But allow me to ask, how far are we really from such reality?
in a world where PRIVACY has become "privacy", where our every moves and actions are being registered, labelled and stored by computers and people behind screens, where cellphone companies ask for your fingerprint, picture and the right to use your personal information in whatsoever way they may find convenient (I strongly advice people to read the term and conditions of something before clicking next).
Which one is stronger? the pleasure of being part of the mass or the fear of punishment.
Or is it that after all "a gramme is better than a damn"(Brave New World, Huxley,1931)
quoting the words of Mr. Manson "Because then you're watching television, you're watching the news, you're being pumped full of fear, there's floods, there's AIDS, there's murder, cut to commercial. buy the Acura, buy the Colgate, if you have bad breath they are not going to talk to you, if you have pimples, the girls not going to "#$%& you, and it's just this campaign of fear, and consumption, and that's what I think it's all based on, the whole idea of keep everyone afraid, and they'll consume"
which one do you fear the most, which one can you not live without, SOMA or the BIG BROTHER?
References:
Beyond a Culture of Fearby K. Lauren de Boer, EarthLight Magazine #47, Fall/Winter 2002/03; URL:
www.earthlight.org/2002/essay47_deboer.html
BBC News; 1984: George Orwell's road to dystopia, 8 february 2013; http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21337504
I think society today is a mixture of both wanting to be a part of the mass and fearing punishment. Actually, both go hand in hand. People tend to follow the majority not out of fear of being punished, at least not as in 1984 where people were sent to work camps or killed. The fear lies more in being left out. People always talk about how one shouldn't worry about what other people think and just be yourself. Be what if the self that you are is completely different from the norm? People who are different tend to be ostracized. As much as we believe in individuality, human beings are designed to be a part of a group. In a sense, it is a lose lose situation. You might not want to be the same as the rest and form part of the same mass, but you also don't want to be singled out. We crave companionship, loneliness is deadly for us. So, although there is no fear of punishment. There is still a fear.
ResponderEliminarI mentioned no fear of punishment but now a days this has also become a reality. You mentioned a list of different technologies that register everything you do. This is true. There used to be nothing the government could do against a person writing a dangerous comment on the internet. Internet users used to be more anonymous, if that were ever possible (we could have been only led to believe that). Today, a comment on the internet considered to be a terrorist threat, can be immediately traced to whoever wrote it (if the person is not a skilled hacker). I remember having heard of two different cases where teenagers in the USA were arrested because of stupid violent comments they wrote on the internet, comments they obviously hadn't stopped to think about.
I'd like to highlight the part of your final quote that says "the whole idea of keep everyone afraid, and they'll consume". We consume so much because we are always afraid of what others are going to think, say, do if we don't. I use "we" because as much as one would like to deny being a consumer, we are all consumers. Even people who don't have the money to actually buy goods could also be considered consumers. Why? Because we consume in fear of something, whether it be fear of being ugly, fear of being alone, fear of being different, etc. Essentially, we don't only by goods, we consume ideas.
Going to your final question, which one can you not live without, SOMA or the BIG BROTHER? If I were to choose one I think it would be SOMA. We are all part of a consumer society, by this point in time, I believe it is something that is ingrained in both society and the individual. However, in the end I think we can't live without both. As much as we could be against these two concepts, there are always going to be reasons, valid or invalid, NOT to get rid of them.
I agree with Ashley, in the sense that both concepts go hand in hand. We need, as a society, a Big Brother to control our movements and decisions, but at the same time, we need Soma to forget that we are being controlled.
ResponderEliminarHowever, deep inside no one wants to be different, not because of fear of being rejected for who you are, but mostly because being different and being against the system requires self control, critical thought, and time. It is easier to do and say what the big companies, the Big Brothers, tell you to do and say than to ponder what is really important.
Now regarding your final question, I would prefer living in a world without SOMA than without a Big Brother. One reason is because whether we like it or not, we are still not able to make our decisions without being selfish, therefore we cannot live in anarchy. Sadly, it does not work as it should.