisited. a non fiction book Huxley published several years after BNW that discusses how our society was then sliding towards the nightmare that he envisioned at a much more rapid and scary pace than he even dreamed of.
    Scio me nihil scire

    There are no kings inside the gates of eden
  • static111static111 Posts: 4,889
    To add to the discussion a little bit Brian. I will say that I think while we are  and have been busy focusing on Trump or the current Hitler's Du Jour it has given moneyed interests a leg up un securing more power and providing us with ever more creature comforts to numb us from actually experiencing life and community.
    Scio me nihil scire

    There are no kings inside the gates of eden
  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,016
    static111 said:
    To add to the discussion a little bit Brian. I will say that I think while we are  and have been busy focusing on Trump or the current Hitler's Du Jour it has given moneyed interests a leg up un securing more power and providing us with ever more creature comforts to numb us from actually experiencing life and community.

    Well said!  That a great point- right out of Brave New World- and it illustrates how prophetic Huxley's words were. 
    tempo_n_groove said:
    I don't think Trump read either BNW or Mein Kampf.  Is MK even a playbook?

    He was/is a megalomaniac that was never told NO.

    One of the things Huxley points out about Hitler is that when he wrote about more grandiose ideas that fit his twisted visionary outlook, he was not very lucid or precise, not easy to read.  But when Hitler wrote about how to control and manipulate people, he was sharp as a dagger and extremely clear and accurate.  Scary stuff, really.

    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • tempo_n_groovetempo_n_groove Posts: 40,351
    I did not know that Hitler wrote stuff like that.  Of all the things I watched and read, I never knew that.
  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,016
    tempo_n_groove said:
    I did not know that Hitler wrote stuff like that.  Of all the things I watched and read, I never knew that.

    Yeah, I didn't know that either.  But then I never had much interest in reading anything he wrote.  I'd rather read Huxley or any other favorite author or a good music biography or a mountaineering book.
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • tempo_n_groovetempo_n_groove Posts: 40,351
    brianlux said:
    tempo_n_groove said:
    I did not know that Hitler wrote stuff like that.  Of all the things I watched and read, I never knew that.

    Yeah, I didn't know that either.  But then I never had much interest in reading anything he wrote.  I'd rather read Huxley or any other favorite author or a good music biography or a mountaineering book.
    Same here.  I watched the regular History channel stuff.
  • The JugglerThe Juggler Posts: 48,906
    Brave New World was probably my favorite book in high school. Had no idea there was a follow up. I need to read this.

    www.myspace.com
  • The JugglerThe Juggler Posts: 48,906
    brianlux said:
    static111 said:
    To add to the discussion a little bit Brian. I will say that I think while we are  and have been busy focusing on Trump or the current Hitler's Du Jour it has given moneyed interests a leg up un securing more power and providing us with ever more creature comforts to numb us from actually experiencing life and community.

    Well said!  That a great point- right out of Brave New World- and it illustrates how prophetic Huxley's words were. 
    tempo_n_groove said:
    I don't think Trump read either BNW or Mein Kampf.  Is MK even a playbook?

    He was/is a megalomaniac that was never told NO.

    One of the things Huxley points out about Hitler is that when he wrote about more grandiose ideas that fit his twisted visionary outlook, he was not very lucid or precise, not easy to read.  But when Hitler wrote about how to control and manipulate people, he was sharp as a dagger and extremely clear and accurate.  Scary stuff, really.


    www.myspace.com
  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,016
    The Juggler said:
    Brave New World was probably my favorite book in high school. Had no idea there was a follow up. I need to read this.


    Great!  I think you will like it.  A few chapters in it slows down a bit but then get really interesting again.  Not very long and worth the time, for sure!
    The Juggler said:
    brianlux said:
    static111 said:
    To add to the discussion a little bit Brian. I will say that I think while we are  and have been busy focusing on Trump or the current Hitler's Du Jour it has given moneyed interests a leg up un securing more power and providing us with ever more creature comforts to numb us from actually experiencing life and community.

    Well said!  That a great point- right out of Brave New World- and it illustrates how prophetic Huxley's words were. 
    tempo_n_groove said:
    I don't think Trump read either BNW or Mein Kampf.  Is MK even a playbook?

    He was/is a megalomaniac that was never told NO.

    One of the things Huxley points out about Hitler is that when he wrote about more grandiose ideas that fit his twisted visionary outlook, he was not very lucid or precise, not easy to read.  But when Hitler wrote about how to control and manipulate people, he was sharp as a dagger and extremely clear and accurate.  Scary stuff, really.



    Wow!  Yeah, confirms the idea that 45 took some cues from Hitler's play book, for sure!
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













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