On The Road Again...(part 1)
...Sorry, no Charles Kuralt or Willie Nelson here.
This is the the road to DYSTOPIA.
Today, we're going to take a little "road trip" and sneak a peek into that wonderful "world".
*** But FIRST, the answer to yesterday's "WHO SAID THAT?" quote:
It was... NAPOLEON.
(30 April 1809 to Eugene, correspondance de Napoleon ler, publiee` par ordre de l' Emperor Napoleon III, No 15144, Vol XVIII, 1858-1870, p.545)
Now, dig out and dust off those thinking caps, because there will be a LOT of food for thought here, today.
I just hope I can cram it all into a couple posts.
*** I'm certainly NOT the first person to coin the phrase "Road to Dystopia", and given the current state of affairs both in America and around the globe, I won't be the last, either. That much is sure.
Do a search for that phrase, and you will surprise yourself at the number of hits.
Now, we defined this word as meaning a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding.
Well, that would qualify several nations right off the bat, hmm?
Greece comes to mind immediately. I also think Cuba, and Uganda.
The riots and fires across England a few months back also play a part in this, and the riots throughout nations in the Middle East (as they try to turn the region into a caliphate) are causes for concern.
Here, in America, we are not immune to this either.
The recent "occupy" movement, designed and orchestrated by radicals for the sole purpose of bringing down "big business", when in fact, it's been big business that has allowed us (here) to enjoy the freedoms and liberties we do.
Many of those behind the scenes of the OWSers are people wanting that "fundamental transformation of America", and that would be more towards socialism.
The results of such a success by these people would cause this nation to become something akin to what we see in the Hollywood cinema, because for some odd reason, THEY seem to be all over this, and have been for decades.
How's about I toss a few MOVIE TITLES out there to better describe what a DYSTOPIAN society will look like, and then you tell me?
* * * * * * * *
SOYLENT GREEN
BLADE RUNNER
1984
BRAVE NEW WORLD
FAHRENHEIT 451
ATLAS SHRUGGED - PART 1
DEMOLITION MAN
MINORITY REPORT
V FOR VENDETTA


MAD MAX
I, ROBOT
THE MATRIX
BRAZIL
ZARDOZ
ROBOCOP
12 MONKEYS

LOGAN'S RUN
ROLLERBALL
ON THE BEACH
WATERWORLD
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK
METROPOLIS
THE OMEGA MAN
I AM LEGEND
THE RUNNING MAN
SLEEPER
THX 1138
THE FIFTH ELEMENT
JUDGE DREDD
RESIDENT EVIL
EQUILIBRIUM
ULTRAVIOLET
And these are a (very) partial list of the movies that portray a society that has gone "wrong".
How many of these movies have YOU seen, and what makes them interesting to you?
--They ALL share a common theme...that of a society where THE LAW is not what we see today.
--They have either an oppressive government, or none at all.
--They have people portrayed as being controlled to some degree.
--They have the protagonist railing against "the system", and, as is the case in Hollywood, often succeeding.
And they give us a taste of what it would be like if WE found ourselves in such a situation.
Television has also provided similar venues, such as MAX HEADROOM.
ALL of these movies and shows have that common theme of a society that has become DYSTOPIC, but it's differing in the CAUSES.
The MAIN THREE causes are as follows:
--We have the POST-APOCALYPTIC scenarios (Mad Max, I Am Legend)
--We have the CORPORATE scenarios ( Soylent Green, Total Recall)
--We have the GOVERNMENTAL scenarios ( The Handmaid's Tale, V For Vendetta)
And, it's this LAST one that "we" have to concern ourselves with, because it's the one that is the most prevalent and the most insidious as to the manner in which it is perpetrated upon an otherwise unsuspecting populace.
Remember the quote by Thomas Jefferson that goes:
"A government BIG enough to give you everything you want, is STRONG enough to take everything you have."
And that's a major part of the problem in THIS country these days...
Our government (for the better part of a century or so), has seen fit to deem itself our "caretaker"...in some manner or fashion.
Our government wants us to "depend" on them...and with every passing year, we are seeing it happen.
They have so many departments within itself, that even THEY don't know what they're doing all the time...no one could.
Everything from the lightbulbs we use, to the foods we eat, to the soft drinks on store shelves, to the vehicles we drive...ALL of these (and much more) are there to "make our lives better", but is that REALLY the end result?
Are our lives honestly made BETTER (for us), or better for the government, because they are taking more "control" of our lives through such things?
Wasn't it just a few generations back, that Americans tended to depend on THEMSELVES a helluva lot more than we do today?
And didn't Americans depend on ONE ANOTHER a lot more than today?
When did SELF-RELIANCE get booted out the door, and why did it happen in the first place?
Now, I don't profess to know what the END GAME is for the government (and I doubt they even do at this point), but I DO know that a malleable populace is better able to be controlled, and the best way to achieve that is by changing the manner in which that populace lives.
We see today that close to FIFTY PERCENT of the people in AMERICA are on some sort of "government assistance", and aside from those folks with honest-to-God disabilities that prevent them from living what we consider a normal life, there is simply NO reason for such a high number...unless the government WANTS you to depend on them.
What our government fails to realize in all of this, is that THEY need us a helluva lot more than we need them.
At least, that's the theory.
Truth be told, we might need the government to protect it's people from internal or external forces that would remove our liberties and freedoms, but by the same token, when that very government deems that "we" (the people) need to hand over , or "sacrifice" our liberties and freedoms, in the name of "protection", then we can wind up kicking that snowball down the mountain.
And, at the bottom of that mountain is the LODGE, full of the people of this nation.
(not a pretty ending)
Now, I can certainly understand a government's REASON behind making things like our FOOD safe, or our drinking water potable, or our air breathable, and I can also comprehend WHY we need a strong military to protect our country, as well as laws to keep the law-abiding people safe from society's predatory minions.
But what amazes me, is this inherent "need" on the part of our government to INTRUDE into damn near EVERY FACET of our lives...that's NOT what our Founders envisioned one damn bit.
Maybe there is a minuscule portion of our people that DO need "watching over", but definitely not everyone.
There are those (of us) that practice moderation, frugality, charity, and have the instinctive values and principles that make us "model citizens", concerned with our own well-being, as well as that of our fellow man.
We are the ones that can "police ourselves", are responsible to ourselves, and hold ourselves accountable for each and every one of our successes as well as our failures.
We ask little of our government, save that which is written in our Constitution, and we expect that to be upheld.
We don't seek to take from anyone else for any reason, nor do we wish to have anything taken from us.
We only want to be good stewards of that with which we have been blessed...period.
And yet, the government would want us to go against THOSE ideals in order to make things MORE "equal".
We need to step back, and take a closer look as to WHY a government all but demands such things from people, and how this is being accomplished.
And we will be dissecting the reasons and also the "symptoms" that lead to a dystopic society that I mentioned earlier this week in tomorrow's post.
I can't properly address them here without making this post WAY TOO LONG, and I certainly don't want to make you bleary-eyed or cause you to become bored in any way, shape, or manner...that is not my intent.
I only want to bring the truths out an let you all decide for yourselves.
(Damn, I knew this was going to be a bit protracted, and I apologize ahead of time for this, but there is SO much information that I believe you all need to know)
So...hang in there, and stay tuned. I promise you'll find it most interesting.
In the meantime
Be well, make a difference to someone today, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.