The Third Revolution

The study of humanity can be viewed from a great many standpoints, one of them being in terms of the human evolution of society. Many people have divided societal evolution into two “Revolutions”, or major changes in the underlying themes of human society. The author of "The Two Futures: A.F. 632 and 1984” addresses the third and final revolution of society, the abolishment of the desire to develop, a freeze in human evolution. For reasons of stability, it is predicted that this final revolution will occur, and is analyzed quite effectively through the use of Brave New World and 1984.

According to Will Focht of Oklahoma State University, human history has already been marked by two revolutions. The first of these came at the dawn of civilization, when humanity was attempting to rationalize its own existence. This first revolution established the existence of religious devotion as an explanation for humanity itself. The second revolution was the age of enlightenment, during which the sciences came to become the dominant driving force in society. However, even then the sciences were unable to stop the human quest to determine the nature of their own existence, something that no amount of empirical evidence seems to be able to quell. Many individual have predicated that a final revolution must come, one that abolishes the need to follow this quest, in order for true order to reign over the world. In this third revolution, the sense of individuality will be destroyed and will cause people to seek knowledge of their existence, thus causing much more stability and safety as individual desires become deadened, a major theme of Brave New World and 1984, as is noted in "The Two Futures: A.F. 632 and 1984”:

Huxley’s and Orwell’s future states are alike in abominating nothing more than the individual, and the plots of both noels are fundamentally accounts of how individuals or potential individuals are destroyed, exiled, or made to conform. (126)

This excerpt notes how both theses novels contain the fundamental goal of the third revolution, and are thus prime examples of its outcome.

The books Brave New World and 1984 both address the potential outcomes of this third revolution, each predicting a totally different futuristic world. In Brave New World, marriage, love, and devotion, the most basic of human ideologies, have all been done away with. In Huxley’s World State, all the citizens of the world are conditioned to love their positions in life, thus ensuring that they will be content with whatever job they are given and will not desire anything greater. Likewise, these individuals are given total sexual freedom, which thus allows people to indulge solely in the moment. They have no concerns with regards to the nature of their existence or of the existence of a higher being, and thus become slaves solely to the state, without any other possible ambitions. To cite "The Two Futures: A.F. 632 and 1984”, it was state that “…Huxley makes the point that terror is a less efficient administrative tool than pleasure; the stick less a guarantee of stability than the carrot” (120). What this essentially states is that the use of pleasure is powerful enough to deprive human beings of all their other innate desires.

The future created by Orwell is quite different from that of Huxley, but the end result of his false utopia is exactly the same. In 1984, the citizens of Oceana are subjected to brutal repression in which one is conditioned to fear everything and never speak a word of blasphemy against the party. The party represses all independent thought and sexual desire, and alters the pas constantly to meet its own needs. In the end, this society once again forces a person to give up their personal ambitions, thus causing utter stability as the individual itself is slain. It is stated in "The Two Futures: A.F. 632 and 1984” that “O’Brien’s aim, in other words, is to produce ‘neurologically’ and by means of intense conditioning a ‘new man,’ a man almost as new as the genetically engineered and scientifically conditioned new man of Huxley’s novel” (125). This excerpt shows how the aim of Oceana is simply to recreate humanity via a third revolution and kill every sense of individuality.

The third and final revolution of society is said by some to be only a matter of time. As society continues to advance, it moves only towards the destruction of its inhabitants. Whether this should be done through pleasure, pain, or some other detestable method is the only thing left to be seen.

Source:

http://environ.okstate.edu/staff/wfocht/Porch_11.pdf

The Freedom of Speech

In the western world, people have been given a great many rights that they take for granted, the most common of which is the freedom of speech. This right, which is considered to be inalienable as per constitutional law, is by far the most valuable right that a human being can have, and one that I could not live without. Likewise, without the right of free speech, no justice or change could ever be enacted in this world. In order to defend my own freedom to speak my mind, there are very few ends that I would not go to.

Despite my outward “icicle” appearance, I do tend to be a rather outspoken person. My moral views are quite different, my political views are rather extravagant, and my sense of humor has been described by some as one of the worst things that has happened to humanity in the last two decades. And though some people would rather than I keep to myself, there’s very little that can be done to silence my unusual personality so long as I don’t commit slander. That simple fact, though unfortunate for some, is a beautiful thing that I would never surrender. Though my ideologies may be considered to be somewhat exotic, basic human sensibilities demand that they still be spoken regardless of their nature. Without that ability to speak one’s mind, a person would lose their own personal identity; they would cease to be an individual. And without that right, I myself would most certainly go insane.

In addition to the personal expression that comes through free speech, the benefits to society as a whole are undeniable. In order for any change to ever come in this world, in order for improvements to be made and wrongs to be made right, people must be given the right to express their own views. In today’s society, people have been raised to think as individuals and freely express their own wants and needs, and consequently these individuals are enabled to enact changes upon the world in which they live. Were it not for the desire for the freedom of speech, the world in which we live in today would never have come into existence. In the 1700’s, the American colonies lived in a world where free speech was stifled as often as was deemed necessary by the British crown. This massive injustice sparked a revolution that changed the world, and so was born a new age of free speech and thought. Since then, free speech has come to reign over much of the western world. Though this opens the door for a great many conflicting views, it allows for a much freer expression of majority opinions, which in the end ensures a much higher level of stability to the world than any absolute monarchy ever could.

The expression of free speech is an integral part of the human spirit that cannot be denied. Without it, people would lose their own identities and would inevitably harbor feelings of repression that have such a negative effect on the human spirit. The inalienable right of free speech should never be denied to anyone, regardless of how extreme their views may be. Without these extremes, no change would ever be able to come to this world.

A Not So Perfect World

In recent years, science has provided humanity with the ability to literally design the future generations of its race. New developments in technology have brought humanity to the brink of being able to eradicate genetic diseases and a wide variety of mental disorders, achievements that were only far off dreams a decade ago. And yet despite these seemingly glorious developments as a result of human genius, a not so glorious future is looming over the human race. Despite the arguable benefits of genetic engineering, the threat that it poses to free will is too great to chance.

At first glance, a future without disease, mental retardation, and any other sort of mental illness would seem to be utter bliss. No longer would humanity be a slave to chance during conception; instead each individual would be a set of perfect genes in the eyes of their parents and society, with every new life exhibiting the exact traits desired by their creators. Superficially this would seem to be a golden age for humanity, an era that would allow mankind to elevate itself to God-like status and dominate over every aspect of their environment, including the make-up of their own bodies. But yet, would such a world really be so grand? Is that ultimate power truly something that humanity deserves to wield?

At the core of the western world lays the concepts of individualism and self-determination, and it has been engrained in the minds of most members of western society that they can become whoever they want to be through their own efforts. Naturally one could make the argument that, through genetic engineering, people would be designed to lack diseases and disorders that could limit their ability in the world. Consequently one could argue that because of genetic engineering human beings would be much more capable of achieving their life goals and ambitions. And in a world where human beings knew the limits of morality and playing God, this would hold true. But the intentions of some people have been and always will be flawed, thus destroying the delicate equilibrium of this ideal world.

Unfortunately, as happens with so many great ideas, this perfect world gets thrown into flux when one takes the nature of humanity into account. Initially genetic engineering would probably be used simply to filter out genetic disorders that could be harmful to a child. A few years down the road the industry would probably begin to market services that would also allow parents to design the physical appearance of their child. Next, naturally, would come the engineering of the mind of a new life, determining their level of intelligence, their potential for interest in certain fields, and essentially how they live out their lives. Over the span of a few decades, the concept of free-will would be annihilated. Genetically engineered children would be subject to the desires and feelings that were programmed into them by their parents, eradicating the sense of mystery and wonder that surrounds one’s own life. Now for arguments sake one would have to concede that not everyone in the world would choose this route for their child. But those who could afford to certainly would. After all, who wouldn’t want to have a child that was truly everything that they had hoped for?

To cite one potential outcome of genetic engineering, one could easily look to Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Despite the fact that this book is fictional, the world that he creates is one that could easily be created using the technology available to humanity today. In the futuristic, post-apocalypse world ruled by One State, Huxley has created a realm in which every member of society is engineered for the position that they will fill in life. A person’s size and intelligence is designed so that they can adequately perform their job, but have no hope of achieving anything more in life. From the moment of conception, the fate of every human being on Earth is already determined. In order to repress feelings of discouragement and malcontent at their position in society, all citizens of One State are conditioned to love their social and occupational status. However, as is the case with all man-made systems, there are occasional flaws. One malformed citizen, Bernard, attempts to look beyond the stability of One State and questions the merits upon which it is built, saying: “Yes, ‘Everybody’s happy nowadays.’ We begin giving the children that at five. But wouldn’t you like to be free to be happy in some other way, Lenina? In your own way, for example; not in everybody else’s way” (Huxley 91). Bernard illustrates a fatal flaw in the One State system. Regardless of how “perfect” their system may appear, it’s repression of self-determination prevents people from discovering happiness, which in turn would lead one to question whether or not the citizens are truly happy at all. Though these people live in a world without disability or disease, they are incapable of determining their own fates or discovering their own pleasures in life. Their happiness is but a mask for the torturous existence that they really live.

The ability to play God has been sought by many for centuries, and now lies within the grasp of the entire world. Though the use genetic engineering for the purposes of creating a better, healthier world are noble, the true potential of this technology is much too dangerous to even be toyed with.