Amusing Ourselves To Death
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June 14, 2010 at 6:27 am
Both are right.
June 26, 2010 at 8:17 am
Absolutely correct, however:
Huxley was primarily writing about the Consumerism (in Brave New World), while Orwell was writing about Totalitarianism (in 1984). If he had been born in North Korea Neil Postman (if in my alternate universe he had the education and courage to do so) would have written a book about “the certainty that Orwell was right and Huxley was wrong”.
Neil Postman is as myopic as he is arrogant in seeing the USA as the centre of the world, about which all must obviously have written, and from which there is no alternative. The world, in his view, has no more choice than to follow the path the US choses, than water has of flowing uphill.
In reality this is not the case. Both Brave new World and 1894 were written for Europe, one warning against cultural/political trends in Russia, the other warning us about cultural/political trends in the USA.
June 26, 2010 at 8:20 am
Cool Story, Bro
June 26, 2010 at 8:23 am
I should note that I agree with Neil Postman about the fetid waste the USA is, and can’t wait for it to sink beneath the weight of its own bullshit.
June 14, 2010 at 3:49 pm
This was very entertaining.
June 26, 2010 at 6:26 am
yes, I love it!
(is it wrong?)
June 18, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Reboot pet peeve #1042:
Neil Postman isn’t warning about entertainment for entertainment’s sake, like video games, twitter, beanie babies. He’s complaining about the important stuff being turned into entertainment to the point where we can no longer distinguish between what’s important and what’s not. In other words, World of Warcraft: OK. Celebrity “news”: bad.
June 26, 2010 at 8:27 am
An important distinction, but entertainment for entertainments sake is available in such abundance that escapism is a real problem as well. Even though it does not distort one’s view of what is real and important as much as unimportant news, entertainment like World of Warcraft that is in itself able to occupy all one’s time and attention slowly gains false worth. Even though you might be able to see the difference when you, say, go AFK to take a shit for ten minutes, you’ll still hobble right back into that chair to chase the pretty colours.
been a while since i read Brave New World, i think reading it twice wont hurt.
June 26, 2010 at 6:05 am
www.recombinantrecords.net/
June 26, 2010 at 11:16 pm
Nice link, thanx.
June 26, 2010 at 8:55 pm
If they can make machines to save us labor
Someday they’ll do our hearts the very same favor
The wails of ruined lives brought to a halt
By the serene hum of computers in air-conditioned vaults
June 26, 2010 at 9:23 pm
As long as I was an Alpha I’d love to live in A Brave New World. Getting high on super ativan, having high slaves that don’t mind working, mandated fuckfests, and helicopter cars would be awesome.