“Behold the hedonistic energy generated by the Great Joy City of the West.”
This sums up what Aldous Huxley said of Los Angeles upon his visit there in 1925. He took note of how the people of the city whole-heartedly dedicated themselves to having a good time. He compared the vibrant life in LA to the “dull and dim” times of ancient Rome and Babylon. He spoke of how the old world knew nothing but poverty and catastrophe, while the light-hearted people of the modern world kept to their carefree lifestyle and knew no war, pestilence, famine, or revolution. Unfortunately, he also was also rather critical of the city, stating, “Thought is barred in this City of Dreadful Joy and conversation is unknown.” Perhaps he believed they became too caught up in their quest for a good time.
Huxley’s views of Los Angeles are reflected in Brave New World, his most famous work, published in 1932. Taking place in London in the year 2540 AD, the book tells the story of a totalitarian dystopian society whose motto is “community, identity, stability.” Rather than worshipping a god, the people worship the memory of Henry Ford, who is now seen as the father of their society. This is due to the fact that his assembly line principle has been applied to human reproduction. In this future, human beings are not born, they are created and divided into classes. Alphas are at the top of society and are the smartest of the five classes. Next come the Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons at the bottom of society. During the early stages of life, each class is educated at a different level through disciplinary methods as well as hypnopaedia, in which they listen to informational recordings in their sleep. This “world-state,” as it’s called, has become hedonistic in that many of the trends looked down upon in today’s world are taken to extremes and become a part of everyday life. People fill their lives with meaningless sex, increased consumerism, and drug use, especially the drug known as soma,...