Happy Birthday, Aldous Huxley – and a Note on Sustainability

Aldous Huxley would be 119 years old today.  I read his Brave New World in a course I had in college called “Social Ideals and Ideal Societies,” which I took for a very noble reason: a pretty girl I liked had signed up for it.

According to the Writer’s Almanac:

Brave New World (1932) (is) about a future in which most human beings are born in test-tube factories, genetically engineered to belong in one of five castes: Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. There are no families; people have sex all the time and never fall in love, and they keep themselves happy by taking a drug called “soma.”

Brave New World was one of the first novels to predict the future existence of genetic engineering, anti-depression medication, as well as virtual reality. When George Orwell’s 1984 came out a few years later, many critics compared the two novels, trying to decide which one was more likely to come true. Huxley argued that his imagined future was more likely, because it would be easier to control people by keeping them happy than it would be by threatening them with violence.

Obviously, we see so much of this playing itself out today. Though we distrust government, Americans are largely complacent, as there is plenty of beer and Doritos in our stores and fuel at our gas stations.  Our mainstream media makes no effort to get at the tough issues that form the harsh realities of our civilization; in fact, they actively prevent us from looking there, blithely leading us from one piece of entertainment to the next.

Similarly, I’m told that the guiding principle of leadership in the Chinese government is to make sure that their huge population stays fairly content.

I’m sure there are people who claim that this is the best we can do under the circumstances, i.e., that this is, while not ideal, the best of all possible worlds.  The problem, however, goes back to sustainability.  What happens a few decades hence when we realize that all our liberties have been slowly but systematically eroded and our failure to establish an energy policy has placed most of our major cities under seawater?

I’m reminded of the Native American tribes.  The major decisions their elders make contemplate the effects on a minimum of five future generations. Here in the “developed world,” decisions are based on a two-year election cycle.  “If it makes me popular right this minute, count me in.”  This may keep us fat, dumb and happy — and quiet! — but it’s not sustainable.