I had read this dystopian novel years ago, and it was time to refresh my memory with another reading. Interestingly, Huxley’s family was deeply involved in social engineering—his brother Julian Huxley, for example, worked with multiple government organizations and think tanks exploring transhumanism and technocracy (source). His father was also big name that pops up when you look for The New World Order.
Aldous Huxley’s writings might be seen as a fictional projection of the direction in which social engineers have been moving humanity for decades (if not longer).
The Brave New World of Today
In A Brave New World, technology allows humans to be bred into five distinct classes, each fulfilling different societal roles and, crucially, each content with their position.
- Alphas, the most intelligent class, rule society and could not imagine finding happiness in any other role.
- Epsilons, the lowest class, cannot read or write, nor do they wish to. Their tasks are so simple that even a “cretin” could perform them, as it’s said in the book. Low-skilled labor satisfies them, while the responsibilities of an Alpha terrify them.
- The other groups fall somewhat in-between, but are all bread to enjoy their group specific tasks and hate everything that goes beyond.
Whenever anyone feels discontent, there is always a drug called Soma that can deliver instant happiness. Those who cannot conform are exiled to islands—for their own safety and that of society. Anyone challenging the idea that this technocratic future is ideal simply does not fit in.
All of this bears a striking resemblance to the Western world today: drug use is skyrocketing, escapism is widely pursued as the highest form of happiness, one’s upbringing heavily influences life outcomes, and dissenters are often labeled extremists who then get censored, de-platformed, or worse.
The final version of this technocratic future is still centuries away. In Huxley’s world, humans are fully bred in laboratories; nobody gives natural birth anymore to children. We haven’t reached that stage yet. However, many of his predictions were uncannily precise: the indoctrination of infants and the normalization of promiscuity in society echo strikingly in modern times.
What Huxley Missed
The current technocrats’ plans are flexible. Their ultimate goal is total control over a population of humans who not only accept but embrace their own enslavement. The specific methods don’t matter; what matters is that society progresses toward the goal of total state-run control year by year, election by election.
Since Huxley wrote his novel, the techniques of control have evolved. One area he overlooked is the intersexual power dynamic. In A Brave New World, men and women are nearly identical—coming together solely for frequent, promiscuous sex, otherwise performing the same societal tasks.
In reality, technocrats have leveraged feminism to undermine the foundations of the Western world:
- Freedom
- Reason
- Individuality
Feminism serves as a tool because men and women have inherently different reproductive strategies—in simple terms: women seek quality, men seek quantity (simplified). While breeding humans in a lab could render these strategies irrelevant, once reproduction becomes obsolete, one can ask: why would social engineers even need two sexes?
The push toward androgyny has already begun. Men are encouraged to be more emotional, women more aggressive and assertive. Meanwhile gender is declared a social construct anyway. The ultimate goal may be the creation of a genderless human—a final stage resembling Huxley’s vision in a one-gendered species: an asexual, non-reproductive human worker drone.
A Brave New World TV-Show
The 9-part series from 2020 was cancelled after just one season. Reviews on IMDb are mixed (Brave New World on IMDb). I can understand why. The first few episodes are mediocre at best, but around episode three, the show becomes genuinely interesting. Unfortunately, the finale falls flat again.
The main issue is that the series wasn’t designed as a limited run with a clear ending. Instead, it left the storyline open with a cliffhanger, presumably to set up another season—which never materialized.
The set design is solid, directing is competent, and the acting is generally good. The production budget shows. Overall, I would rate the show 6 out of 10. It’s not a must-watch, but it’s not a complete waste of time either. If a second season ever appears, I’d consider returning.
A Brave New World Show (Spoilers Included)
The first half of the series largely follows the novel. The writers extended the story slightly to fill six episodes, but the additions were fair and respected the source material.
The bigger problem is the invention of a “mastermind” behind the dystopian society—a figure absent from the novel. The character’s background and motivations are poorly developed, and the lead-up to the story’s resolution feels unconvincing.
The show also takes a problematic turn by reinterpreting the novel’s core message. It suggests that if human nature could be “fixed,” a peaceful technocratic society might be possible. Essentially, human nature becomes the problem preventing utopia in the show. This flips Huxley’s original premise on its head: in the novel, it is society—under technocratic control—that destroys human nature, not the other way around.
Conclusion
A Brave New World is a compelling read that adds crucial pieces to the puzzle of why the world is structured as it is. While 1984 focuses on individual brainwashing, A Brave New World examines the collective impact of systemic control. Both are essential reads.
The tv-show is a nice addition to watch when you get it for free. But it’s not a must watch, and you should read the book beforehand to see the moral inversion the show runners pulled with their interpretation of the source material.
Btw, here is free audiobook version to check out: A Brave New World Audiobook
