"And if ever, by some unlucky chance, anything unpleasant should somehow happen, why, there's always soma to give you a holiday from the facts. And there's always soma to calm your anger, to reconcile you to your enemies, to make you patient and long-suffering." – Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever." – George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four

Soon after the publication of George Orwell's novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, his publisher sent a copy of it to Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World. Orwell's book describes a dystopian hell realm of a world ruled by an invisible yet omniscient "Big Brother," whose minions keep the masses in check with twenty-four-hour surveillance everywhere, even in one's home and with threats of violence should any "prol" (short from proletarian) disagree with, and part from, the one and only totalitarian narrative and its demands. Having read that novel years ago, I reread it recently because I recalled that it had quite accurately described back in 1949 when it was first published much of what's happening in the world today.