When Huxley Identified Threats To Our Freedoms In America

In May 1958 Mike Wallace, then of ABC, interviewed Aldous Huxley, author of the classic dystopian novel "Brave New World." Huxley, whose brother Julian Huxley co-founded the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, was also well known for advocating and taking psychedelics, which he described in great detail in his essay "The Doors of Perception."

In this clip Aldous Huxley discusses threats to the freedoms Americans have always cherished. "I don't think," said Huxley, "you can say 'who' in the United States. I don't think there are any sinister persons deliberately trying to rob people of their freedom. But I do think, first of all, that there are a number of impersonal forces which are pushing in the direction of less and less freedom.

"And I also think that there are a number of technological devices which anybody who wishes to use can use to accelerate this process of going away from freedom, of imposing controls."

This part one of the interview is approximately ten minutes. Strap yourselves in and hang on!