Hedonistic Serfdom

"Rome is the mob. Conjure magic for them and they'll be distracted. Take away their freedom and they'll still roar."
--Gracchus (Gladiator)

Although this video considers George Orwell's premise for how people become enslaved by authoritarian states, it also compares Orwell's views to those of Aldous Huxley's. Whereas Orwell saw the state operating primarily through the traditional strong harm of force, Huxley argued that people would willingly forego freedom in pursuit of sensory pleasure and endless consumption.

If society could be structured so that people could be persuaded to devote much of their time to seeking amusement, material satisfaction, and even escapism, then coercive force would not be necessary. People would blithely submit to a state that brought them hedonistic gratification.

Essentially, Huxley reformulated the 'bread and circuses' policy of antiquity.

Judging by people's behavior over the past year and a half--willingly locking themselves in their homes to watch TV, play video games, and surf the internet while, in many cases, being paid to do so--it is difficult not to confer some validity to Huxley's thesis of hedonistic serfdom.