] All of those guys were talking about the present, that's
] what science fiction writers really do. I've been struck
] lately rereading Brave New World and 1984 at the extent
] to which both of these visions, which would seem to be
] completely contradictory, have turned out to be true and
] in fact complementary. You have the totalitarian thought
] control and language modification of 1984 going on: I
] mean, consider the phrase "weapons of mass destruction"
] -- completely Orwellian in use. And at the same time you
] have something like the feelies from Brave New World
] which are the soporific media message that puts everyone
] to sleep. Both of those things are happening
] simultaneously. The totalitarian message is being
] transmitted while you're zoned out in front of the
] television watching the feelies, high on soma -- which is
] some combination of Prozac and Budweiser.

JPB in Mother Jones. Lots of stuff covered before here, but a few choice metaphores.