All dystopian literature aspires to prophecy. Whether or not it aims to predict the future, it imagines worlds in which the evils of our own place and time are drawn out to their logical conclusions. It holds up a mirror for recognition and critique. Its success depends on two main factors: its choice of evils and the credibility of their extension. Thus, while Orwell’s 1984 succeeds as a nightmare, its omnipotent Soviet-style surveillance state is a phantom compared to the consumerist totalitarianism of Huxley’s Brave New World. As the balance of the 20th century and the first decades of the 21st have shown, the smart money was always on liberalism. When all that is solid melts into air, don’t bet on an Iron Curtain.
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