I said recently in an email that I thought Huxley had it nailed—the most effective form of oppression isn’t force and violence. It’s privilege and comfort. Make the prison cell a luxuriant one and they won’t complain. Mostly.
But I’m not sure it’s 100% there, actually, because so many people these days have the weary, joyless resignation of utter defeat rather than ignorant bliss. I think this expanding technology, heralded by the Internet explosion since the Millennium, for all its addictive, compulsive, habit-forming qualities—this surfeit of neverending distraction—is not, in truth, a very happy addiction.
Things used to be more fun, folks.
That ain’t nostalgia. And it certainly isn’t Ludditism, because in my own love-hate way I use this blasted tech as much as anyone, and am more facile with it than a lot of people. But I know it’s destroying everything. I know it’s sucking the life out of everything. I know it’s ushering people into greater (physical) isolation and more obvious anti-social behaviour. It’s pretty clear to anyone who cares to look. And from an establishment/power standpoint, dividing people is pretty damned useful. Just sayin’.
Another writer who had it nailed, of course, was EM Forster. In 1909, he predicted the Internet (very accurately!!) and the unfortunate way in which it would undermine human interactions. Of course, predicting shit doesn’t stop it happening. That’s crediting humans with way more sense than they possess. Most people just want to have their thoughts and activities decided by others. And we tend to get what we ask for. Oh, I take a Chomsky view on democracy, so don’t start me on that smelly old chestnut.
If you haven’t already done so, you can read Forster’s “The Machine Stops” right here. It might just make you think for a while. At least until the next distraction pops up. If you get past the first paragraph before being gripped with the urge to Twit or update your FuckFace status or whatever…
