“Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid compared to the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn’t nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt.
Happiness is never grand.”
― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

In the first part, I have written about the visions of Orwell and Huxley and their power of imagination of humans’ future. I believe that this god’s (or whatsoever) given power of imagination teaches us how to handle the challenges in our life. This power is in all of us; we only have to overcome our fears and let our imagination free will.

When George Orwell and Aldous Huxley wrote their warning books 1984 and Brave New World, they wanted to share their worries about the future with us.

As Orwell imagines his totalitarian world being in a dark cover and was concerned above all about the particular threat posed by totalitarianism to words and language, Hoxley still had one foot in the nineteenth century: he couldn’t have dreamed his upside-down morality unless he himself also found it threatening. While writing his book, he was still in shock from the US visit, particularly frightened by mass consumerism and its group mentality and vulgarities; there dies the individuum, while Orwell deeply thought about Hitler’s and Stalin’s totalistic reigns.

It’s probably hard to compare these two masterpieces and find one or the other better, as we can take both visions as doctrine and keep our eyes open. But I still believe Huxley’s vision is a much better tricky scam, which could not be exposed.
Huxley explained in his letter to Orwell:

Whether, in actual fact, the policy of the boot-on-the-face can go on indefinitely seems doubtful. My own belief is that the ruling oligarchy will find less arduous and wasteful ways of governing and of satisfying its lust for power, and these ways will resemble those which I described in Brave New World. I have had occasion recently to look into the history of animal magnetism and hypnotism and have been greatly struck by how, for a hundred and fifty years, the world has refused to take serious cognizance of the discoveries of Mesmer, Braid, Esdaile, and the rest.

Therefore, Huxley’s vision is more compatible nowadays: in his novel, The Brave New World: everything looks bright and cheerful. Wars, poverty and hunger, are far away. For the elimination of disturbing journalism is already concerned: Truth? You don’t want to ruin your career, do you? Or the danger of artists is gone; they have become sellers of their own arts themselves; business is business! In the earlier time, the artists had nothing to do with the market. They were busy with their creations, and the managers had to discover them and take care of selling their art. Still, now they must earn their money via “do it yourself”, which keeps them busy and in the position of a seller, they never could let their spirits fly over the imaginative world of art.

I don’t know and never learned how to sell!

That is, for sure, worth reading such brilliant visions. They help us to broaden our views. They are not alone; there are more examples: one is Ray Bradbury, who, in his fascinating book Fahrenheit 451, shows us his vision of the future. I wonder if they were not there, we might fall into a terrible trap!

I also have watched movies on this topic, great films like Soylent Green, a 1973 American movie directed by Richard Fleischer, which is about a dark vision happening in the year 2022 (we have passed already and didn’t even notice!!) or Zardoz a 1974 science fantasy film written, produced and directed by John Boorman, which, in the end, gives us hope for a new begin!? (I have once shared a post on this film.)

This image above, which I have gaped from the Net, tells a lot! We really are in the middle of these traps, but we can create our own art and learn from each other.

I will put a part three on this issue and share some more thoughts if it doesn’t bore you. 🤗🙏

The Pics at the top: Trash Riot & Photo by swallace99 on Flickr Collection Folio 177 – George Orwell – 1984