In its present form, the social order depends for its continued existence on the acceptance, without too many embarrassing questions, of the propaganda put forth by those in author­ity and the propaganda hallowed by the local tradi­tions. The problem, once more, is to find the happy mean. Individuals must be suggestible enough to be willing and able to make their society work, but not so suggestible as to fall helplessly under the spell of pro­fessional mind-manipulators.

Sometimes the "happy" is not the "mean"; sometimes the optimum is an extremum. It may well be true that the present form of the social order depends on acceptance of propaganda, but then so much the worse for the present form.

Note that there are ways of being "suggestible" in the sense of being pro-social, other than being "suggestible" in the sense of buying whatever arguments or assertions are made to you. For example, when some colleagues suggest "let's go to the pizza place" I might go along even though pizza might not be my favorite food at that moment. I simply like their company, and I go along. I also recognize that in the future the roles may reverse, with everyone going to my favorite place. No unreason is required for this kind of social cohesion.

I still love Aldous Huxley, but that snippet was an embarrassment.