The Accuracy of Postman’s Prediction As technology continues to advance in research and complexity, the fear of security increases with it. With recent reports of the NSA and big corporations spying on Americans and customers, one can believe that society is becoming Orwellian. Orwell’s society in 1984 depicts a society ruled by fear, through surveillance and torture. On the other hand, Huxley’s society in Brave New World is kept in line through happiness, entertainment, and the advancement of technology and due to these contrasts, is often compared with 1984. Due to these contrasts, many readers and writers compare these books to the real world. For example, Neil Postman, in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death, predicted that while an Orwellian society is what most people fear, America would become Huxleyan instead. Postman was correct in predicting America’s similarities to a Huxleyan society and the fact that America is not Orwellian;
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Orwell describes the telescreen as “[receiving] and [transmitting] simultaneously… [and] so long as he remained within the field of vision… he could be seen as well as heard” (Orwell 3 ). This idea of the government listening to its citizens is similar to how the government was exposed to have been listening to American phone calls. However, while Orwell’s citizens submitted to the government, allowing the surveillance to go on, Americans rebelled and openly showed their disagreement. This shows that America is not Orwellian due to the fact that this submission is what allows Orwell’s society to function. Postman comments on the “possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right” (Postman xx) and through this comparison, it is clear that America is not Orwellian. A large part of a society being Huxleyan is the fact that it is not Orwellian. These societies are complete opposites and while they can have traits of both, a society cannot be
Orwell describes the telescreen as “[receiving] and [transmitting] simultaneously… [and] so long as he remained within the field of vision… he could be seen as well as heard” (Orwell 3 ). This idea of the government listening to its citizens is similar to how the government was exposed to have been listening to American phone calls. However, while Orwell’s citizens submitted to the government, allowing the surveillance to go on, Americans rebelled and openly showed their disagreement. This shows that America is not Orwellian due to the fact that this submission is what allows Orwell’s society to function. Postman comments on the “possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right” (Postman xx) and through this comparison, it is clear that America is not Orwellian. A large part of a society being Huxleyan is the fact that it is not Orwellian. These societies are complete opposites and while they can have traits of both, a society cannot be