Skip to main content

Two Minutes: Sanitised



It was a quiet, peaceful, predictable time. All the songs were about love, and peace, the soy eggs on the breakfast table and 176 shades of lavender. The news spoke of growth, the glory of the nations and endless, invisible victories. Time was devoted to communal reflection on publicly accepted (and officially endorsed and corrected) opinions. Art was abstract, fluffy and properly integrated into the market. Everyone knew their exact value, as determined by the "Citizen Points" system, daily tasks and privileges, as assigned and earned through that system. And the big numbers generated by the economy buoyed the general optimism of the era, which in turn bulled the market, which in turn buoyed the big numbers- it was a healthy, reciprocal cycle.  

No-one really liked each other, but everyone somehow got along- of course, people had long ceased to talk to each other directly. Such unmediated communication had beed deemed harmful, unsafe and untrustworthy by the majority consensus vote of 2023*- in which 35% of voters had participated, with commercial personal entities making up the difference! The language filters made it almost impossible to be confronted with an opinion that deviated, even semantically, from the established discourse.

This was, of course, not to say that citizens were not free to dissent, on the contrary, it was encouraged to regularly raise awareness for minority and social causes, as long as it was endorsed by a representative celebrity. Even better if it was in the current Marketing Materials- buy your ticket to the Sténle holodemo today! 10% of the price will be trickled down to selected worthy representatives of your cause of choice. "Consumer options range from the ever-popular Minority Inclusion SCENTEDSOAPGUNS! to ultimately important Media Literacy UNILLAMAS and Regulated Biodiversity KITTENSCRUFFLES! No further interaction on your part required to uplift the equally but less privileged."**

* no-one knew exactly what the number 2023 signified.  

** from the Marketing Materials circulated on 207, STE. The dating system was adjusted to reflect the sunsetting of an old norm of counting and startup of the era of Subjective Time. No longer was any individual bound by the oppressive shackles of an imposed system of time measurement, finally achieving harmony with personal concepts of time, reflecting the value of every unit of citizens' time. Any reference to the end-of-lived era were carefully recontextualised and adapted to reflect the new insight and understanding. 

 This feels relevant: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-43198404
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IGAF: Utopia- Les Jours Meilleurs

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote this post, titled Dystopia , containing a dark version of the future, a look at the negative outcomes that might crawl out of the COVID-19 crisis. It has, by now been described as "9/11 in slow motion". Someone else broke a golden editorial rule to describe it as "2008  on crack". Media outlets, including Youtube, have warned of the long-term effects of this, on civil rights, labour and employment, surveillance and press freedom. And some, most notably Mr Orban of Hungary, have used this excellent opportunity to pass new, restrictive legislation that concentrates power in their hands. There have been calls for the elusive COVID cure not to be patented. And yet… And yet… It's easy to lose yourself in a media bubble, following the news and media 24/7, following, queuing in line to get into expensive shops, just walking into discount stores and the constant desire for many drinks (preferably with 10 friends or more, in a park...
Post a Comment
Read more

IGAF: Disappearing the inconvenient.

This IGAF (Is Goodness a Fashion) series explores, from a non-expert point of view, the social, economic and narrative ramifications I see developing from the COVID-19 crisis, worries, but also hopes for a future that the current shock to the system may result in. It's a pity that random things happen when random people interact. That a person might be exposed to unexpected, or unpleasant sights when they leave the house. That we might see trash, homeless people, the effects of gentrification, closed stores in polluted streets, trees withered by mercurial weather, people in environmental suits, afraid of the diseases lurking within the safe confines of those suits. The world divided into those who have to face the streets, the Outside, and those who are safe Inside. It's a pity that these still interact. Our measure as a species that claims moral, ethical and intellectual hegemony over this planet will be two-fold as we deal with the COVID-19 crisis: On the one hand, socie...
Post a Comment
Read more

IGAF: An ahistoric crisis?

One of the many reasons I have grown to appreciate interviews with Arundhati Roy over the last year of what I'm calling her book tour is that, in contrast with many speakers at conferences and interviewees, I never have the feeling she is trying to sell me something. She speaks in a calm, collected voice, full of knowledge, experience and occasional wisdom, without being desperately full of herself. One of my favourite sayings is, so far, goes something like "The most successful revolution was the secession of the rich onto a global planet, wherefrom they cannot see the poor. There is no more India, no more USA, no more Europe- there is planet Rich, then there is planet Poor, and both are global."* Carers at their limits- now more than ever. For €2400 and some chocolates?  A month or so into what may be a new normal, my life is still pleasant- with some adjustment, I am, so far, privileged in this absence of change and an ability to follow the crisis as I would fol...
Post a Comment
Read more