Detriment of Socialism in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - Book Report/Review Example

Detriment of Socialism in Brave New World Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is a novel that was published in 1932. His society, set at some point in the distant future, is a frightening aberration. It is kind of like an example of a world government gone mad with power. People have been deprived of all their lives and forced into a hive-like mental state. The book reminded me a little bit of Orwell's ideas of social order gone crazy in his book Animal Farm. In Animal Farm Orwell has an animal exclaim that all animals are equal but some are more equal than others (Orwell 88). This line is used a lot and the top leaders of the government expect everyone to follow it. They have everything they want and need, but the people below them, which are the majority, have to take what they are given. Socialism may be ok for an ant colony but it is an unnatural system for humans and can only work by force. The socialist nature of Brave New World is detrimental to its society. Long before Karl Marx wrote his book about communism there were people who wanted socialism. It is true that even though the Russian Communists and German Nazis hated each other, they were both socialist systems. Nazi is the initials of National Socialists. These systems are popular a lot of times when they start and they get to be there because the people want them. Poor people always believe that their life can only get better. This is not true. Not one socialist country has ever lasted for long, and they are usually just there because some dictator and his army make the people obey him. It puts down the individuals and stops people from doing art and science and takes away the people's human rights. Huxley means to shock the people who read his book, and he does. It is because from the opening paragraph of Brave New World, where the reader learns there is only one government left in the world (Huxley 1). The reader gets to go on a tour of a laboratory that was built to fertilize and grow human babies. The idea is that parents are not needed anymore. Since it seems like a no-brainer that a child will get to be a better human if he has a set of human parents and not raised by the state, then this is the first example that shows the socialist system of Brave New World is detrimental to its society. . Huxley makes it known that the government of his world sees to the needs of all citizens from when they are born until they die. Human beings are almost like machines and don't get to make any decisions or do anything they would really like to do. They are like designed from their genes before they are even born. Huxley says that in his world there is no need for philosphers, "Not philosophers but fretsawyers and stamp collectors compose the backbone of society," he says (Huxley 4). The attitude that philosophers are not necessary is a very bad opinion. It works to the detriment of society, for philosophers do much more than just talk about philosophy. There are some philosophers who think about ethics and some who think about medicine and about civilization. They have a good affect on society. They are needed. The morals of socialism seem a lot more important when they get taken to the extreme that Huxley talks about. When all is said and done and arguments are made about socialism and how it works for humans, then questions about morals have to be talked about. How can it be moral to steal from the rightful owner and take his property without paying him This is how socialism works and it seems to be a popular idea with the people who don't have much but not popular with the people who own the stuff that gets stolen. Socialism, is based on the belief that class struggle will come no matter what is done to stop it. The idea is that after long enough a time the end will always be that the poor people will take over from the rich guys. Capitalism, the system used in the United States, has to fall apart sooner or later and all that will be left is Socialism. Huxley does not describe how his one world government took power but we can guess that a lot of people died. Revolution is never totally free of violence. In fact it has always taken outside interference to get it to happen and it has always put down the poor people when it came to be. Russia was one of the worst governments the world has ever seen. Millions died during the time it ruled Russia. Huxley's new world is simply that same Russian system but like a hundred times worse. Though the government uses technology to keep the population satisfied and quiet, it is just as bad, and science is like a crime to do (Huxley 225). Socialism is not morally acceptable as a system because it puts down religion and is considered evil by most sane people. It uses evil means, like forcing people, to reach what it considers good things, like helping humanity. An evil deed done even for a good reason is still evil. There is no way to clean up an evil act. The people can't just vote for it to be good. It stays evil even if all the people want it to be good. Though religions are all different and everyone thinks his way is the best there is still ethics and morality that are close to being the same. So the bible doesn't say that our way is better than any others but we all still know what makes right and what makes wrong no matter what religion we are. The point is that some things are just wrong and everyone knows they are wrong. It is just the way humans are. They know down deep inside them what is right and wrong. So part of what Huxley says in Brave New World is that if a majority of the people think it is acceptable to destroy brain cells in a fetus so that the results are that the human will not have sense enough to complain about his enslavement, does that make it right (Huxley 14) Some people think questions like this are beside the point and no one has to bother thinking about them or even answering them. But Huxley says that is what the government does in his Brave New World. Arguments against the socialism in Brave New World are based on the idea that there are just some rules that everyone knows. Some rules are good for people and some are bad for people. The average people know for a fact what is good for society and what is bad. The world of Huxley is controlled and individuality is not allowed. Recreational sex and a popular drug are the two basic joys that a human can hope to get. Mustapha Mond, who controls the world, admits that the society he rules has some bad things about it, but he says that if people lose their freedom and individuality it just has to be that way because it is for the public good. This seems to be the usual answer from the people in power in a totalitarian government. Those same rulers are not willing to take some of the good upon themselves and step down to the level of the poor people and get the benefits from the generosity of the state offices. History has shown that even Russia's idea of the perfect state didn't manage to last even 100 years. There is only one big socialist country in the world and that is China. It is not a very good place to live. The state tells people what they can look at on the Internet and puts people in jail for saying anything against the government. The socialistic state is bad for society in a lot of different ways, and Huxley's world is a lot worse than any one that has ever come into existence in the real world. The idea behind the socialist state is that the leaders or the only leader, always thinks he knows a lot better what is good for the poor people than the poor people know for themselves. So the decision of the one guy in charge gets to be the law and there is no way to complain or go to court or get a lawyer. The word of one man is the law. The freedom and the rights of the people are put down because the leader says it has to be that way for the good of the rest of the country. The worst part of the system is that it won't ever change because of how it is. One leader just takes over from the old one on and on. . It means always having a strong leader at the top that is willing to do anything to his friends and anyone else who might get in his way. The old Roman leaders understood how important it is to keep the poor people happy. So they gave them free food and free circuses so they wouldn't think about how bad everything really was. If they wanted to stay in power without having to kill everyone they knew they had to keep the people fed and entertained. Soma, the recreational drug of the Brave New World is like that. It is like a cure for everything from boredom to a bad case of nerves and keeps society satisfied (55). It is usually considered bad for society to keep them drugged, but maybe it is a thing that they have to do so the people will have a little real joy. It would be better for society if they got their joy the right way, like by just having regular fun and not taking drugs. The drug program used by the socialistic system to keep the people happy in Brave New World was detrimental to society. The hero of Huxley's world is named John Savage He is a rebel and he hates the system. He is named Savage as a message from the author. He is a savage in a world that is kept civilized by science and technology. He knows how bad it is but he can't stop it. His suicide is a symbol of Huxley's disgust with the society he made in Brave New World. All of society's problems are directly caused by the detrimental effects of the socialistic system in place in the novel. . Bibliography Orwell, G. Animal Farm New York: Alfred K. Knopf 1946-1993 Huxley, A. Brave New World New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. 1932 . Read More