My liberal friends like to bring up fears of a "1984-like police state" from time to time. It is of course impossible; enough of us know what a dictatorship looks like to be able to avoid it. But even if it were possible for America to sink into a 1984-like police state, it couldn't stay there for long.
People won't work without the incentive to work. There are, broadly speaking, two types of incentives: carrots and sticks. Police states rely almost entirely on the latter. Fear and brute force can be excellent motivators in the short run, but not over time. People want rewards for their work, rewards beyond just enough food to live.
But here's the thing: even in 1984, rebellion is possible. The book treats us to a small-scale uprising that gets brutally crushed; Iran, if you will. What would Big Brother do in the face of an Egypt-style revolt?
Besides, how does the government structure in 1984 work? Unless power is hereditary, passed along with strict indoctrination from one family to the next, they'd have to do some recruiting. No matter how stringent their security is, they'll inevitably slip up; human systems always do. And then you eventually find yourself in a situation like the one in Inglorious Basterds, where all it takes is one opportunistic Judas and your entire Reich collapses around you while you're shot to death in a burning theater.
(Obligatory clarification: no, not a Nazi, don't support Hitler, very much enjoyed seeing him get his in Basterds, etc, etc.)
I always thought 1984 was actually a bunch of crock, honestly (I thought Orwell made his point much better and much more concisely in Animal Farm), and that if it hadn't had the famous "Big Brother is Watching You" catchphrase, it probably would have slid into obscurity when compared to Brave New World.
In Brave New World there is no opportunity for advancement. You die in the caste you were born into. And you like it that way. Conditioning is absolute; the only dissent comes from outside the system, and no-one cares.
And it's here that we must distinguish between mind control and thought control. 1984 accomplishes the latter, for the most part; Brave New World has the former in spades. There's no resentment towards the system. You get to live it up however you want so long as you do your job, be a good little cog in the machine. The entire values system is gone, so its not like there's any moral compass (does BNW assume that souls don't exist or are irrelevant? Definite topic for future essay). It is the land of do-as-you-please. It just so happens that what you please overlaps with what the government wants you to do. In 1984, it's a very restrictive government and everyone knows it. Resentment surfaces from time to time. In Brave New World, it appears to be a completely lax government - nobody cares who's sleeping with whom, Alpha and Beta society practically worships at the altar of the Seven Deadly Sins - until you realize that you've been made to think that way.
But there's no resentment.
Everyone's an efficient worker because they've been made that way. No-one gets bored; no-one says no. I guarantee you, if you put 1984 on one continent and Brave New World on another and gave them equal resources to start with, in 50 years Brave New World would have a stronger economy.
By all means, read 1984 if you've got the time. But definitely read Brave New World. It's a much more feasible future.
And no, I'm not saying I'd prefer a Brave New World over a 1984-esque police state just because BNW embraces more capitalist values - it doesn't, really, what with the whole concept of social advancement gone out the window. I'd prefer it because, for better or for worse, the people of BNW are happier and more productive than their Orwellian counterparts.
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