Those five decades have now allowed me to gain a greater insight into what Huxley was writing about and alluding to.
Island was Huxley’s final novel and
served as the counterpoint to his dystopian novel, Brave New World, published
thirty years earlier. Could Huxley have written this when he was younger?
Perhaps, like me as his reader, he had to be older to dream and appreciate
possibilities?
Island is indeed a dream, but not an
impossible one. Possibilities exist. The following quotation is at the heart of
this novel, both figuratively and literally (on p 170-171 of 329 pages). The
possibility described here will find a resonance with many readers, especially
those attracted to the ideas of degrowth. The practical philosophy of the island
of Pala is explained by one of the island’s elders – Dr Robert as;
‘… we
never allowed ourselves to produce more children than we could feed, clothe,
house, and educate into something like full humanity. Not being over-populated,
we have plenty. But although we have plenty, we’ve managed to resist the
temptation that the West has now succumbed to – the temptation to over-consume.
We don’t give ourselves coronaries by guzzling six times as much saturated fat
as we need. We don’t hypnotise ourselves into believing that two television
sets will make us twice as happy as one television set. And finally we don’t
spend a quarter of the gross national product preparing for World War III or
even World War’s baby brother, Local War MMMCCXXXIII. Armaments, universal
debt, and planned obsolescence – those are the three pillars of Western
prosperity. If war, waste, and moneylenders were abolished, you’d collapse. And
while you people are over-consuming, the rest of the world sinks more and more
deeply into chronic disaster. Ignorance, militarism, and breeding, these three –
and the greatest of these is breeding. No hope, not the slightest possibility,
of solving the economic problem until that’s under control. As population rushes
up, prosperity goes down… And as prosperity goes down, discontent and
rebellion, political ruthlessness and one-party rule, nationalism and
bellicosity begin to rise.’
Within a
little over 200 words Huxley has depicted the possibility of a dream; at the same
time rebuking the model that the West has been, and still is, implementing.
The key to
Huxley’s dream seems to be restraint, the ability to resist temptation. Failure
to do so results in huge problems. Is this not exactly what we see in the world
today? Political ruthlessness, discontent, nationalism, bellicosity – at the
level of individuals, societies, and states.
Island is worth reading, as a young person
and then again at an older age. The novel answers some questions as well as
throwing up some serious questions for consideration.
One of those
questions was posed by Huxley himself upon reflecting upon his two novels – Brave
New World and Island. It is a question that calls out for a response
from each of us.
‘How
will this thought or action contribute to, or interfere with, the achievement,
by me and the greatest number of other individuals, of (humanity’s) Final End?’
Note:
1. Aldous
Huxley, Island, Granada Publishing, London, Toronto, Sydney, New York,
1962
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