In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World the most pornographic word that one could use was ‘Mother’ and then ‘Father’. Children were no longer born; they were produced in the lab in a test tube. Humans were genetically manipulated to create a tiered society based on intelligence and physical prowess. Love was frowned upon in favor multiple casual sex partners and group activities. The Marxist goal of destroying all institutions outside of the State, including the family, was accomplished with the help of science. Civilization, if that is what it could be called, was a highly structured system of brain washing from cradle to grave.
In George Orwell’s 1984, there was less humor, but an equally prophetic vision of a totalitarian system of government. Big Brother was always watching, individuality was squashed, and love was discouraged. There was a thought police, endless war, and hate week, There was of course ‘New Speak’ with slogans such as ‘War is Peace’, ‘Freedom is Slavery’, and other ridiculous statements of contradiction. There was a ‘Ministry of Truth’ and a reeducation camp designed to break the human spirit and dignity.
In a recent discussion with Dr. Rima Laibow, M.D., she stated that these books were less prophetic and more a form of predictive programing. Although, I am not sure whether these books were a form of predictive programming or simply authors with a gift of discernment regarding the future. Predictive programming certainly occurs, especially in modern movies. The most obvious recent example was the Obama produced movie Leave the World Behind, where we are warned about the big bad white people, and trained to expect a shutdown due to a cyber attack. No, of course I did not watch it. Seeing a few clips online was all that was needed….
We’ve seen mass media brain washing in the form of predictive programming for decades. Think back to all the law enforcement movies and television shows where we were being conditioned to think the government had the right to kick in your door without a warrant, where you are being taught to answer the police whenever they demand you answer questions. Where it is okay for cops to rough up the ‘bad guy’ and individual rights are merely a façade to protect criminals. Federal agents are shown pushing around local law enforcement and the government is portrayed as an all powerful authority over our lives. Very rarely do films or television shows sell individual liberty. They typically sell collectivism in some form.
We’ve seen predictive programming in the form of pandemic movies ranging from the Zombie apocalypse type movies to the deadly pathogen outbreak movies. The all powerful all knowing CDC comes in to quarantine people and so on. Be afraid…wear your mask…
The dystopian films constantly selling a limited dark future where resources are limited, and scarcity is the norm, are designed to condition us to that reality and to break our spirit to accept the inevitable. Malthusianism works its way into most of these films in some form or another. Think back to Soylent Green with Charlton Heston. His character uncovers the fact that Solent Green which everybody is given to eat is made from recycled humans. The underlying premise of over population and scarcity of resources is never questioned thereby making it an effective form of predictive programming.
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