TRAMvay 17
John Kennedy and Aldous Huxley are among the brightest minds of the 20th Century/ They both have survived the most turbulent era of mankind, surviving two world wars and two superpowers on the edge of a nuclear warfare. However Huxley and Kennedy envisioned a different world in the future. Aldous Huxley, a successful author best know for ‘A Brave New World’, foresaw a surging wave of totalitarianism to control the world with the use of new technological devices. On the other hand, Kennedy believed in a bright democratic future for the world, even though he accepted ‘democracy was not perfect’. Both men have died eventually, yet never ending time kept progressing and proved Huxley was wrong. Although most of Huxley’s postulations are valid even today, his major idea, the idea that a totalitarian despotic government will emerge and control us has fortunately didn’t ensue. The new technological devices of our time, especially Internet, are a huge obstacle for today’s despotic rulers. This major breakthrough in technology benefitted the whole society, instead of the few who want to consolidate all the power to govern the society. Today it is possible to say a new democratic and a bright future awaits us.
Just like he postulated in his book, A Brave New World, Huxley saw a gloomy future for mankind and world politics. He believed with the problems of overpopulation and over organization governments will use all kinds of propaganda tools to govern us with minimum difficulties. He gave the example of Hitler, while he was crashing the opposition with brute force, he used radio to persuade masses. However, in today’s world the tools of propaganda is not monopolized by the government it is in the palms of Individuals with Facebook or Twitter, connecting each other virally. According to a NY Tımes article, Facebook exceeded 800 million users this past month. That is almost 3 times the size of USA population. Unlike Huxley stated in his interview with Mike Wallace technological devices of the new world prevent governments to brainwash you while taking your freedom away. It limits the government working secretively behind your back just like in the case of Wikileaks or the Egyptian revolution.
As the president of a nation amidst colds war, Kennedy had to envision an optimistic future for mankind. He believed that the wav of communism would fall eventually while human rights and liberty will prevail against despotism. Communism collapsed after all but the despotic ideology still exists in numerous countries. Yet in 2012 we see all of the being crushed or despised by their citizens. Even though democracy is not perfect just like Mr. Kennedy told himself, democracy is the best system to come that promotes individual liberties.
Today, free Internet created a transparent borderless stage for world politics. As Huxley stated more technology develops more bureaucratic organizations establish so that governments can control the wave of technology. Even USA the state that claims itself the founder of democracy in the modern world, has many things that it is hiding from its citizens. In the case of Wikileaks this was all publicized that caused USA to tremble. Free Internet provide individuals to see both side of the coin even more see more than the coin making it harder for authorities to force you into believe something that is unreal.
Huxley and Kennedy lived in a great time of depression chaos uncertainty and despotism. In a time when governments monopolized propaganda tools so that they controlled the information that their citizens get. However, we are living in a time in which an individual can propaganda for something, share information across the globe within Nano seconds. The Brave old world of the tyrants have ceased to exist and anyone who stands against this new wave of the future will drawn under this wave like we are witnessing in middle east today.
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