"religion is not the opium of the masses but rather opium is becoming the religion of the masses."
so true, so many people put on prescription drugs these days and grow addicted to them.
drugs do more to keep the masses docile than religion has.
that is why he used "Soma" as the future of drugs in Brave New World, which really just representing this idea.
Its hard to start a revolution when your all high.
I have a suspicion that he is talking about opium in a figurative sense and not just a literal one. Huxley believed that there are many forces which threaten freedom -- consumerism, obsession with 'staying young' (in BNW they detest the idea of aging), genetic engineering and many more that are dealt with in BNW. He believed that we will soon a adapt a lifestyle of comfort and happiness rather than truth and beauty. So it is not entirely accurate to say that he believed drugs threaten our freedom -- he was an advocate of LSD, after all -- and it is more accurate to say that opium represents the "comfort and happiness," while religion represents the "truth and beauty" that is slowly being replaced.
The reason he advocated LSD is revealed in his novel The Doors of Perception. He describes it as an agent of revealing different plateaus of consciousness. Soma did not do this; instead, it simply put the citizens of the World State to sleep. So you're right in saying that prescription drugs are part of what Huxley meant by "opium," but I doubt that's the only factor he was referring to.
And the statement that "drugs do more to keep the masses docile than religion" is pretty inaccurate, too. I'm not going to argue about it, but compare the people who actually use drugs to the people who buy into religion. And compare the lasting effects of drugs to the lasting effects of religion. Religion stays with many people for life -- drugs ware off (unless you're an addict and you're smoking weed or shooting heroin every day). I know it's hypocritical to counter a generalization with another generalization, but I think you should reconsider the massive effect religion has on people compared to drugs. I recommend you read The Doors of Perception if you want to know more about Huxley's beliefs. As you probably have noticed, they're fascinating.
Last edited by JacobF; 06-25-2009 at 04:59 AM.
How many?Originally Posted by libernaut
Given that the widest usage of any prescription drug is fluoxetine (Prozac), which isn't addictive, I think you'll have a hard time showing that any significant percentage of people anywhere is "becoming addicted to prespcription drugs".
Over 80% of people in USA believe in the christian god. How many take drugs?
That much is true, which is why soma usage is universal in BNW, but I think you're mistakenly confusing two different subjects.
Go to work, get married, have some kids, pay your taxes, pay your bills, watch your tv, follow fashion, act normal, obey the law and repeat after me: "I am free."
Anon
Huxley was an avid fan of psychedelics for spiritual growth, so I find it hard to believe that he was referring to drugs in general with soma. But I do agree that he presented a theme of institutionalized government numbing populations for the purpose of social obedience. And that would definitely refer more to prescription drugs than LSD, mushrooms, marijuana, etc.
“the sense of being which in calm hours arises, we know not how, in the soul, is not diverse from things, from space, from light, from time, from man, but one with them and proceeds obviously from the same source.... Here is the fountain of action and of thought....
“An intellectual is a person who has discovered something more interesting than sex.” ― Aldous Huxley
...........
“All" human beings "by nature desire to know.” ― Aristotle
“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” ― Robert A. Heinlein
lol...
"Uncontrolled, the hunger and thirst after God may become an obstacle, cutting off the soul from what it desires. If a man would travel far along the mystic road, he must learn to desire God intensely but in stillness, passively and yet with all his heart and mind and strength." - Aldous Huxley
tailor
who am I but a stitch in time
what if I were to bare my soul
would you see me origami
7-8-2015
Talking about religion... He, also, said somewhere that this world might be a hell of another planet.
...........
“All" human beings "by nature desire to know.” ― Aristotle
“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” ― Robert A. Heinlein
That would be sad
"The proper study of mankind is books." - Aldous Huxley. Not PC in this time, but it is time to put 'kind' back into mankind - tailor
tailor
who am I but a stitch in time
what if I were to bare my soul
would you see me origami
7-8-2015
Nicely said, tailor. I agree.That would be sad
"The proper study of mankind is books." - Aldous Huxley. Not PC in this time, but it is time to put 'kind' back into mankind - tailor
...........
“All" human beings "by nature desire to know.” ― Aristotle
“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” ― Robert A. Heinlein
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