Social Stability In Brave New World

What it Takes to Achieve Stability The saying, there is “no social stability without individual stability” is a commonly used phrase, but what does it mean? Conditioning, prevention of natural human emotions, and genetic engineering are all used to achieve stability in Brave New World. The government instills this harsh structure as a way to control society. Social stability is a goal that every society tries to achieve, and different measures are taken in order to attain this goal. Aldous Huxley predicts the future of society in a way that highlights social stability as deliberately controlled from above, by the governmental superstructure. There are many factors that contribute to stability in Brave New World, and while to the government

In the World State, people are divided into groups, each having their own roles. These groups make up the caste system. Alphas are ranked at the top, while Gamma, Deltas, and Epsilons are below. The government believes that stability stems from identical people doing identical things. They can not even imagine what it would be like for people to be individual and have their own thoughts: “Imagine a factory staffed by Alphas that is to say by separate and unrelated individuals of good heredity and conditioned so as to be capable (within limits) of making a free choice and assuming responsibilities. Imagine it!” (Huxley 152). Assuming responsibilities and making free choices are two things that people in the society are deprived of. They see the process as “voluntarily for the good of Society” (Huxley 3). The government constantly instills the idea that they know what is best for society.

Everyday is filled with a roller coaster of emotions, but not for those living in the World State. Huxley predicted that emotions would be suppressed, and he was right. Today, being vulnerable and showing emotions is perceived as weak. There is a depressed stigma around crying, and a lunatic correlation with being happy. In Brave New World, Huxley “illustrates that even in the most rigidly controlled environment it is impossible to suppress the need to be, act, and express oneself as an individual” (Brown 1). The government uses conditioning to stop one from feeling the need to express their emotions. Sex and drugs are some of the factors that replace many natural feelings like reason and emotion. To the government, suppressing emotions creates stability, which is their main