Consumerism In Brave New World Analysis

Consumption In Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”, the concepts of consumerism and utopia are continuously compared and discussed in tandem with one another to decide if any correlation between them is present. Although people may argue that the humans belonging to the World State are happy, their lack of simple human pleasures such as love, religion, intellect, free will, etc, denies the people of actual joy. Since the government is what controls these pleasures by glorifying consumption, the World State’s culture and consumerism must interrelate. The government's control of common human experiences and characteristics such as love, pain, religion, and free will result in the total dependence on the state. Because World State knows how much

Foster asks, “‘What is an individual?... We can make a new one with the greatest ease as many as we like’” (170). So the question is how this method of human production, and the consumerism’s influence, affect society in the World State. In the first chapter, it is explained how the humans are created and conditioned. It is through this conditioning that humans are placed in specific castes. Their concept of self is reduced to them being a pawn in the World State’s economy and how well they behave in their castes. “‘All conditioning aims at that: making people like their inescapable social destiny’” (17). The people’s supply and demand needs are all controlled and maintained by the state. This conditioning creates the complete reliance on the state, and allows the state to control how a person perceives the world and themselves, their social role in life, and ultimately any sense of a higher being. Not only does conditioning eliminate the concept of individual identity, but it also distorts the person’s view of the natural world. The state is driven by science and technology, but it is also the conditioned hate against nature that defines life in the World State. In the text, nature and consumerism are consistently expressed in conflict with one another. The state tries to regulate certain recreational aspects of life to the economy’s benefit, rather than the individual’s preferences and likability, because “‘A love of nature keeps no factories busy’” (24). However, there are some instances when a person can enjoy country sports or recreational activities. But the reason for this is not for self-gratification, it is for the state’s benefit. If more people in the upper castes play more country sports, the more equipment and materials are needed to play those sports, hence more products will be bought and sold increasing consumption. Unlike country sports, the state sees nature as an aspect of life that the state will not benefit from, so the