In his first inaugural address Franklin D. Roosevelt uttered the oft-quoted phrase: "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" (Roosevelt). Is fear really the only thing you need to be afraid of? Should one fear the omnipresent government of George Orwell's novel 1984 or the acquiescence to oppression as detailed in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World? According to Neil Postman, a contemporary social critic, while it is irrational to fear the "Big Brother" rule of Orwell's novel, it is logical to fear the ambivalence illustrated in Huxley's novel as modern America has become a more narcissistic society. Postman's claim that Huxley's prophecy has come true is accurate because members of modern society have come to rely too much on the technology they worship, choose to remain in passive ignorance, and focus more on irrelevant details of the pop. culture rather than the important issues related to daily life. In modern society, and more specifically in modern America, the amount of available technology continues to increase and numerous American citizens are consumed in a perpetual cycle of purchasing new devices to replace their old ones and rely too heavily on technology. With the introduction of the World Wide Web in 1993 came the possibility of rapid communications on a global scale. As technology continued to improve, large numbers of people began to spend excessive amounts of time glued to their technology. Lee Siegel once called the Internet a "placeless place," meaning that when people waste their discretionary time aimlessly browsing various websites, their actions and communications on those sites mean very little. Countless people spend large amounts of time interacting...... middle of paper ...... when it comes to the cruelty of human beings. Henry David Thoreau once observed, “Men have become the tools of their tools” which is a sentiment that perfectly mirrors Neil Postman's belief that humans have become victims of the technologies they hold so dear (Thoreau). American society has increasingly turned toward ignorance and failure to utilize technology to its positive uses. Humans in general are prone to using technology in a negative way, as Albert Einstein reflected when he stated, “It has become frighteningly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity” (Einstein). While members of modern society are surrounded by an unlimited amount of knowledge, they fail to use it and instead turn to greed and indolence rather than perseverance and diligence. Society will ultimately be destroyed by the technologies it holds in such high regard.