O
obligatoryshackles
I don't want to get used to it.
- Aug 11, 2023
- 157
Increasingly, it seems society is headed towards a dangerous direction. In the past, though life was materially miserable, the common people had massive power if they could organize. A peasant revolt of sufficient magnitude could overthrow any government. But the development of technology increasingly makes this prospect seem impossible. It was already had to convince peasants to stand on the frontline against knights and riflemen. Imagine trying to convince people to fight today against modern mechanized militaries and drone warfare with the impending prospect of entirely inhuman war machines. Even if victory were certain, people would balk at having to stand against such a gap in physical strength - and victory for a revolt of common folk seems to grow increasingly impossible.
And it's not just on a military front either. Modern propaganda is so vastly powerful and insidious that basically no one can even comprehend how much it influences them. We know it's happening and in our panic we point fingers to obvious scapegoats, but basically no one actually gets anything right and even if they do few people will listen. Everyone has their own scapegoats and everyone points fingers at each other, it's completely impossible to unify against the common enemy even if someone finds who that is. The truth gets drowned out in a thousand equally plausible lies and no one can agree. A balance of power is manufactured to prevent this divide from going anywhere and the oppressed are ultimately stuck fighting each other instead of unifying and revolting.
There is a time limit. Eventually, those in power will not need any mass support for their regime to continue - such is the power of technology. Once the balance of power shifts far enough, billionaires and autocrats won't even need to bother hiding their agendas. Rule through fear will not be a self destructive poison anymore, but an inescapable reality shackled down by the might of control over technology. Real life isn't like YA dystopian novels. There won't be a revolution, and if there is it will be crushed instantly.
There is an urgent need to solve these problems. But look around you. Angry as we might be at each other, we're mostly content with our lives. A vast majority of humanity does not actively concern itself with this dilemma. Our lives get worse, our standards of living decrease so we complain a little, but at the end of the day, we go on with our lives. We get used to it. We're so good at getting used to it. We would rather go on minding our own lives, the problems we see in front of us, ad infinitum, even as the world at large crumbles beyond the reach of our sight. It's incredible how resilient we are, how easily we adapt to and cope with these new circumstances.
And I fear that very resilience will be our downfall. We'll just let the dystopia come to us one small step at a time, getting used to each new injustice as a fact of life until it's too late to do anything. I fear that one day humanity will be ruled by injustice, fear, and power - and we'll just accept it as a fact of life.
And it's not just on a military front either. Modern propaganda is so vastly powerful and insidious that basically no one can even comprehend how much it influences them. We know it's happening and in our panic we point fingers to obvious scapegoats, but basically no one actually gets anything right and even if they do few people will listen. Everyone has their own scapegoats and everyone points fingers at each other, it's completely impossible to unify against the common enemy even if someone finds who that is. The truth gets drowned out in a thousand equally plausible lies and no one can agree. A balance of power is manufactured to prevent this divide from going anywhere and the oppressed are ultimately stuck fighting each other instead of unifying and revolting.
There is a time limit. Eventually, those in power will not need any mass support for their regime to continue - such is the power of technology. Once the balance of power shifts far enough, billionaires and autocrats won't even need to bother hiding their agendas. Rule through fear will not be a self destructive poison anymore, but an inescapable reality shackled down by the might of control over technology. Real life isn't like YA dystopian novels. There won't be a revolution, and if there is it will be crushed instantly.
There is an urgent need to solve these problems. But look around you. Angry as we might be at each other, we're mostly content with our lives. A vast majority of humanity does not actively concern itself with this dilemma. Our lives get worse, our standards of living decrease so we complain a little, but at the end of the day, we go on with our lives. We get used to it. We're so good at getting used to it. We would rather go on minding our own lives, the problems we see in front of us, ad infinitum, even as the world at large crumbles beyond the reach of our sight. It's incredible how resilient we are, how easily we adapt to and cope with these new circumstances.
And I fear that very resilience will be our downfall. We'll just let the dystopia come to us one small step at a time, getting used to each new injustice as a fact of life until it's too late to do anything. I fear that one day humanity will be ruled by injustice, fear, and power - and we'll just accept it as a fact of life.