Censorship is seen as the downfall of civilization, where freedoms are taken away and citizens are told what to think, do, and who they are. This theme is expressed in the novel Brave New World, by Aldus Huxley. Brave New World is about a futuristic civilization, where people are manufactured to be in a certain caste system, and conditioned to fit best in their given caste. Many people feel that the American Civilization is heading towards a fate like the civilization in Brave New World, and others believe that it already is. America is not currently in a Brave New World-like society, because there are still numerous amounts of freedoms when it comes to what we see, do, and think. This argument will be discussed in different sections, those sections being the definition of censorship, the censorship of identity, the censorship of choices, and the censorship of opinions.
Censorship has been defined many ways. The most logical definition of censorship is taken from Thomas Storck in his article, Censorship Can Be Beneficial. Storck said that censorship is, . . . the restriction . . . of intellectual, literary, or artistic material in any format (1). Another definition, by the American Civil Liberties Union (the ACLU), says, Censorship, the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are offensive, (5). Basically, according to Storck and the ACLU, censorship is the blocking of anything from the publics mind. It can be something as simple as censoring a word on a television show, to erasing entire pieces of history so the public never sees it. Think of the American government had destroyed all records of the Civil War, or the Revolutionary War, or any major American event. Think about how one would see America differently if he had no idea that that certain event never happened. He might think that the American colonies never revolted against their mother land, which could cause him and others to think that revolution was not possible or practical. The government would then be censoring their citizens thoughts for their own benefit. The definition of censorship is very important, and will help with understanding the ensuing arguments.
In Brave New World, the government censors peoples identities. They do this by manipulating the embryos of humans to make them fit into a certain caste. The government has complete control over who their citizens are, even down to their physical features. One example of this is, . . . the World States motto, Community, Identity, Stability (1). In that quote, the outside of the Hatchery where the embryos are created and manipulates is described. In states the there is a sign with the World States motto, which is Community, Identity, Stability. The part that is sticks out the most is, Identity. Identity is an immensely important section of this motto. The World State is saying that they are the identity. If the World State is the Identity, then individual people are not able to have their own identity. They must follow the identity of the World State, or the identity given to them by the World State. If they are given an identity, then they cannot make their own identity. They are confined to the identity that is given to them by the World State, which effectively censors peoples identity. This problem is not present in modern day America. In America today, people are able to be whatever they want to be. They lead their own pursuits in life, lay down a path, and follow it to reach their goals. In doing all this, they create an identity for themselves. One person may want to be a famous musician, and goes about his time perfecting his musical prowess, while another wants to become a future leader, so he goes and perfects his leadership skills. These two different paths, along with other decisions made by them, is what shapes their identity. While the World State chooses everyones identity, in America everyone chooses their own identity, effectively making the two societies not similar in that regard.
A government censoring peoples choices, and doing it by making several choices for them, it is a chilling thought. That is exactly what the World State in Brave New World does for its citizens. The World State, as stated before, would decide what caste level each embryo would go into, instead of letting the citizens work their way into certain castes. One example from Brave New World of their censorship of choices is, . . . making people like their inescapable destiny (16). There, Huxley was describing what was done to the embryos at the hatchery. At the hatchery, the embryos would be manipulated to fit the physical and mental description of their caste. After the embryos developed into human beings, they were conditioned to like their own caste, and despised others. They were conditioned to feel that was so no one would be jealous of another caste and try and enter that caste. When the World State did this, they did not get the people a chance to decide for themselves what castes they would like and dislike. The World State just did it themselves, which ended up censoring the decision making process of the citizens. The World State would also create a demand for certain products. They would do this by destroying one product, and then creating a new one. People would thus only have a limited number of products to choose from, much like a communist state. With this limited number of choices, and sometimes no choice, it censored the decision making of the citizens. It censored it because, with little or no choices, there are little or no decisions. The American society is not like this, not in the least bit. In America, people are able to choose whether they prefer the lower, middle, or upper classes. If someone decides that he likes it best in the middle class and likes the people in that class the best, then that is his decision, and it is not influenced by the government at all. Also, America has many different choices between products. There are so many products available for purchase. If someone wants a car, he will have thousands of different ones to choose from. Those thousands of different choices make thousands of decisions to be made on buying that car. As stated by the American Civil Liberties Union (the ACLU), in their essay, Government Censorship Would Be Harmful, they say, . . . free society us based on the principle that each and every individual has the right to decide . . . (1). The ACLU says that a free society, namely American society, is built upon the fact that each being has the right to make his own decisions in life. American society is built on that principle, which makes it not have the characteristics of a society that censors peoples choices. The ACLU also says in the same essay, . . . individual adults must be free to decide . . . (4). The ACLU says that in American society, each adult must be allowed to make choices. Each adult must have the freedom to make their own choices. Each adult has the freedom to make their own choices, as stated in above, because American society is based on freedoms, like freedom of choice. This responsibility to make decisions makes American society the exact opposite of the World State, because while the World State makes many of the decisions and limits decisions for its citizens, American society has its citizens make their decisions.
Governments that suppress peoples ideas are partaking in a form of censorship. The World State is a government that partakes in this form of censorship. A government that suppresses peoples ideas punishes people for their thoughts. If they have thoughts about a revolution, the government would punish those people to no end for their heretical thoughts. The World State does this to Bernard Marx, If I ever hear of any lapse . . . I shall ask for tour transference . . . (98). There, the director of the Savage Reservation condemns Bernard for not thinking like everyone is supposed to think. Bernard deviates from the norm in their society, and is looked down upon because of it. Not only that, but he is also exiled out of the World State because of it. The World State punishes him because he does not think like an infant, like every other citizen. This punishment by the government is a prime example of the censorship of peoples opinions. The American society has no such problem with the censorship of ideas. While ideas that are seen as extremely obscene usually acquire a censor, almost all of the ideas are allowed to float freely among the people. The ACLU says in their essay, The Government Should Not Censor Art, Freedom of expression for ourselves . . . is at the very heart of our democracy (1). The ACLU states that each person has the freedom to express himself. Each person can express any of his ideas, and not worry about them being suppressed. He can always rely on someone listening to his ideas. This freedom of expression is one of the main freedoms of the American democracy. The World State may censor peoples ideas that are out of the norm, but American society accepts, and even takes pride in their thinkers that express ideas outside of the norm.
The World State in Brave New World has many different forms of censorship that helps make it a horrible time to live in, but the American society does not. The World State has censorship of identities, picking and choosing who goes in what caste. In American society, citizens choose their own paths, which shape their own identities. The World State censors peoples choices, making most choices for them and limiting others. In American society, there are limitless amounts of choices people can make, and the government expands the amount of choices people have by keeping competition in business. The World State censors opinions, punishing people who have ideas that deviate from the norm. In American society, ideas that are different than the ordinary ideas are lauded among the citizens. The World State and American society are miles apart when it comes to censorship. These vast differences in censorship make it impossible for the current incarnation of American society to be in a Brave New World.
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