Before 9/11, I was a kid without much insight or interest into the way the world works. As far as I could tell, and as far as what was told to me, I’d be pretty much free to live my life in whichever way I chose so long as I stuck within the law.
After 9/11, it was as if something shifted, and not only did governments and corporations ramp up their surveillance operations to watch almost every facet of the lives of everyday people, especially internet users, but individuals seemed to want to interfere in each other’s lives a hell of a lot more.
Now, maybe partly as a result of this, I no longer feel free to live as I choose. Social media and the growing politicisation of everything is quickly leading to a society of people that moralise and critique each other’s every decision. This is only made worse by the rise of ideologies which, by their nature, push everyone who uphold them into seeing people who think differently as an “other.”
Alongside the common tendency to form absolute character judgments about each other, this is giving rise to a nosey, shallow, hyper-controlling and vicious culture.
If you think what they don’t want you to think — if you put your kids in a school they don’t approve of — if you read, watch or listen to certain media — if you don’t chant a certain slogan or declare allegiance to certain groups — if you associate with someone they don’t like — if you challenge a claim that’s accepted as a self-evident truth — if you don’t readily let them make your medical decisions for you — … then you’re probably a Nazi, and, because you disagree with them, anything you say will lead to genocide. Of course.
And with climate change now becoming a primary focus of many governments, likely through infiltration by the World Economic Forum, we can be damn sure that the powerless authoritarians around us who they inspire will be trying to meddle in everyone’s lives over things like how much meat they eat, what hours they decide to use their lights or charge their cars, who they associate with, etc.
Given that we all live here on Earth, climate change is the perfect concern to hijack in order to interfere and to try to control what decisions others make for the good of everyone else. That’s everything from what you choose to put in your body to whether or not it’s “necessary” for you to travel, to whether or not you should have children, to how much space you need to live, etc.
And, as should be expected, what’s “necessary” seems to always be defined by someone else, and at a miserably low standard.
So, while industry continues its collision course with nature through its cycles of planned obsolescence and the resulting waste and pollution, and while the super-rich continue to live incredibly decadent lifestyles, completely unaffected by the barrage of restrictions, taxes and bans that they put in place for everyone else, the powerless authoritarians in our divided social circles will desperately try to bicker, nag and manipulate their way into getting everyone else around them to submit to ideological authority just as they did… for the good of everyone else. Again.
I consider these people to be some of the most dangerous — those in our families, social circles, even work-colleagues, who will turn against their loved ones and peers in an instant for stepping outside the acceptable norms. With the people in my own life, I’ve recognised the cognitive dissonance in those who speak words of freedom and yet want to micro-manage the self-expression and decision-making of others for some grand cause or another.
They are largely unthinking people whose tendencies and positions towards authoritarianism would lead to an all-intrusive dystopian nightmare if they were given any power. Unfortunately, those who do wield that power today do have these same intentions, and so we’re not far off an all-out dystopian nightmare anyway.
The powerless authoritarians not only leave humanity paralysed and trapped in non-stop debate, but they also prevent us from discovering and dealing with true sources of problems. They also assure that the truly corrupt and careless among us can continue to live in ways that go unchecked, no matter how destructive they are, because people are too busy trying to control each other.
When it comes to solving certain social problems, the instant reaction of governments to restrict, to tax and to ban everything has been enough to get me looking for non-governmental/non-political solutions — but that’s not exactly what I want to explore here.
The main point was that one of the most prevalent social consequences of these ideologies hijacking legitimate human concern is that large numbers of people will find themselves supporting them almost by accident, being emotionally- and fearfully-driven towards these causes, not realising they’re falling for a trap.
This is how many who used to consider themselves a force of resistance, such as the Occupy movement for example, or BLM more recently, now ironically find themselves in-line with corporations and governments throughout the world; their causes have been co-opted, and they are being used and conditioned to become the people they once sought to resist.
The tyranny and the authoritarianism seems to have been on an almost non-stop increase since 9/11, and perhaps I just didn’t notice it before that because I was so young, but it never seemed to be as bad within individuals as it is today. It’s as if some people are under some kind of spell, thinking they can solve all the problems in the world just so long as they can control it.
Beware of anyone who seeks to use social causes or international and global concerns to try to control what you think or say, how you live, who you associate with, what you consume, etc. It’s most-likely that this person is getting some ego-gratification through trying to control you, regardless of how sincerely they might have deluded themselves into thinking they’re saving the world.
