Brave New World vs. 1984

Today is the second anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo. At the time she died, I wrote several blog posts about the politics surrounding the ruling to allow her to dehydrate. Her brother recently wrote an article for WorldNetDaily that fairly summarizes the press’ treatment of her life and death. I so appreciate the “alternative press’” handling of cases like these. You do not get an accurate picture of what is happening from the lamestream media (I didn‘t make that up, I read it somewhere else, but I forget where). They can make you think and feel however they want you to, just by the way they word their stories. Which leads me to the subject of today’s post.

I just finished reading Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, and 1984, by George Orwell. Huxley’s book first came out in 1932, Orwell’s in 1949. They are both referred to so often in our culture, that since I hadn’t read them before, I thought I’d better give it a shot. They are what’s called “negative utopias” - visions of the future “perfect” society that obviously fall far short of real perfection. They are similar in that in both works, the value of the individual is nothing. All is for the good of collective society. Both societies are governed by an elite few. Huxley accomplishes this “good” through genetic engineering, conditioning, drugs, and encouraging promiscuous behavior. Orwell makes the accomplishment through force: continuous universal monitoring, constantly rewriting history, and physically reprogramming independent thinkers through torture.

We have a number of common words and phrases that come from these works: Big Brother, newspeak, “Orwellian”, thought police, thought crime, and doublethink all come from 1984. Huxley gives us the word soma (a drug used daily to even out people‘s emotions), as well as numerous plot line references in many modern books, movies, music, etc.

Basically, Brave New World keeps people in line through pleasure. 1984 controls through pain. We obviously have elements of both at work in our society today. More and more we are using genetic engineering to select for traits that we consider desirable. Conditioning is made easy through television, the press, and public schooling. Both adults and children are often drugged before even making an effort to discover the root cause of physical and psychological problems. Promiscuity is accepted and even encouraged. We are forced into allowing the government to decide whose lives are worth living and whose are not (quality of life has replaced sanctity of life as the overriding value). Computers and credit/bank cards allow tracking of almost everything we do or buy.

Here is what Neil Postman (in Amusing Ourselves to Death, a book I haven’t made it all the way through yet) says about the comparison between these two books:

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.…In 1984,…people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.

So, perhaps we could say that the United States is more like Brave New World, and any Muslim or Communist totalitarian regime is more like 1984. There are exceptions, of course. Such as the Terri Schiavo case, when government decides that death by dehydration is the best way to fix a disabled woman’s problems.

These are two very thought-provoking books. If you are a reader, you might consider reading them. I would not recommend them for anyone under 18 due to adult content. Bottom line: there will be no “perfect” societies this side of heaven. Jesus is the only perfector, and the fall of man through sin guarantees an imperfect world. We should all pray for wisdom in discerning evil and good.

Big Family Announcement!

Daisy had her babies Sunday evening. It was a great experience for all of us. Our kids were there for the big moment, so I figure I get to count that as at least one full day of school. She had 2 males that look almost exactly like her. We're a little sorry that they were both boys because the females make much better milkers! But our two little fellas are adorable, and they are already starting to run, jump, and play. They are a lot of fun to watch, but we know that unfortunately we will probably have to eventually sell them (and by "sell them", I mean get someone to take them off our hands, using whatever means possible).

Soooo......Anyone out there need a couple of male goats? Hey! You won't need a lawn mower anymore with these two little weed and grass munchers tied up in your yard (jungle?) this summer. I've also heard that you can train them to pull a little goat wagon. There you go! Get a goat wagon, and Tom and Harry (my older son named them) can pull your kids around the yard. They'll love it. I'm sure at my crazy low prices that this pair won't stick around here for long. Get in touch with me now before they're gone!

In other news, baseball practice starts this week (both of my boys are playing....on different teams). I already have no time for doing things that I want and need to do, so no doubt I will be Beyond the Land of Sanity before the season is over the end of June. Right now I divide my time between the following leisure activities: outside chores, food prep, meal cleanup, laundry, and school. Yes, that about sums it up.

No wait, except for one more thing: egg organization. I spend a few minutes each day rotating my eggs. We are finally getting plenty of eggs from our chickens for our family, and I feel so secure with all my egg cartons filled up in the fridge. I have a very meticulous method for keeping my eggs organized and rotated properly. The rest of my house is a wreck (well, mostly, anyway), but those eggs are my pride and joy. Don't mess with my system, folks. It is something to behold, believe me.

Just a reminder, don't forget to let me know when you'd like us to deliver your new goats. They should be weaned by the end of May.

Children's Literature: Pick of the Week

Here's a great book to read with your kids: Burt Dow, Deep-Water Man, by Robert McCloskey (author of Make Way for Ducklings). All of these books I'm posting about for "pick of the week" are well beloved by both my children and me. It is beyond me how this author was able to use such stellar word choices as he wrote this book. And the repetition of various phrases adds to the fun. For a picture book, it is fairly long, so this might not be the best book for pre-schoolers. But I'd guess it's perfect for a read aloud with first and second graders, and for younger children with...unusually good attention spans. Excellent, excellent book.

It's Almost Time!

My lovely nanny goat, Daisy, is due to have her babies any time. This will be our second time experiencing a goat birth, and when she had her babies last year, it was such an amazing thing to see. (Side note: I'm not as squeamish now as I was as a kid. Maybe that has something to do with having three kids myself and cleaning up their many messes of various sorts and originations. You think?) Goat babies are so fascinating to watch. In hardly any time at all they are up walking around; even running, jumping and playing. I just can't even imagine what it will be like when our jersey cow gives birth next year (Lord willing she will, anyway). How great will that be?!

Here's a picture of Daisy, reaching for some hay. It's hard to get a good picture of a goat. You need some sort of bait to keep them in one place while you snap the picture.

Vacation Reading: Crunchy Cons

Just finished reading Crunchy Cons for the second time while we were on vacation. This is a rather big picture, but I wanted you to be able to read the subtitle. Isn't it a hoot? I decided not to type all that out.

This was an amusing book to read in a serious sort of way, if that is possible. The book doesn't really answer how these people will save America or the Republican Party, but I imagine it was just too hysterical of a title to pass up. What it is about: there is this fringe group of conservatives who take their "religion" seriously and make a conscious decision to live in the physical world in a way that is only a continuation of their spiritual views. Dreher calls this "sacramental living". This has incidental political consequences. Politics is not the point of this book.

But there are some amusing anecdotes to tell along the way. These "crunchy cons" find it hilarious that THEY of all people, are taking up a lifestyle that is stereotypically in the domain of the far left. Their opinions on conservative social issues have remained the same, but disagreement with fellow conservatives begins when you start talking about food, money (and big business), the environment, education, etc.

I've had amusing moments like that before. I still remember the first time we went to a little co-op store in an urban residential area in the nearest big city to us. They had this new-agey eastern mystic music playing, and it smelled like patchouli. Everywhere there was hemp-this and hemp-that. And every "flavor" of incense you could possibly imagine. Not to mention all the soy/tofu stuff. I felt like a real oddball. I knew I had to have been the only conservative Christian to ever shop in that store. It just made me want to laugh out loud.

Of course, the book isn't all about anecdotes like this. He uses them to lead up to his main idea, which is this: it is vital that we live our lives consistently by our beliefs, and to truly prioritize family, not just give lip service to the importance of what we say we believe. Make your family's culture your religion externalized.

For anyone interested in this book, here is Mr. Dreher's "Crunchy Con Manifesto":
1. We are conservatives who stand outside the conservative mainstream; therefore, we can see things that matter more clearly.

2. Modern conservatism has become too focused on money, power, and the accumulation of stuff, and insufficiently concerned with the content of our individual and social character.

3. Big business deserves as much skepticism as big government.

4. Culture is more important than politics and economics.

5. A conservatism that does not practice restraint, humility, and good stewardship - especially of the natural world - is not fundamentally conservative.

6. Small, Local, Old, and Particular are almost always better than Big, Global, New, and Abstract.

7. Beauty is more important than efficiency.

8. The relentlessness of media-driven pop culture deadens our senses to authentic truth, beauty, and wisdom.

9. We share Russell Kirk's conviction that "the institution most essential to conserve is the family."

I have to say, I share most of the same convictions that the author shared in this book (I say most, not all). I guess that makes me a Crunchy Con. However, one of the characteristics of "crunchy cons" is that you can't nail 'em down with a book. We just are who we are, whether anyone puts us in a book or not. It's nice to be recognized as a force, though.

Ain't They Beautiful?

Here's why I haven't blogged for awhile. My midwestern family and I have been gazing at these for the past 9 days:

And now, back to real life.