Brave New World

     Living in a consumer society I can't really help but think we are living in a Brave New World. This idea of subliminal projection Huxley talks about seems to plague every day life, maybe even influence it to the extent of controlling and manipulating it. From the time I wake up in the morning to the time I go to sleep I'm bombarded with trivial things like pop culture. Of course I buy in to it sometimes because that's what our society seems to care about most. It's in this way that I think we are being projected on. I don't see commercials about real world problems. I see commercials about celebrities and the hottest new brands and movies etc. These things appeal to our subconscious because they have nothing to do with reason and conscious decisions. They appeal to our wants and desires, and that's why it's easy for us to be controlled by them. I can like a song or a brand because I think it sounds good or looks good, but the message I am receiving about drugs or high society can be lasting. In this way they keep us dormant, and this makes us unaware about what is going on, like the soma they use in the book.
     Another point Huxley made about technology and mass communication being instruments of very effective, but potentially evil messages makes me think we are living in a world where that exists. I don't know anyone who doesn't have a television, computer, or phone. In this way people are receiving messages all day long. Some of it may be harmless, but messages can be sneaky and evil. Like the hypnopaedia in the book, messages are drilled in to our minds all the time. That's why fast food chains and big corporations develop jingles and slogans. They want us to associate the cool phrases and happy jingles with good food and a good time, not with heart problems and diabetes.
     Huxley talks a lot about politicians and communist nations. From the political aspect about candidates I can see where we might be going astray. Huxley said that candidates were merchandised, but I think it's gotten to the point where people in general are merchandised, kind of like in the book how people only cared about appearance and outward personality. There was no getting to know someone on a real basis, they only saw what the person wanted them to see. I think our pop culture and the brands and the fake nature of it all dehumanizes people. When you have the front cover of a magazine bashing on some celebrity because she gained 20 pounds you know you've got a problem.