Due to the events from last and this year I got hooked on books on sociology and in general mass control. Reason is very simple - when one gets rather disappointed in the people one tries to find out what and when went wrong.

And unfortunately I have to say course of this planet's society was set way way back. Unfortunately.....

What makes this book bleak and truly dystopian is that author writes almost of events not almost 60 years back but like he is listening and following current news. As he says himself he was surprised that future he foreseen with his novel started to realize in only couple of decades.

Let's see....
Crisis and way it can be misused for obtaining power? Check.
Media effect and polarizing effect of it on the masses? Check.
Danger of succumbing to emotions instead of reason (aka activism)? Check.
Rise of bureaucrats - gray man with power - and technocrats grabbing ever more power into their hands? Check.
Inability to use technology outside of what the author calls Big Technology and Big Government? Oh yes, check.
Bureaucratic tendency not to let power slip from their hands once it is obtained (aka mini-despots)? Check.
Rise of scientific zealots that aim to make people uniform (divergence cannot be allowed) and expect them to behave as automatons? Gas-lighting, contradicting statements that mess up people? Use of fear and general wearing down and exhausting of populace using constant crisis as a control factor? Check, check .... and check.
Indifference of general populace to keep their freedoms and ensure elites are not absolute rulers but executives given limited power for limited time - what you might call prevalence of immediate satisfaction of ones needs instead of going for long term solutions? Check.
Forcing migrations and "herding" people (aforementioned masses) and in general dehumanization of society - again through that uniformity and seeking optimal instead of human society? Check.
Dangers of personality-cults and the way propaganda works to push public opinion into desired direction? Check.
Dangers of distractions and off-tracking in order to busy people with things that do not have any value or long term effect when it comes to changing the society for the better? Oh, man, big check.
Dumbing down of general populace (zombies constantly staring into bloody phones 24/7) and failure of education that becomes more of an activist playground than actual learning tool (again, distractions)? Oh, yes, check.

I was surprised that even at time when author was writing the book theories that basically annulled the human being's biological individuality and considered it as a result of only strict forms of social influence were accepted by good deal of social scientists. Considering this, it is no wonder we are where we are.

I was truly intrigued by Institute for Propaganda Analysis and its demise after only 4 years. If there was ever an indicator that the world people live in is not what they believe it is. I mean who would dismantle organization that aims to make people think - not activist way of thinking so popular today (all of the radical movements (from left to right) this organization considered completely undemocratic because radicalism breeds authoritarianism and suffocates freedom of speech) but actual thinking?

You are right - not people who have best for humanity in their heart.

This is a highly recommended book for everyone to read. Might be overly romanticized view of the world but as long people try to keep their individuality, freedom of speech and in general freedom there is still hope. And becoming aware of things taking place around us is always the first step in the right direction.

Highly recommended. ( )

Despite the age of author's observations, they are as relevant today as they were then. There are things in the book that are of historical interest and currently not a threat or clearly outdated but the warnings of propaganda and manipulation are a greater threat than ever ( )

Despite the age of author's observations, they are as relevant today as they were then. There are things in the book that are of historical interest and currently not a threat or clearly outdated but the warnings of propaganda and manipulation are a greater threat than ever ( )

Brave New World Revisited (Perennial Classics) by Aldous Huxley (2000)

In July it will have been two years since I read Huxley's [b:Brave New World|3180338|Brave New World|Aldous Huxley|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389777917s/3180338.jpg|3204877] (see my review here). Like Orwell's classic dystopian book (1984), Huxley's was a real eye-opener. And it seems that both authors were clairvoyant, as we're currently living in an age where both principles are applied.

Big Brother (via smartphones, cctv, Windows, etc.) is watching our every move. Not only for so-called security measures, but also for commercial reasons (Big Data), which is what Brave New World was about, to a certain extent. Keep the masses happy through consumption of goods, instead of punishing them for not following the rules. Hence, a.o., the smartphones, the gazillion apps, the sh*t that's played on the radio and television (numb the minds instead of stimulating them).

So many years after BNW, Huxley wrote a non-fiction book on certain themes that were used in his fable. My edition has a foreword, about Huxley's life and works, by David Bradshaw. In the introduction, Huxley wrote that one should read his commentary - and I quote - "against a background of thoughts about the Hungarian uprising and its repression, about the H-bombs, about the cost of what every nation refers to as 'defence', about those endless columns of uniformed boys, white, black, brown, yellow, marching obdiently towards the common grave."

The chapters are to be read in order, as Huxley sometimes referred to a previous chapter when talking about a next theme. Discussed themes:
1) Overpopulation
2) Quantity, Quality, Morality
3) Over-organization
4) Propaganda in a Democratic Society
5) Propaganda under a Dictatorship
6) The Arts of Selling (also discussed in Philippe Breton's [b:La parole manipulée|1935976|La parole manipulée|Philippe Breton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1377878709s/1935976.jpg|1938492])
7) Brainwashing
8) Chemical Persuasion
9) Subconscious Persuasion
10) Hypnopaedia
11) Education for Freedom
12) What Can Be Done?

No matter when Huxley wrote his afterthoughts, each subject is still of importance today, perhaps more than ever. Overpopulation (now there are x-times mores people on the planet than several decades ago, thank to better hygiene, better nutrition, better medicine, ...), but this also has its consequences (both positive and negative). Depending on who's in power, each discussed item can be handled for good or for worse. However, one can't deny that in today's day and age, there's manipulation everywhere; in the food industry, in the media, in marketing, ... We are constantly bombarded with (flashy) ads, news, bright colours, loud sounds, censoring, and more, which makes it hard to think critically and not accept everything blindly. But in some regions, the situation is improving for the better, little by little.

To cut things short, whether you liked Brave New World (the story) or not, read Huxley's afterthoughts and compare them with how we're living today and have been living for the last x-years. For some, it may confirm what they've been thinking for so long, for other it may indeed be an eye-opener. Orwell and Huxley were visionaries, that's a fact. Heavily recommended! ( )