Modern readers do not need to read Brave New World to witness rampant consumerism and materialism and its effects. The Dangers of Consumerism: The need to consume more goods to maintain economic stability is at the heart of preconditioning and genetic tampering. Bokanovsky twins swarm throughout the hospital mortality ward as a form of “death conditioning.” Modern readers need look no further than wanton violence and late term abortions to see real examples of the disregard for human life prevalent today. The dead are sent to the hospital to die in solitude. The Disregard for Human Life: Even in death, individuals are viewed as commodities, as a source of phosphorus.

The proliferation of pornography and the increase in infidelity in marriage is one example of modern society mirroring Huxley’s dystopia. Everybody belongs to everyone is a hypnopaedic preconditioning repeated frequently in the novel. Lenina considers herself a commodity to be shared with all. The Degradation of Human Sexuality and its Implications: Along with the loss of individuality comes the loss of self worth. Constitution and Declaration of Independence. A look at the United States government even shows its incompetence in providing solutions on matters it is not meant to solve hence, the need to rely on the U.S. Take for example the low standard of living caused by authoritarian Communist and Socialist regimes throughout Asia and Eastern Europe in the 20th-century. The main difference between the government in Brave New World and real governments' attempts to become the almighty is the former did so efficiently whereas the latter has screwed everything up.

Should government be involved in business, in industry, in health care? Huxley and history would argue no. The Dangers of Big Government: Government that attempts to control all aspects of life and sets itself up as the provider of happiness is a government certain to destroy individual liberties. Something to consider the next time you read about wire-tapping, surveillance capabilities, or stem cell research–perhaps the most applicable of Brave New World technologies. Although technology is usually controlled for mankind’s benefit, government and those in power tend to abuse it. The individual exists only for the benefit of the state.

In Huxley’s Brave New World, technology is used to predetermine physical appearance, attitude, and preferences. The worst hands for technology is government. The Dangers of Technology: Technology in the wrong hands can be devastating–the topic of thousands of spy movies of the 20th-century.

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