The Millennials

The times have changed, and with them, the customs. Generations of Americans, each with unique cultural influences and identities, have risen and aged over the course of America’s history. The latest generation, in particular, is the product of the past generation’s reforms in civil and individual rights. The Millennials are vastly different from past generations and they are also markedly unalike each other. The conduct of the 21st century contrasts sharply with the lifestyles of the 80s and the 90s, never mind the decades before those. This conduct is the product of innovations in technology that have also led to a heightened sense of both security and insecurity, and therefore have led to a new mentality that is set to the tune of control and regulation.

Both George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World predicted similar futures, with Orwell emphasizing militant suppression, Huxley emphasizing social engineering, and both authors emphasizing totalitarianism. As fictional as the two books are on paper, modern society still has much to fear from those pages. In the shadow of prophecy, America now sees itself stuck in a sorry state caused by digitalization undermining society and law enforcement exploiting the public’s behavior, thus exhibiting horrors of both Oceania and the World State. Age has not softened the implications of these theories on society—it has strengthened them.

In the realm of modern privacy, nothing is sacred. The right to privacy is more of a luxury that is present in everyday life, but also subject to retraction by way of a committee’s decision. When officials dismiss some rights for the sake of the common good, the people themselves must protect those rights. In the case of the council of St. L...

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...elements of such a society are slowly creeping in. However, it is not clear which type of government would be more likely to dominate, as only subtle clues have supported either argument. However, as things stand with technological advancement, it would not be unjustified to say that this and the past decade are precipitations of Huxley’s fears. Nevertheless, the more troubling fact is that elements of both the fictional nightmares have come to pass, and it is likely that neither 1984 nor Brave New World alone will prove to be prophetic. Instead, America should be wary of a mix of the two dytopias. Since times inevitably change (and with them, the customs), a healthy sense of dissent is never bad, and will never prove to be, as America will need to understand if it is to have any hope of preventing further descent into a Huxleyan or Orwellian domination of the mind.