A Brave New World
About two years ago I read Adolfus Huxley's A Brave New World. One of the main topics of the book is about how people are now raised in Hatcheries and Conditioning Centers. No longer do humans have meaningful relationships, they live a life detached from raw emotion. The amazing thing about some of this type of literature (Fahrenheit 451, A Brave New World, 1984, The Giver) is their uncanny ability to predict the future that is now upon us.
I live in Oklahoma, perhaps the reddest of all Republican states and the populace would stand up and scream, "Blasphemy!" if you ever accused them of being socialist. Yet, in this milieu of extreme conservatism I find the most shocking marker of these novels: children raised by the state. Just yesterday, the Oklahoman, our newspaper, lauded the state as 'best in the nation' and committed because Oklahoma pioneered pre-kindergarten. Not just a program for low-income families, this program is funded for all comers regardless of family income level. Now nearly 20,000 students attend this program. How can one of the most conservative states of the 50 endorse this plan? Is it not cradle to grave socialism?
Now our president elect is talking about this topic and making people giddy with delight. 10 billion dollars have already been pledged to make this a reality. Look at the wording in the article...a bit scary. Don't these people read good literature?
Now, am I the only one who sees this as a major step towards societies described in novels such as A Brave New World? No longer are parents and society responsible for raising children, it has now become the job of the state. Maybe we can start assigning these children jobs at birth and start taking them away from their parents before they get a chance to interact with them and contaminate them. If we can get them brainwashed quickly enough we can get rid of crime and creative thinking. They will become flawless citizens ready to contribute to a global economy. Yes, let's get these kids even before age 4. Age 0 if possible.
FYI, all these novels end badly, as will this.
