Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

The Foreword and final chapter of Amusing Ourselves to Death create a framework for interpreting Neil Postman’s overall argument. Some knowledge of two novels is needed to fully understand this: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932) and George Orwell’s 1984 (1949). Both are dystopian novels with warnings about the future. Orwell’s 1984 has perhaps had the stronger impact on the imagination of Americans because of its similarities to actual societies in the 20th century, and because of the length and intensity of the Cold War. The 1930s and 1940s brought two authoritarian regimes, Adolf Hitler’s Germany and Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union. Though different in ideology, they shared totalitarian control over their respective societies. 1984 critiqued such regimes by presenting a fictional future society grounded in the same methods through which Hitler and Stalin ruled. In such a society, the government crushes individual freedoms and controls people through mass surveillance and fear. In the book, there is a single political party, referred to as “The Party,” ruled by a dictator called “Big Brother.” People are expected to love The Party and are subjected to constant propaganda and distortion of history for the sake of mind control.

By contrast, Huxley’s Brave New World presents a society that appears less oppressive, even pleasant. However, its people are also controlled, just in different, more subtle ways. This society’s methods of control are social engineering, behavioral psychology, and conditioning. People are also encouraged to consume a drug called Soma, which produces a state of happiness, and engage freely in sex. Women are sterilized, so no one gives birth; instead, children are artificially created through Hatcheries and the Conditioning Centre. People of different classes are created and classified by caste through a process modeled after the assembly line. The key difference between Brave New World and 1984 is that the former’s people are not browbeaten and threatened into submission but rather blissfully unaware of their being controlled. Instead of being deprived of their liberties by force, they are encouraged to have endless fun. In doing so, they freely give up their liberties by losing interest in them.

Postman sees the Huxleyan vision as the path taken by 20th-century America. His argument is that people amuse themselves with television, and because it has taken over all aspects of society, there is nothing “serious” left. All of American culture and society—especially public discourse—are based on amusement. In 20th-century America, Postman sees the same erosion of freedom and knowledge through lack of interest as that shown in Brave New World. Political leaders are expected to be celebrities first and foremost; having conviction and expertise is no longer necessary. Political discourse no longer takes the form of long, complex debates based on exposition but rather 30-second commercials based on catchy slogans—commercials that package and sell candidates in the same manner as fast food.