Video: "Brave New World" Author Aldous Huxley Lays It All Out In 1958

This particular interview was just posted 12 days ago (at least this clip), an interview from the author of Brave New World, Aldous Huxley.

Clearly Huxley, from the ruling elite, feared what was to come, a boot stamping on the face of humanity - The entire scope of our current mess is forecast here in 30 minutes, including the use of technology, the oligarchy behind the rise of Reagan, Clinton, Bush, to power and the rise of police state. He covered it all including the use of the word 'brand' to describe a political campaign. As Huxley predicted, we the people are now " being persuaded below the level of choice and reason" for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the many.

I will point out that, since many are pressed for time and this clip is 28 minutes long, the best part of this interview occurs at Minute Mark 10:10, although there are also some interesting statements at 1:33, 3:57, 5:25 (over-organization), 8:03 (the TV conspiracy), and 9:00 (current world drugs, he even mentions Soma which i'm not even sure existed then)... But from 10:10 on, you're good..



George Orwell's 1984 and the terror plot is also well addressed.. "In some ways, people will be happy under the new regime"..

"All that is needed is money, and a candidate that can be coached to look sincere"... Ah, this is a good interview...

Excellent interview, thanks for the link.

Huxley really was ahead of his time and has been spot on in more ways than anyone else. The argument over Huxley vs Orwell (generally BNW vs 1984) has been done to death but Huxley's central thesis that we will be controlled by pleasure and informational overload surely applies to our world more than Orwell's focus on pain and censorship.

In my opinion Brave New World Revisited is Huxley's true masterwork (high praise given competition from BNW itself, as well as the underrated Island). I only actually read Revisited for the first time last year and although there was little I didn't know by that point it is an incredible overview and would be heralded as insightful if released today. Being as old as it is, prophetic is the only term that can do it justice. You're doing yourself an injustice if you don't read it.

Of course Huxley had some questionable background views but that shouldn't cloud his insight.

reply to post by rstregooski


Thanks for that link. Though put out by the American Broadcasting System, did you notice that there were no commercial or did I just miss the breaks.

This was 58. There was also just at this time a controversial book called "The Hidden Persuaders" by Vance Packard. Also a very good take on how at that time in our history this information was reaching the public to some degree but just not making it to truly actionable levels.

I personally think that a lot of this information was known about by the "beat" generation at that time with a quasi drop out of the rat race man, mentality. The beatniks of course then transformed into the hippies and the drop out theme continued.

The hippie generation took some of these warnings to heart and there was a thread of action running through that subculture at that time but the drugs and free sex themes were well played by the media in the late sixties so that most of what that sub culture seemed about was its libertine aspects. This was tolerated by the advertised liberal party while condemned by the more conservative. The motivation of fighting the coming oppressions by consolidated power systems was lost in the culture battles.

Another recent thread concerning the plight of the individual under the jack boot of the Big System was started here. Unfortunately a number of these threads slip under the radar here at ATS just as did much of the insight of Huxley and others did at that time.