"I'll Make You Be Free Whether You Want to Or Not"

In the novel Brave New World John tries to incite a rebellion in the hospital where his mother has died.  He takes the soma allocation for the hospital workers and hectors them to embrace freedom.  In the end, the workers threatened to attack John for depriving them of the soma as the police arrived to restore calm.

What does this failed, farcical attempt at rebellion tells us about what makes a stable and prosperous society?  How does it connect to the concepts of coercion, freedom and/pr happiness?  Can you make someone free whether they want to or not?

Don't Worry, Be Happy?

 Brave New World involves a debate about what makes my life go best.  The society of the novel is constructed around the idea of happiness, using happiness (either in the form of pleasure or desire-satisfaction) as the yardstick for well-being.  As the Director states in the first chapter, ". . . [T]hat is the secret of happiness and virtue-- liking what you got to do"(16).  On the other hand, John, the outsider who everyone else considers a savage because grew up outside the world state (and was born and not hatched), rejects this measure.  He rather proclaims a list of objective values that don't necessarily allow (and often make impossible) convenient comforts.  He professes, " But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin"(240). 

So, what is the novel telling us about happiness?  Should we pursue it individually?  As a society? Should we construct our politics around it?  Is it the measure of well-being -- or is it something else?  According to the novel, what makes my life go best.

Oh My Ford!: On Worshipping the Model T

The civilization depicted in the novel Brave New World has banished traditional religion such as Christainity in favor of a religion in which Henry Ford is a god and the crucifix has been trimmed to a "T" in honor of the Model T.  

What is the significance of deifying Ford?  What values does this "religion" espouse?  What is the novel telling us about these values (is it critiquing or endorsing them)?  What is the point of all this Ford worship?