Class Distinction In Brave New World

Aldous Huxley wrote the book Brave New World in hoping to create an alternate society showing that utopia’s can have dystopia aspects. One of those aspects are class distinction where people are classed before they are born and are labeled as specific and robot-like people. Another aspect is the use of drugs and how it is oftenly used to persuade people into thinking the way the government thinks and a third aspect is consumerism where people are constantly consuming products and rules and the way other people are living their life so you feel like you should follow their lead. In today’s society, class distinction is also used, it is used to separate different levels of intelligence and resources, it is used to have a lifestyle that fits
your class distinction and it is also used to determine which social rating you have in your community. The use of drugs in today’s society is similar to in Brave New World with the use of the common pharmaceuticals and how people are taking them so often that people will start to rely on them to fix any problem they have. Consumerism today is a big aspect of our lives, it is used every day and we are constantly consuming products, people, and the constant feeling of having to live up to certain expectations based on ads and celebrities.
In the book Brave New World class distinction is determined before you are decanted or in other words born. Depending on which class they will put you in, they give you different quantities of oxygen so if you will be in the lower caste such as Epsilon then you are given less oxygen when you are being fertilized. When you are born you are immediately conditioned to certain jobs and are required to continue in that field for the remaining of your existence. As you grow older in that kind of society, you are expected to behave the same way as everyone else in your class. For example, in one of the classes named Alpha you use helicopters to transport yourselves, you have more money, you are the most intelligent caste and you have more responsibilities within the society. There are two main classes; upper and lower class. The upper class citizens are composed of the top two categories of people; Alpha and Beta. The upper class use helicopters as transportation, have more skilled jobs and higher quality of work. They are more dominant to the other classes and are more known and important within the society. The lower class such as Gamma, Delta and Epsilon use trains and the lower ground transportation to move around. They have jobs that require less intelligence and don’t pay as much money.
Either your everyday clothes, your intelligence or even the products you buy can determine your class distinction.
If you were asked what class you are in today's society, you most likely wouldn’t be able to answer. Human genetics give you a chance to use your instincts and personal characteristics to do what you want with your life. You can choose what job you do and also who you end up with. Class distinction in today’s society isn’t as different than in Brave New World as it would seem. Depending on the level of intelligence you have and what types of careers you pursue, you are classed into a certain category. For example you are either rich, middle class or poor. Rich people have jobs like doctors and lawyers. Most of them believe they are better than most people because of their job qualifications and their salary per-year. "We're finding that the super wealthy tell a story about why they have what they have. In essence, they believe they're a different kind of person, with genes more suitable to success." (DeAngelis, Tori. "Class Differences." American Psychological Association. N.p., Feb. 2015. Web. 23 Mar. 2016. http://www.apa.org/monitor/2015/02/class-differences.aspx) Just like in Brave New World, Alpha’s believe they have more quality of a gene, which they do but they take that to an advantage just like the rich in todays society. The richer take advantage of their money and power and spoil themselves rather than help others in need. The middle class and poor
are a mix of the lower class in Brave New World, they are important for the process to keep the society at its finest, but they are not as payed or somewhat important as the rich or the Alpha’s.
The consumption of drugs or soma is highly enforced in Brave New World.
Soma is used to distract people from living a full life filled with family, love, freedom and individuality. The drug is enforced everyday, for example when you leave your work, you are given a dosage of soma to take home with you, it is your gramme for the day. This drug is described as the “perfect drug”, it is a hallucinogen where it is consumed to resolve your dissatisfaction and to calm you; it gives you a ten hour long high and it makes life seem surrealistic. Soma is used to take away any dissatisfaction by any means necessary, if it is either loneliness or thoughts about the society being a dystopia, it is consumed and suddenly all your worries disappear and it’s like they turn into mindless drones with no thoughts, emotions or self-awareness. The government are using soma to have and keep control over everyone so they can’t think for themselves and just follow everyone else’s
footsteps.
Today’s society rely on pharmaceuticals to resolve and heal their medical problems; if it’s either mental health or physical health.