Corruption in Modern World Vs Brave New World

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1. The Brave New World and the world today both work because everyone has their own responsibilities, which they must fulfill for society to run correctly. It is not our place to say that no one deserves to be a janitor because we need these people for our daily lives to continue to be the way they are. In the Brave New World, it is stated, “Everyone works for everyone else. We can’t do without anyone” (Huxley 91). However, it is not our place to predetermine people’s futures. In the novel, they impose a caste system on society by genetically engineering people to be the best at their job. The lower castes of Huxley’s society are simple workers; they just perform repetitive tasks and are usually trained to be well adapted to that one task. The mass production of people is beneficial in this society because everyone is needed to fulfill a role. They are biologically altered in order to be better adapted for that task and are conditioned to enjoy their meagre lives. The lower castes are not gifted the privilege of attending school and getting a choice in what sort of career that they could go into. On the other hand, the upper castes are bred to be smart and successful. Alphas and Betas are able to go to school and get educated, as it was seen in the book when John visited the Eton School. Their society predisposes everyone to their future, it is what they are destined for and it cannot be changed. This is similar to how in the modern world; the quality of education that a child receives can affect his or her future. The quality of education in a school in one of the areas in Toronto housing more people suffering from poverty does not compare to the education that one can receive in Markham. The children there don’t always have a good support system at home and don’t get a lot of opportunities at school. The environment can lack technology, have more violence and teachers that don’t want to be there. These students are set up for a less successful life than someone who went to a private school because they don’t have the same connections, or quality of education as those privileged children. Students can be “conditioned” at a young age to believe that they are smart, or dumb individuals and this can hinder the student’s motivation. Likewise, the Brave New World, there is this clear-cut standardization where society has a split between those of high and low intelligence. Students are thought to think in one way, instead of in multiple ways where one way could resonate better with them. This standardization of education reflects the caste system in Brave New World where they are conditioned to do only what jobs are available to their caste. They are conditioned through hypnopaedia to think one way and this resembles how students are taught to believe that high-test sources are equivalent to intelligence, which will lead them to a high paying job. On the contrary, low-test sources indicate that they are unintelligent and will not have a proper career. However, this is not true because students have various strengths and it is up to teachers to find those strengths and help students to grow, rather than letting them believe that they are the Epsilons, Deltas or Gammas of our world.

Hay Guide Chart:

A – Unschooled and unskilled (learns work by rote)

Epsilons in Brave New World

B – Some school, some skill (needs to know how to read & write)

C – Basic high school, routine work (read, write, apply formal routines & communicate effectively)

Deltas in Brave New World

D – Vocational school, community college, trades, senior administrative (follow & adapt established routines & practices)

Gammas in Brave New World

E – University graduation, senior trades, managerial (reads books & applies thought to policies and practices)

Betas in Brave New World

F – University plus 10 years experience, grad school (puts the books to use)

Alphas in Brave New World

G – Deep knowledge and expertise (writes the books)

Alpha-Plus in Brave New World

H – God (has others write the books)

Mustapha Mond - Ford’s representative in Brave New World

2. In the Brave New World, drugs are more than just “common”; they are mass-produced and distributed to everyone and everywhere. The government is in charge of this popularization of this drug called Soma. It is a hallucinogen that is called the perfect drug because it lasts long and has no drawbacks like modern day drugs. The citizens of the World State are conditioned to love the drug and refuse to face any moments of dissatisfaction. The government’s encouragement of the drug use is another way to control the population. When the characters in the book use the drug it helps them to become happy, in our modern day society we also have similar drugs to this that can make you “happy”, or less depressed. It masks the negative feelings and emotions that other techniques could have done too, but introducing a universal drug prevents the possibility of action that might be socially disruptive, or change the order in the Brave New World. We have many drugs today that can take away the feeling of unhappiness and replace it with a euphoric feeling. For example, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are used for this propose in the 21st century. In the modern day, recreational drug use is not encouraged and can be harmful when adapted as a habit. Physicians can often prescribe more pain medication than is ethical. Today we have pharmaceutical companies that are constantly creating and selling new drugs for various issues experienced by humans. Pharmaceutical companies can sometimes create incentives for drug firms and their employees. They also make the public depend inappropriately on pharmaceutical firms to perform certain activities and this leads to institutional corruption. The income of drug firms, their key executives, and drug detailers increase as drug sales increase, even if drugs are prescribed for unapproved uses. This incentive even encourages the illegal promotion of unapproved drug uses. To promote research and development, patent laws protect drug firms from competition and tax subsidies increase their profits. A doctor may have an ulterior