The Brave New World as a Consumerism Society

            There is a concept that has been there for decades that states that money cannot purchase happiness. People hear this concept from time to time, and there is a piece of evidence that it is true. Individuals consistently buy various commodities that do not bring any satisfaction towards their innate needs of connection and love. It is a poor strategy for individuals to purchase such items to satisfy their innate needs. The concept started to lose its meaning in the 1920s when society focused more on consumerism.  Individuals began to forget about the regular shopping habits, and they focused on increasing their consumption as a new measure for happiness. The author for the Brave New World book, Aldous Huxley, identified the adverse effects caused by the rise in the sales market on society since people’s lives were highly dominated by consumerism (Huxley). 

Huxley wrote the book in order to demonstrate the influence of increasing mass consumerism in the community.  The author in this book aimed to warn all people about the consequences of consumerism and avoid how to avoid his imagined dystopia from becoming a reality.  The book addresses a particular assembly line that focuses on producing human beings rather than vehicles, and this makes  “the principle of mass production, at last, applied to biology” (Huxley 5).  There is a continuous production of individuals in the world state that is similar to the production of physical products like Model-T cars of the Ford Company.

The application of the approach of the ford on the reproduction of human beings dehumanizes the creation process. It makes it a mechanical method instead of it being a natural intimate and personal process. Therefore, if human beings are created, and they begin their lives without emotion or feelings, and they live their lives with such feelings, then this will establish a brave New World that is emotionally stunted. In the world state, individuals are viewed as objects that can be used by society as long as they are well functioning and alive (Huxley). If the community realizes that they cannot be used anymore, they throw them away and replace them with engineered beings.

Henry Ford invented an assembly line in the 1920s that led to the production of many Model-T cars. Henry managed to produce the same exact item in an efficient manner as well as maintaining quality, and this inspired the author to write about the Brave New World assembly line version (Huxley). The book demonstrates a decline in morality in society as the idea of consumerism and technology is executed. The main priority of individuals in the 1920s was to buy new commodities to influence the sales market. There was an increase in the desire to consume more goods as a result of the production of more items in the market, making it a favorite practice for individuals in society. Consumerism was an essential activity that was beyond any family responsibilities or obligations since individuals prioritize expanding their consumption rates. People tend to overspend with friends and family to achieve their consumerist paradise.

Materialism becomes vital in society, while the significance of sentimentality in civilization was lost in the 1920s. The wrong fixation of the society over the technique of assembling line and the idea of consumerism made the author of the book to indicate the source of human life via the assembly line and identify consumerism as a source of civilization in the world state (Huxley). The author aimed to warn people about the risks involved when they focus on consumerism. Huxley highlights that human beings transform into ideal citizens of the world state after being engineered via assembly lines.

The ability to command individuals through world controllers as well as maintain the structure of civilization is dependent on the conditioning of humans (Elnahla and McKay). Individuals are manipulated through conditioning in order to buy items continuously without focusing on any other thing except consumerism.  The justification of conditioning to world controllers in society is evident due to the end of the purchasing cycle. Individuals do not understand the limitations of consumerism since it is instilled in them as children, and it helps in making the society stable.  The role of consumerism by the world controllers is to distract and prevent individuals from detaching themselves from norms and beliefs of the society. In the world State, individuals are conditioned not to question any issues of fairness or ethics but to focus on achieving their goals in regards to consumerism.

Consumerism was made by manufacturers and corporations to be an endless purchasing cycle. Individuals were encouraged by several firms to buy more commodities through installment credits and credit allowances, considering that various people were financially constrained in the 1920s. Many companies employed the strategy, and it enabled numerous individuals to continually purchase items without paying the full price of a commodity and then pay later. People continued to buy many different things via installment plans and credit allowances, and this led to an increase in debt that they owed to various firms and producers. In the end, people had difficulty in paying huge debts owed to companies for the items they purchased, and this made these companies focus on asking for payment of their debts. The aim of the corporations when they implemented the strategy of allowing people in society to buy goods on credit and pay later was to trap them into the world of consumption (Spariosu). Many people were deceived by organizations focusing on increasing their sales to accept installments and credit plans.

Huxley demonstrates in his book that numerous producers were not concerned with consumers and the real intention of firms providing payment plans and installment credits to people in the community (Huxley). People were manipulated through the installment and credit plans to buy commodities from the companies continuously. The strategy was not beneficial to consumers since it caused consumers more problems of owing more debts to organizations. People got trapped to obligations without knowing after being deceived by companies through the credit plans offered to them and making look like an opportunity n yet it was for companies’ advantage increase sales and debts to their consumers. The author’s intention was to help consumers to cease misusing their money in purchasing unnecessary goods through the installments and credit plans that they think they were developed as useful and helpful tools. These tools only benefit companies and producers, but they leave consumers with financial problems.

Soma is an essential tool that is used in the world state to facilitate social order sustainability. Although the functionality of the world state relies on consumerism, soma is implemented by world controllers to urge consumers to buy goods continuously while avoiding the unraveling of civilization (Huxley). Soma plays a significant role in inducing pleasure in consumers as well as assuring that their minds are aligned towards the fictional happiness of the world.  Soma makes individuals buy goods without any doubts, and it also makes them believe that there is no other activity that is important than shopping. World controllers manipulate many consumers via soma that causes people to only focus on purchasing goods for the rest of their lives.

Numerous companies advertised their products as a marketing strategy in the 1920s, such as soma, to enable consumerism. The advertisements and commercials were useful in coercing consumers to live their consumerism lifestyle continually (Huxley). Besides, the promotions done by various companies helped to persuade people to buy more goods. People were compelled to purchase certain commodities based on the advertisements that made the items look more attractive. The purpose of implementing a promotion strategy was to create demand through advertisements rather than responding to demand in the market. Consumers were convinced to purchase pointless commodities via different forms of advertisement.

The author used soma in this book to demonstrate the impact of advertisements on people’s purchasing habits in the 1920s (Huxley).  Consumers used to buy goods based on the exaggerated features and benefits accrued to the item via advertisements. Companies and producers made people believe that their products had certain features and benefits through advertisements. Still, in reality, they did not meet the consumers’ expectations based on those product promotions and advertisements. Manufacturers and companies were not concerned about the price of the commodity or the ability of the goods to fulfill the advertised expectations. However, but they were mainly focused on increasing their sales. People were usually manipulated through advertisements for the interests of companies to sell more products and make money.

The author used soma tools to highlight the real issues that revolve around advertisements and promotions in relation to embellished claims. The ideal of consumerism was evident in the society in the 1920s, and this made greedy producers and companies create more wealth by manipulating consumers since materialism was linked to people’s happiness and identity.  Consumerism had adverse effects on society, and the author illustrated the process of consumerism and possible outcomes. Many problems in the author’s world were as a result of the assembly line, installments plans, and credit plans.

Works Cited

Elnahla, Nada, and Ruth McKay. “Workplace issues in the context of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World: Mental health problems, cannabis and the division of labour.” Transnational Corporations Review, 2020, pp. 1-20.

Huxley, A. Brave New World: A Novel. HarperCollins, 2014.

Spariosu, Mihai I. “Exile, Dystopia, and the Will to Order: Huxley’s Brave New World.” Modernism and Exile, 2015, pp. 142-160.

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