Big Brother & Pynchon

[neoclassical at mail.com]

> > Huxley is more important than Orwell :) in that ultimately, the authoritarian
> > state of the future will be gratefully selected by its population.
> 
> Hasn't it always been that way? Trading individual freedom for stability?
> "We need a strong leader!" Monarchy, fascism, and communism as it has been
> practiced by large nations require a cult of personality. Nationalist
> movements are often fiercely patriotic AND authoritarian. The neo-communists
> and neo-fascists of Eastern Europe are nostalgic for the stability of the
> bipolar distribution of power of the cold war.
> 
> Jefferson & co were making a huge leap in the eighteen century. It was a
> leap of faith. They had faith in us. Sounds like you want to let them down.

Their "leap of faith" also included warnings against the symptoms I mentioned, namely self-congratulatory moralism. Further, what is important about Huxley is that he points out that their "leap of faith" may transfer unrealistic expectations that lead to a worse fate than the ideas of the traditional "bad guys" around here. Orwell identified an external enemy; Huxley pointed out the enemy within (not surprisingly, Huxley had studied ancient philosophy.)





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