Brave New World

"We can make a new one [person] with the greatest ease---as many as we like. Unorthodoxy threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it strikes at Society itself. Yes, at Society itself." -Brave New World

In Brave New World, which i am currently reading, one man "threatens" society with his unorthodoxy, and the Director speeches out against him in the above words.

Ask any English teacher about this quote, and immediately they will reach for the modern days. We students hear the usual, if the future generation doesn't educate themselves or strive for individuality, we will all become like Brave New World. Frankly, I am sick of this message. It is constantly being pushed on young people, whether in music, writing, television, movies, etc. But i want to focus on music for a second. It seems obvious nowadays that each band should have a song that talks about how we are all becoming alike, and are slowly edging toward individual distruction. The reason this ticks me off is because they do this with the attitude that they are the only people artistically challenging themselves... did they ever think that they were just looking in the wrong places? (trying changing the channel from MTV, for example)

When i go to an amazing retreat, and i feel the passion of all the teachers, and i see how young people react to such speakers, i think there is no way we could become one "Society." All of this folks, with such passions, could never be hammered down into a mold; and they people they influence will not be able to be destroyed either. Or even Boys State, the most elite gathering of young men; there is no way that one can think that the delegates would take part in one Society after witnessing their passion, let alone the master Boys Nation delegates.

Yes, i can understand a reason for alarm when you see certain parts of humanity, like MTV shows. We should always be on our toes, continually gaining knowledge and allow these cries for society to not frustrate those who are fighting, but rather motivate to prove them wrong.