Which dystopian fiction are we living closest to?
When I was discussing dystopian fiction with my brother, he asked me: “which dystopian fiction do you think we are living closest to?”
I don’t think there is a straight forward answer to this.
There are an alarming amount of similarities between dystopian fiction and our current world, and a dystopian world only seems to be creeping closer to us, especially considering current events. But there isn’t one book which directly parallels our current world, instead it’s a sinister concoction, mixed with certain elements of different dystopias. I’ll be talking about 3 dystopian books: brave new world, 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. As I believe this combination of books really reflects the disturbing path this world is going down.
Brave new world - Aldous Huxley
Brave new world is a society with a strict social hierarchy as a result of class conditioning. Everyone has a role, designed even before birth, and they are manipulated into enjoying it.
This society is a product of careful genetic engineering. There is also a strong belief in eugenics among the scientists in this book. (Which is increasingly relevant due to the ‘Sydney Sweeney has great GENES’ ad, something out of a eugenicists wet dream.)
Its society is also kept pacified by the pursuit of pleasure, in a world where the general population is kept sedated by happiness drugs, orgies and non-stop entertainment. Here, no one cares about education or the dark practices of the government, which leads to cognitive decline. And of course, this is all orchestrated by the government to control the masses.
"Within the next generation I believe that the world's rulers will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging and kicking them into obedience.” - Aldous Huxley in a letter to George orwell
Seeing the similarities yet?
The hedonistic lifestyles portrayed in this book certainly reflect our current society. Where many put gambling, sex and substance abuce over everything. I can also see similarities with the ‘bored houswife’ in the 50’s taking drugs for alleviation. But it still doesn’t feel like OUR society completely. The idea of brainwashing people into ‘loving their servitude’ definitely still applies to our current society. But I can see more relation to the 80’s, with songs like ‘working 9 to 5’ glamorising the working class. Many, like in brave new world, choose to live in blissful ignorance in a false utopia than confront reality.
1984 was a dystopian book satirising a totalitarian society, it being inspired by the infamous Soviet Union regime and nazi Germany propaganda should definitely be telling to what this book is about…
In the 1984 world, the government keeps the people obedient by using mass surveillance and censorship. Contrary to the ‘brave new world’ world, citizens are controlled by fear rather than distractions. They are silenced by propaganda and fear of physical and psychological torture. But there are more similarities than you may think.
- “What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one” - Neil postman
Ironically, 1984 is considered one of the most widely banned books in the world. It’s almost as if governments took the book as an instruction manual, rather than a warning on censorship.
Not so fun fact: 1984 was banned in the US for being considered ‘pro-communist’ and it was banned in Russia for being considered ‘anti-communist’. But in reality, the book was pro-socialist and anti-totalitarian. Funny..
Here, the citizens are forced to accept such obvious contradictions (such as the idea that 2+2=5). A common occurrence was something called ‘transferred nationalism’, where orators could change Oceania’s enemy mid sentence and the hate would immediately shift to the new enemy, no questions asked.
I think this applies to far too many people in our world, who are so painfully politically illiterate they can change opinions in a heartbeat if told to, and worship at the feet of their chosen politicians.
In 1984, the government could prosecute you for anything from a nervous jitter to a negative thought on the government (called a thought-crime). While this may not (yet) be applicable to us, it definitely parallels the extreme censorship from governments globally.
Considering the online safety act the UK passed recently (I prefer the name ‘online censorship and surveillance act), heavy surveillance and monitoring is very prevalent in current life. And like in 1984, there’s nothing we can do about it, so we are forced to comply.
They would also fabricate evidence of an ever growing economy, to create manufactured progress and please the masses. And of course, there is a strong class system with extreme wealth disparities. Poverty is the norm. And lower classes are kept sedated by gambling, porn and booze.
-"In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance."-quote from 1984
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Now, the final piece of the puzzle, Fahrenheit 451.
Fahrenheit 451, the temperature that paper burns at, is a totalitarian world where books have been banned, and any remaining books are burned by ‘firemen’. Inspired by the book burnings during nazi regime, it’s a world where the media created citizens disinterested in the art of reading. Bradbury said political correctness is used as an excuse for censorship in the book. Bradbury feared an illiterate society, brainwashed by entertainment. Unfortunately… this seems to be coming closer to reality than I’d like. More people would rather let their brains atrophy than pick up a book. The overuse in AI to do all tasks for us, such as simplifying already basic texts, has rendered a lot of people functionally illiterate and disinterested in literature. It’s pitiful to watch such blatant suppression of individualism. A world where books aren’t a priority doesn’t seem like much of a world to me.
Ironically (for the billionth time), Fahrenheit 451 was also heavily censored and banned, because it was deemed vulgar and had topics of drugs in the book. I don’t know.. but that seems like political correctness used as an excuse to censor to me…but hey, what do I know??
"It didn't come from the Government down. There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with, no! Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick, thank God.” - extract from Fahrenheit 451
It also has themes of atomic war and heavy political discourse, I don’t think i need to even comment on similarities for that. The world has been plagued with endless discourse for centuries, to the point where it almost seems like an integral part of humanity.
What doesn’t scare me is a world where they try to censor and control us, as that is already reality. I will continue to read and share my knowledge no matter what. What terrifies me is a world where I have no one to share knowledge with, because reading isn’t seen as a priority.
Remember, it’s easier to control the naive and ignorant. Pick up a book, and let’s not ignore the clear warnings dangling in front of our heads.
Overall, I think there 3 books reflect the totalitarian and heavily controlled path our society is going down. Let’s not let the pursuit of pleasure sedate us and make us unaware of the world we are living in.
— This took WAYYY longer than I anticipated to research, write and edit, so I ended up rushing, sorry it’s so sloppy. 😬 Screw AI when I can independently make shitty art and write shitty things! Feel free to share opinions and/or criticisms!!