Today was the end of our time with Brave New World in my class. The students had already read 1984 and it had solidly embedded itself in their conspiracy-theory-inclined imaginations. I’ve always felt that, while there are traces of 1984 in our culture, it more aptly describes Cuba or Russia; our weakness in America, Europe and Europe’s colonial progeny is much closer to Huxley’s dystopia than Orwell’s, and after two weeks of discussing the text, I was able to sway some opinions. Today I shared this summation of Neil Postman’s hypothesis in Amusing Ourselves to Death, a book I’ve taught alongside Brave New World and 1984 in the past; it resonated deeply with the students. I then shared the cartoon with some colleagues over drinks and they were so fascinated by it that it seemed worthwhile to share it with any of you out there who might not have seen it. So here you go…may you be ever amused…