A Frugal Perspective on Money, Career and Family. Web. 10 Oct.
2010. http://frugaldad.com/2008/05/12/three-keys-to-finding-true-happiness/.
Somewhat recently, a statistic was released stating that most Americans are unhappy. Herman Cain, a substitute for a radio talk show host then went on to give three key factors to finding happiness; staying busy, finding something to love, and having something to hope for. In BNW, the main reason so many devices (the sexaphones, scent organs, feelies, ubiquitous sex, soma, etc) are in place is to keep people happy (and thus unrebellious), and these do fit the description, in an unwholesome way.
McNeil Jr, Donald G. "US Apologizes for Syphilis Tests in
Guatemala." New York Times. 1 Oct. 2010. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/02/health/research/02infect.html.
Between 1946 and 1948 American doctors infected Guatemalan prisoners with syphilis simply to test the drug penicillin. This highly unethical act was supported by the government, or at least not stopped, despite our war against the Nazis who were performing very similar atrocities! Moreover, the government just now appologized and repariations are still in QUESTION?! Much like the society of BNW, the American government reached out and took something for their own purposes. The govenment and doctors took people in this case, but the BNW government, curious as to the success of a society of Alpha Pluses took the entire island of Crete, and possibly uprooted people in the process, for their study.
Gandel, Stephen. "Will Human Cloning Cause a Financial Crisis?
- The Curious Capitalist - TIME.com." The Curious Capitalist -
Commentary onthe Economy, the Markets, and Business - TIME.com.
31 Aug. 2010. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.
http://curiouscapitalist.blogs.time.com/2010/08/31/will-human-cloning-cause-a-financial-crisis/.
Considering cloning will probably be extremely expensive at its outset, only the rich will be able to afford the commodity. Because of this, more people, the clones, will have access to better education and financial support than the middle and lower classes, causing more wealth to be caught up with the rich than ever before. This could potentially lead the worst economical crisis ever. This contradicts BNW though, as in the book the clones are the lower classes, who handle nearly all physical work. This opposing view makes sense in the financial sense, but Huxley's view could come true if the rich financed the cloning of the poor, in turn potentially causing a totalitarian goverment headed by the rich with the poor unknowingly oppressed.
Syque. "Purpose of Emotions." Changing Minds and Persuasion -
- How We Change What Others Think, Believe, Feel and Do. Web. 10
Oct. 2010. http://changingminds.org/explanations/emotions/emotion_purpose.htm.
The purpose of emotion is to motivate by changing internal conditions to produce mental feelings such as comfort or urgency, to decide on right and wrong by associating certain emotions with our values, and to percieve the mental states and emotions of others, showing their intentions as base or benevolent. Emotions of one person can also be used to motivate another, as well as assist with the other two functions. The people in BNW have forsaken all of their negative emotions, or at least buried them in mounds of soma. This makes them unsure of others emotions, as Lenina demonstrates as she doen not understand Bernard in his distress.
Wohlsen, Marcus, ed. "Pot Legalization Measure Exposes
Calif.'s Conflicted Relationship with the Drug It Popularized." Chicago
Tribune 27 Sept. 2010, Daily ed. Print.
Recently in California a proposition was proposed which has divided the state. Marijuana legalization will lead to the eradication of the drug trade argue some, but others say that it will lead to an increase in violence as the poor steal to feed their cravings. People also argue that it may make marijuana legalization will discredit it as a medical treatment. This is one of the prerequisites for the society of Brave New World, considering soma, a similar drug, is not only legal but encouraged. This could possibly be the end result of legalization.
