Are We Living In A Dystopian Future We Were Warned About In Novels? Yes, Yes We Are!

I like to write (obviously) but it also goes without saying that I like to read. One of my favorite types of books are the books that make our future look grim, deadly, controlling, and fearful. I guess you can say I am morbid like that. Some well known ones are Fahrenheit 451, 1984, and Brave New World.

And this book series. Maybe you have heard of it?

I don't know if it is the zombie-like existence of humans, or the wacky fashions these books always have us imagine, but I like reading about a civilization that is being controlled and manipulated. Where freedom is a bad word and you do what you are told, don't ask questions, and "get back to work you little shit!".

Some people think we are heading toward a 1984 type of existence. Where censorship is the rule, you are told what to think, when to think, and Big Brother is watching you.

Pretty fucking scary!!

But have no fear, because despite the warnings we are being given by extreme right-wingers, we are not heading toward a future of Big Brother. But we are not heading away from it either. I have a theory (if you have been reading my other posts you are probably beginning to see a pattern here) that we are heading toward a wonderful mixture of all these delightfully terrifying futures. 

Trust me when I say that I do not think most governments are brilliant. Hell we build entertainment platforms just to make fun of government in this country. (Thank God we still can. For now... DUN DUN DUN) However, they are sometimes not completely fucking stupid. I highly doubt the powers the be, or the powers that will one day be, will pick up 1984 and think, "Holy Shit-Nuts this is a great Fucking idea! We should totally do this, because I am sure that this book (that was first published in 1949) has NEVER before been read. These people are sitting ducks for mind control and they won't even know what is happening". Yeah, like I said, they are not totally brain dead. However, after reading the books listed above I cannot help but see some similarities between those realities, and ours. And because we live in an instant gratification society (something that will be discussed later!) I will share the eerie connections between the land of make believe and the land of the free. 

The Hunger Games

Just for the sake of time and because I don't want to give away spoilers to those who didn't want to read the trilogy but are patiently waiting for all them to come out on DVD, I am only going to focus on the first book. Because it is already out on DVD. This is the most recent published of all the books so we have not had the passage of time to compare those books to our lives the way we can the other books. So I don't have as much insight to this one. I wanted to include it, not because of what it predicts, but because of where author Suzanne Collins got the idea from. She claims that she was flipping through her television and noticed the invasion of Iraq showing on television and a reality show where people competed. Hence, a book trilogy based on the idea of killing people in a game on live television for the entertainment of other people. Sure you can dismiss this idea and think this would never happen and curl up with your blankie and rock yourself to sleep tonight, but remember that history does have this bad habit of repeating itself.  

Sweet dreams.

Fahrenheit 451

In this "universe" firefighters do not put out fires, they start them. And what are they burning? Books! (Seriously, who didn't see that one coming?) But, fortunately for us we do not have fire fighters pull into our driveways to set our goddamn houses on fire!

On the other hand, how bad could it be? 

But what they do have is a society that is engrossed in mass media and technology. Which, of course, the government uses to shape the culture and thinking of the people. Ray Bradbury envisioned a world that looks pretty close to ours. From flat screen televisions to ear buds, our technology of today is very similar to the technology in the novel. And the people in their universe and ours are obsessed with it. (Don't think this is happening? Leave your iPhone home for one day! One day! Do it! I fucking dare you!) But there is still this messy business of book burnings, surely our society would never allow such a thing. Bradbury explains in the novel that the books that were being written were becoming too controversial and upsetting too many people. After all, there was an intense need for political correctness so the books had to go so that they would not "offend" anyone. (Your starting to think now, aren't you?)

1984

When people think of a future that is pretty fucking horrific, this book tends to rear its ugly head. The major themes of this novel is conformity, censorship, and (my favorite) big brother. One of the ways the government in George Orwell's novel controls people, is by constantly watching the people. Surveillance is the issue here. We all know about the controversial Patriot Act that enabled the government to "keep tabs" on "persons of interest". That sounds harmless enough right? Sure, it may sound innocent but it's still government surveillance on private citizens. It is true that some parts of the Patriot Act has expired, some parts are still in use. In 2011 the Supreme Court had to hear a case in which police officers put a GPS tracking device on a suspect's car without a warrant. Thank God the Supreme Court unanimously called bullshit and told them they could NOT do that. In fact, during this controversy Justice Breyer mentioned this famous book. So one point for TEAM FREEDOM!! But we are still learning about ways that the FBI can hack the GPS found in cellphones and other scary stuff that can be abused, IF we let them. 

Brave New World 

This novel by Aldous Huxley is a personal favorite of mine. It has all of the materialistic, egocentric, sex crazed druggies that a girl could ever hope for! I could literally stop right there and already a lot of you are seeing the connection. But for the slower ones, I will break it down. In this "universe" the government pushes consumer consumption and materialism at every corner. They are always telling you to throw out the old, and buy the new. Hey, how did you like the government "stimulus package" that was suppose to keep the economy up by encouraging people to go out and buy shit they don't need? Another reason I love this book is the fact the government does not censor any-fucking-thing. They don't have to. It's an instant gratifying society so the people are gladly censoring themselves. No information is restricted, in fact, there is an information overload. The superficial, easy, and pleasant are what the people want. But we are not so superficial are we? We care. What are the most popular "news" stories right now? "Burger King's answer to the McRib", "Google unveils music streaming service, gaming extras", and " Beam me up popcorn Scotty; space station crew gets 'Star Trek' film before Earthlings" (Okay so I am a nerd and I liked that last story and thought it was really cool but I at least know about all the other shit too.) Meanwhile, in "other" news today there has been more confirmed reports of a SARS like virus that has so far killed 20 people in 6 countries, Spain and Greece are seeing almost daily riots because of their unemployment rates, and more than half of prisoners being held in Gitmo are on hunger strikes because of the appalling conditions. All of that has been reported on TODAY! But hey, at least we know about our fast food, instant streams, and movies!

Hell you don't need to read Fahrenheit 451, 1984, or A Brave New World. Because it seems like we are already living it! And if you are a student in middle school or high school you may never have to! Or The Hunger Games for that matter. Because all of these books have made it on the most challenged and banned books in our country. Yes, the land of the free and the home of the brave are having to take these thought provoking, inspiring, and cautionary tales out of our schools. 

Oh, it's not the government's doing. Like I said, this world is not completely 1984, the people are demanding they be taken out. In 2011 The Hunger Games was the third most banned book in the country. And in the years between 2000-2009 Fahrenheit 451 landed spot number 69 on the 100 most banned books of that decade and A Brave New World landed at spot number 36. And 1984 is number 9 on the top 100 classic books that have been banned. The reasons? Parents have cited complaints ranging from inappropriate language, suggestive sexual themes, and (of course) being anti-religion. 

The truth of the matter is that the government really isn't behind all of these developments. They are doing what is natural, taking the power that we give away freely. We are censoring ourselves, censoring education to the future, and becoming more and more lazy. So maybe you should read these books while you still can, because even though these books were written DECADES AGO we apparently have not learned shit from them.