Religion is the opiate of the masses, but in this case opiates

>>7682260
>I personally see the theme of the government administering Soma in this book very similar to pharmaceutical companies pushing opiates and Benzodiazapinez so frequently today.

They're completely different

I really loved that book. I remember somewhere in the hospital scene there was a line like "All the girls and boys got balloons and lollipops on death day." It was shit like that that made the book so great- morals and values are much more relative than most people know.

...And to answer your question, yeah.

>>7682281
They are different, but how can you not see the paralles?

It's a shit book
>dude the gubmint is makin us dumb brah

>>7682281
this completely.
>>7682476
there are no parallels.

antidepressants are prescribed to dull emotions because they dont know what the fuck to do.

in brave new world everyone gets high and orgy porgies all day long. they are built to enjoy this. there is no VD, no overdosing, nothing wrong with it at all. they just have good clean fun. their whole lives are built specifically fit them and make everyone happy.

this is how you misread the book:
>lel maymay intellectual faggot is like me, depressed and lonely!

this is what it was really about:
>faggot got too cold in the artificial womb
>process control failure
>he came out different
>not broken, not defective, different
>as a result, his perspective is skewed
>he cannot enjoy the perfectly constructed world like the other alphas because he is different. because his perspective is different to the others. because he does not see its perfection as they subjectively do, having been carefully raised in such a way that the perfect world created for them is not HIS perfect world
>as a result he resents it
>he cannot enjoy himself because he cannot fit in
>he does not have the same shared experience of perfect bliss as the others
>he is weird and grumpy
>he is grumpy because he is weird
>he is sent away to live with the other rejects who make everyone miserable because their perfect world is one in which they are all grumpy weirdos

Reddit core shit

>>7682511
I have a comp. sci teacher who thinks we live in Brave New World. Honestly, pretty good observation, but I don't read too much. I honestly think we're pretty far from any type of dystopian future. There will be no open criticism or resistance in a dystopian future, which is clearly not the case.

One of my favorite books of all time.

>>7682283 fucking nailed it.

But I wouldn't relate pushing pharmaceuticals to advance corporate greed to pushing narcotics to assure the placidity of the lower working classes.

>correlation =/= causation

>>7682511
>all these memes and buzzwords
Try talking like a normal person any maybe people will take you seriously.

I definitely agree with OP about the parallels between the drugs in BNW and real life. Benzos, anti depressants, and opiates are definitely pushed on people. People are wrongly diagnosed as needing these medications everyday. There is a profit motive to push these drugs because this county has made a business out of medicine. Then they get you on drugs to fix the problems with the drugs you're already on (see the commercials for those opiate constipation drugs). They don't give a shit if you get hooked on this stuff.

And notice that all these legal drugs that they push on people, numb you. They make you stupid. They make follow blindly. Addictive substances (opiates and alcohol), dumbing substances (alcohol), substances to make you not feel anything (benzos), stuff to just make you accept your shitty life (anti depressants). Also powerful hallucinogens such as dxm and dph are sold over the counter, despite the fact its well known kids love to abuse them

And now that's its becoming apparent how dumb pot makes you and how big the industry is, that's being legalized as well.

Its also interesting how mushrooms and lsd are illegal. Both of which are far less harmful than any of the above and both of which force you to reevaluate your life are schedule 1

>>7683025
>And now that's its becoming apparent how dumb pot makes you and how big the industry is, that's being legalized as well
Allow me to rephrase that.

It's not that its become apparent that pot makes you dumb, but theres been a public fear of pot because of its association with hippies and the far left. There was a fear pot would radicalize people or cause them to drop out of life. Now that we know it just makes you fucking lazy and not give a shit, people are willing to legalize it

>>7682281
t. big pharma

I think the opiate metaphor applies more to the addiction to television and pop culture today.

>>7682260
I didn't like it. I know it's tantamount to a cardinal sin to say you like 1984 here, but I preferred 1984.

>>7683025
OP here, this is what I was getting at with the pharmaceutical companies and U.S. drug scheduling fucking people over.
>>7682511
The drug part was certainly not the only way I interpreted the book, I'm no pleb. I was simply taking one theme of a dystopian novel and applying it to aspects of culture today that have some slight parallels to that of the culture in 'Brave New World'. U.S. government schedules drugs making some off limits and some not. The ones that are not off limits get over prescribed for typical human problems that simply don't require medication. Because of this, they essentially become recreational and are taken for "fun" more or less. You can't tell me this situation is not similar to the one in 'Brave New World'.

does anyone else feel the growing appreciation for books like 1984 and brave new world are babby steps towards accepting the world they predict?

>>7682260
>Religion is the opiate of the masses

I've always thought the biggest problem was complacency. It is much worse because a least someone who is blind to the problems has an excuse for not trying to fix them.
The person who is fully aware of the problems, but does not care enough to do anything has no excuse.

I think that weed is this in many ways. I knew people who's ultimate life goal was to work a boring (by their own standards), dead end job and then smoke weed on the weekends.
It becomes to only thing they care about. Sure they will work to try and get weed legal, but they wont do much else.
The only reason it is not legal is because of anti-weed/ anti-drug propaganda that has been circulating around since Nixon's presidency.

It really is the new "opiate of the masses" but much worse.
And yes you can all point out exceptions, but they are exceptions and don't change the way the average stoner acts (except maybe what posters they puts on their walls).

Also stuff like>>7683070 works in the exact same way.

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>>7683377
>The person who is fully aware of the problems, but does not care enough to do anything has no excuse.

>>7683377
The real problem is to get individuals to seek more than just a dead end job before they even discover cannabis. This is why underage marijuana use is such a problem, kids get high instead of thinking about what they want to accomplish in this world and as a result take the easy way out because of all the fucking around they did during high school. The average stoner that lives the life you described almost certainly smoked in high school when they were supposed to be focusing on their future.

>>7682511
I still relate to Bernard even though I know his character is flawed. I am flawed, I relate to him.

>>7683025
>Try talking like a normal person any maybe people will take you seriously.
where.jpg

wew lad

>>7682511
>>he is sent away to live with the other rejects who make everyone miserable because their perfect world is one in which they are all grumpy weirdos
Right, and your childhood dog lives on a farm now.

>>7683025
We're still in the transition phase though, BNW is full NWO.

I haven't read it yet but I bought it recently. Trying to find motivation to do things but I'm on the verge of ending it all.

>>7683025
>opiates
>profit motive
wut? you understand that these things are out of patent? endone is not pushed at all. why would anyone aggressively market something anyone can manufacture?

>benzos
>pushed
no, narcotic drugs are not pushed. this is the problem. people who genuinely can benefit from opiates and benzos find it difficult to obtain irl. instead they push antidepressants that are in patent. as soon as a drug loses its patent, it's regarded as no good anymore. which is why the new lineup of SNRIs that act in the exact same way as SSRIs are being pushed as the new best next thing.

>cough medicine
>agressively marketted as a hallucinogen
no. why would you think this?

recreational drug use is an ancient activity. its not something to do with a dystopian future. and soma was really just a passing mention, not the focus of any plot point. even the savages mother was not just high all day, she was comfy and wasted her life. too comfy.

>>7683318
its completely dissimilar. they're not medicating some feeling of sadness or emptiness, they're just improving the fun of the orgy. except for protagonist faggot, they're actually all living really fulfilling lives. thats the whole point of the book. its not meant to be horror.

>>7683645
I relate to him as well. i have a brain injury. I can't enjoy the normy world. all their shit is designed for them, not for me. I go into a club or bar or supermarket and I feel like shit. the noise levels are wrong, the light levels are wrong, all of these elements of the environment are meant to produce the right stress and stimulation thresholds in normies that stimulates them to keep spending money. for me it is hell.

>>7685035
did you not read the island?

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I didn't read the other posts and posters because they sound like mad autists.

basically soma in BNW finds its counterpart in today's social media. In the 80s and 90s we would've said television. something that sedates the population and distracts it from the real problems. social media (just like television before it) is an easy thing to make into a boogeyman, but I genuinely believe that thousands if not millions of young people are wasting their energy on facebook posts about Paris, Ferguson and trans people, instead of taking real political action. also, people spend hours browsing FB, reddit, 4chan... hours upon hours that could be spent on real, personal interaction, reading, studying, working, etc. maybe it's not the case that those hours would be spent productively, maybe humans are truly lazy fucks and we'll always blame whatever distraction is most salient. but the point of BNW is that the government uses soma to directly protect itself. but anyway, i need to leave immediately

>>7682260
Pharma with opiates and benzos are just a legal way for some corporations to make excessive profit. There's no end game like sedating and controlling the populace, they just found a way to push drugs legally.

Xanax needs to be schedule 2 asap and opiate prescription needs to be curbed to a huge extent.

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>>7685189
heheehe horrible pessimism, I can relate but you can also argue that society is in some culturally digestive stage where the internet is allowing fallacies to dissolve and independent thinking to develop through endless discussion.

>>7685181
>they're actually all living really fulfilling lives.

LOL are you fucking joking those saddos play miniature golf on the roof all day

>>7685181
>did you not read the island?
that's not the same universe bruv

>>7682511
>le brave new world is actually a good place idk why he hated it

Hows 10th grade?

>>7685266
>miniature golf
It is eletromagnetic golfs. Learn your buzzwords, shitlord.

>>7685191
It's schedule IV status is fucking mind blowing. Doctors can write a refillable prescription for benzos then forget about their patient for 6 months.

>>7685266
nah bro. same old shit. normies will be normies. when I was in highschool people became emos. now they're becoming red haired freebleeding feminists. fads, not enlightenment

>>7685357
yes it is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_(Huxley_novel)
it's basically implied that this is where the sadfag gets sent to live out his days.

>>7685400
what else would you have them do? their job is to get high playing golf with friends before go to orgies with friends. in between they come up with little songs to amuse the plebs.

how do you feel knowing that the only reason you passed grade 10 was because you agreed with your retarded english teachers interpretation?

>>7685710
benzos are actually really safe though. high therapeutic index. you can eat a whole bottle and not die. meanwhile the meds that are actually pushed will kill you.

>>7685928
>Benzos are actually really safe
Benzos often cause blackouts that can last days on end and require you to piece together your previous days/weeks with just your surroundings ie what's in your pocket, text messages, etc. They also are extremely addictive and have physically deadly withdrawl symptoms. Benzo withdrawls often lead to seizures WHICH CAN KILL YOU. Taking a high dose of Xanax won't cause you to OD, but the blackouts and addiction they cause, and pretty much everything else about benzos is often fatal. Safe my ass.

>>7686008
yah but only if you get prescribed like 50mg/day of xanax. which isnt a thing anymore. prescribing guidelines are pretty strict. in australia its limited to 8mg/day. this wont cause benzo withdrawl. you'd need a really shitty doctor to prescribe you that much. the videos you see on youtube are of people who were prescribed a bottle/day back in the 80s when they didnt know these things.

they do affect memory. but that's not a safety issue. you also develop tollerance quickly. now suicidal ideation that's common with the SSRI/SNRI drugs is a safety issue.

your original statement was that a doctor can prescribe them with repeats for six months and just leave it at that. no doctor will prescribe a bottle/day off the bat. especially today. thats fucking ridiculous.

>>7685928
>yes it is.
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_(Huxley_novel)
>it's basically implied that this is where the sadfag gets sent to live out his days.
No it isn't. The protagonist describes neon gin advertisements in the beginning. There's no gin in BNW, only soma. The world outside of the Island is your average 20th century stuff.

>>7686028 Benzos, especially Xanax, at 7mg cause blackouts. The idea that small doses won't cause withdrawls is also false. I'm not sure where you're getting your information, but I suggest you visit erowid.

>>7686178
that's called rebound anxiety anon. its not the same thing as benzo withdrawl. benzos withdrawl causes brain damaging seizures and it requires long term ridiculous doses.

withdrawal can kills the anon.

>>7686218
Long term doses, yes. Ridiculous volume in dosage, no.