Jan 26 ML, Ch 23, 30, 31 "Huxleyan Prophecy"

Jan. 26 ML, Ch 23, 30, 31

"What Huxley teaches us," Postman writes, "is that in an age of advanced technology, spiritual devastation is more likely to come from an enemy with a smiling face than from one who countenance exudes suspicion and hate. In the Huxleyan prophecy, Big Brother does not watch us, by choice. We watch him, by ours."

Brave New World was one of the more impressive books I've ever read. Sometimes people tell other people "you have to read this" which annoys those other people because they don't really want to read it, and there's the underlying assertion that the tellers are better people than the tellees for having read it. So if there were any way to make it not sound pretentious, I would suggest people read this book because it's creepy, like watching a prophecy slowly coming true even beyond the social critique--things like electronica/techno music, increased and distinterested promiscuity, and 3-D motion movies that are described with eerie recognition.
But anyway, watching and understanding propaganda, and finding yourself agreeing with it isn't difficult. To make comparisons between channels, take NBC TV shows versus FOX shows. FOX shows reek of sex--but only heterosexual sex. Masculinity linked with violence is on many shows--24, America's Most Wanted, COPS are examples. CBS shows many crime shows, including 3 different CSIs, NCIS (a US navy CSI), Criminal Minds, Without a Trace, Numb3rs, Cold Case, and two real-life based crime shows, 48 Hours Mystery and Crimetime Saturday.

The crime shows, in essence, define a morality for the viewers. The audience watches society's enforcers swiftly and smartly execute the law, but the relationships between victims, criminals and the police define a right-or-wrong answer that satisfies the viewers' super egos. Who deserves to get shot and where compassion is delegated is an important factor in defining a morality related to death, revenge, imprisonment and rehabilitation that is understood and accepted by the audience.