the universe as a whole

too damn cold in northern nevada. where's the snow? no snow, only cold. you tease.

(see: #613)

napoleon bonaparte, emperor of france, planned to base an empire in north america after establishing a naval base on the island of hispaniola in the caribbean sea. his plans were ruined by toussaint louverture, who led a revolution of slaves and free blacks there. louverture was captured, but his followers kept the revolution alive, frustrating napoleon's plans. napoleon lost interest in louisiana and sold it to the united states.

in 1857, northerners who opposed slavery received another shock when the supreme court ruled against a slave named dred scott who was suing for his freedom. scott's owners had brought him with them from the south to a northern free state to live. the court declared that it did not matter whether scott lived in a slave state or a free state, because slaves were property and owners could take their property wherever they pleased.

most southerners were happy with the ruling, which meant that slavery could be extended into any territory, whether voters approved of it or not.

dred scott and his family, pictured in a newspaper article about the case. image

(see: #643)

in january 1917, the german government sent a coded telegram to mexico's government proposing a military alliance between the two countries. germany suggested that mexico should support them if the united states entered world war 1. in return, they promised to return texas, arizona, and new mexico to mexico if germany won the war. this secret telegram was intercepted by british intelligence, who broke the code, and americans were enraged by germany's plans. in march that year, german foreign secretary arthur zimmermann finally confirmed the telegram was real, which encouraged support in america for entering the war.

hitler's right-hand man. he was sentenced to death on trial at nuremberg. but he committed suicide on the night before his execution by swallowing a capsule of cyanide.

the heavyweight boxing champion. he was jailed for refusing to serve in the u.s. army and became a hero of the antiwar movement.

if you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools.
plato

an internet video on demand service that has the best content so far (as of feb 2022).

eugenics is a scientific and social movement, based on charles darwin's theories of human evolution, which was originally defined as the science of racial betterment - its name being based on the greek words for "good" and "born"*. eugenics is related to social darwinism, which focuses on extending darwin's theories of plant and animal evolution to the social lives of human beings, especially in regard to societal processes. eugenics also drew on malthusian assertions that human social problems are caused by overpopulation by the poor and other marginalized groups as well as by a parallel decline in the birth rate among those perceived as socially superior. eugenics, together with social darwinism and malthusian-based concerns about overpopulation, were highly influential in wealthy industrialist nations around the turn of the twentieth century, professed by those who claimed to be both socially conservative as well as the socially liberal. these views granted wealthy western groups an empirical standing for their supposed pre-eminence and the correctness of their political and social values, as well as absolution from their responsibility for inequality, wars, or poverty. these theories were also central to the establishment of what became known as scientific racism and sexism, often treating varied ethnic groups as disparate species and women as an inferior sub-species. eugenics remains a significant influence on the writings of contemporary white nationalists and promoters of white racial superiority, including psychologists who adhere to these values.

aldous huxley's dystopian novel published in 1932 has been the subject of debate since its release: is "brave new world" a dystopia or a utopia? to understand the genre of the novel properly, it's essential to look at the characteristics of dystopian fiction:

– the use of propaganda to control society
– restrictions on access to information, freedom, and independence
– society's adulation of a symbolic leader or concept
– society constantly feeling under surveillance
– society's fear of the outside world
– society living in dehumanized systems
– alienation from and disbelief in nature
– society conforming to the same expectations, resulting in a lack of individuality and diversity
– society being a reflection of a perfect utopia

huxley's novel exhibits all but one of these characteristics. the bokanovsky process and fordism in "brave new world" serve as tools of propaganda to maintain control. the book's representative of these themes is the western european world controller, mustapha mond. throughout the book, we see bans on science and art, and nobody is truly free. there's worship of the concept of fordism. you witness the fear of lenina crowne when she visits the savage reservation with john, who represents the outside world. the characters perfectly conform to the system, indicating the dehumanization of the established order. emotions, pain, or freedoms are absent; instead, they are replaced with sensory films and "soma," a drug they never part without. the isolation of john's place, the savage reservation, is an example of the exclusion of nature. characters are divided into classes, and each class is standardized. lastly, the book gives an air of utopia. except for the characters feeling under surveillance, the book perfectly encompasses dystopian elements.

the real issue, though, is huxley's choice of a soft dystopia over a harsh one. unlike 1984, where political oppression crushes society, "brave new world" offers its society a "false" happiness. this is what baffles readers and gives a sense of utopia: the characters are happy, but this happiness is tied to the system shaping them from birth and their frequent use of the drug soma.

in the novel, there is a robotic caste system: people are pre-programmed before birth as alphas, betas, gammas, deltas, or epsilons. alphas are tall, intelligent, and attractive, while deltas are short, programmed for labor, and stupid, with the intelligence of a five-year-old at most. thus, the lower classes, the deltas, and epsilons, are happy.

in essence, huxley has killed the concept of "human" and replaced it with "human-like robots," creating a utopia-looking dystopia. huxley's message is that it's impossible for humans to create a utopia on their own. if stability and order are desired, personalities must be killed and people must become dependent on drugs. the book lacks art, family, emotions, books, freedom of thought, or science. these are things that the system opposes because a robot does not need these concepts.

like "1984," "brave new world" contains a totalitarian regime, but instead of using torture like room 101, it aligns its characters with soft methods like the bokanovsky system and soma, yet the result is the same: society loses its freedom. the utopia "brave new world" provides is not for people but for humans who have lost their human traits. this is why huxley includes a character like john the savage. john represents "the human" in every sentence and action against the robotic system. what he tries to convey is that either we live in fake happiness as the system intends, or we feel real happiness like john, but with its pains.

in the sixteenth chapter, the conversation between john and mustapha mond mentions that they have given up science and art (or, in other words, their humanity) for stability and happiness.

huxley's model of utopia is a system cleansed of humanity. he does not envision a perfect political structure or educated people like thomas more, but a system that eradicates the self. that's why "brave new world" is a dystopia. replacing tyranny with happiness does not change the fact that it annihilates the human self.

as stated in the adaptation of the host, which also has a utopic dystopia like "brave new world," "our world had never been so perfect, but it was no longer our world."

this may have permanently ended the possibility of fair and democratic elections in turkey.

i'm sorry i can't talk much because i live in turkey, and we have a saying here: "silivri is cold" (referring to silivri prison).