There are two schools of thought on this, the Huxleyan “Brave New World” where the masses are controlled via comfort and Orwellian where the masses are controlled via discomfort. Orwell’s dystopia calls for outrage to be deflected onto a scapegoat figure or group (“Emmanuel Goldstein”). Both directions can be effective, currently the path of inflicting mass discomfort is just more in vogue.
There are two schools of thought on this, the Huxleyan “Brave New World” where the masses are controlled via comfort and Orwellian where the masses are controlled via discomfort. Orwell’s dystopia calls for outrage to be deflected onto a scapegoat figure or group (“Emmanuel Goldstein”). Both directions can be effective, currently the path of inflicting mass discomfort is just more in vogue.