If you haven't read, "Brave New World", written by the great mid 20th century English author, Aldous Huxley, you're missing Huxley's masterpiece and a great novel regarded as a classic. The tale is set in 2540 AD London and offers a cautionary view of a seemingly perfect world advanced by incredible technology. This future world is safe, devoid of disease and abundant in pleasures for it's citizens. The cost for this world is it's citizens freedom, though they are unaware of their loss. The global government controls all for everyone. While reading this novel, it's possible to imagine this future world coming into existence and that's a scary thought!
One specific topic from Brave New World popped into my head recently. That is the topic of 'Soma'. Soma is a fictitious drug from Huxley's Brave New World that is socially acceptable, puts users into a state of euphoria and causes mild hallucinations. To top it all off, soma has no negative side effects after taking the drug (Other than eventual addiction and an overwhelming dependency to take the drug when they experience any bit of pain in their lives).
The world government freely dispenses soma and has nurtured it's citizens into thinking that soma is the natural alternative to remove any pain that they experience. Citizens of this future world even frown upon those who do not take the drug. The world government benefits greatly from the recreational use of soma as the citizens have even less of a reason to ever rise up and overthrown the regime that oppresses them. Citizens without pain are citizens that will not cause trouble.
I'd like to think that Huxley would be a fan of alternative rock music of the 2000's. "Soma" by The Strokes is a great song that popped up on my playlist recently and got me thinking about soma:
The first verse of "Soma" by The Strokes sums up soma's grip on people in Huxley's futuristic world:
Soma is what they would take when hard times opened their eyes
Saw pain in a new way
High stakes for a few names
Racing against sunbeams
Losing against their dreams
In your eyes
In your eyes
Does soma exist in any way today? Do people today escape from their pain by taking a "holiday" as Huxley put it in Brave New World? Obviously there is no recreational wonder drug with seemingly no side effects, but there are definitely plenty of escapes from pain that everybody run towards today: Legal drugs (Alcohol, cigarettes, caffeine, prescription drugs), illegal drugs, eating, exercising, sex, reality television, sports. You could call all of these activities a temporary escape from pain. Everybody has these escapes. What is your personal soma?
Taking a step deeper into my music library with soma fresh on my mind, Weezer's "We Are All On Drugs" seems to match my train of thought:
We are all on some form of our own soma. Whatever you personally like to escape to when times get hard is your soma. My soma is cookies and good books. Oh, and golf and running. And music!
If there were one thing that I would point to today as being closest to being soma, I would say that alcohol is the nearest. Alcohol is socially acceptable to consume, in moderate quantities causes a buzz or high feeling and inhibitions are diminished. Unlike soma, alcohol can cause blackouts and hangovers as well as severe and potentially lethal harm to your liver over time. Decreased brain functions have also been proven through studies of alcoholics. The United States government outlawed alcohol with the 18th amendmant, but failed miserably!
It shocks me to see how many people choose alcohol as their soma with the negative side effects it presents. I am surprised at how prevalent the drug is used and how socially acceptable it is. It even is popular to brag about how "wasted" you were the previous night. Perhaps the government realizes that drunk people are less likely to revolt and therefore enacted the 21st amendment. That's food for thought for me and my alt rock loving friend Aldous Huxley...
