Real-Time Relationships
The Logic of Love Free Download
Some
of the greatest movies of the past ten years explored what it is like to live in an illusion. “The Sixth
Sense,” “Fight Club” – and, greatest of
all, “The Matrix.” Let’s start with a
spoiler or two, shall we? In “The
Matrix,” a young man is awakened from a computer-generated imaginary world to find that he is enslaved
by robots
who are paralyzing him with the illusion of life in order to harvest his electrical energy. This is a wonderful metaphor on many levels, and tells us an enormous amount about our “relationship” with truth and reality. In the movie, the robots that were originally invented to serve mankind end up ruling mankind and spinning an illusory “reality” which keeps their former masters entombed in the mere appearance of a life. My take on this metaphor is that it is really describing propaganda. For instance, the government is an institution that was originally designed to serve citizens – “government by and for the people.” However, as we have seen countless times, what we create to serve us ends up ruling us. Governments that were supposedly created to keep our property safe from thieves now steal upwards of 50% of our income under the guise of “taxation.” Governments were supposedly created to give us participation in the “democratic process” – yet if we do not agree with whatever those in the government decree, we are threatened with violence and imprisonment. Through the endless infliction of pro-state propaganda in government schools, we grow up believing in mad illusions such as “countries,” “virtuous violence,” “participative democracy,” “voluntary taxation,” “moral murder” in the form of “armies” and so on.
who are paralyzing him with the illusion of life in order to harvest his electrical energy. This is a wonderful metaphor on many levels, and tells us an enormous amount about our “relationship” with truth and reality. In the movie, the robots that were originally invented to serve mankind end up ruling mankind and spinning an illusory “reality” which keeps their former masters entombed in the mere appearance of a life. My take on this metaphor is that it is really describing propaganda. For instance, the government is an institution that was originally designed to serve citizens – “government by and for the people.” However, as we have seen countless times, what we create to serve us ends up ruling us. Governments that were supposedly created to keep our property safe from thieves now steal upwards of 50% of our income under the guise of “taxation.” Governments were supposedly created to give us participation in the “democratic process” – yet if we do not agree with whatever those in the government decree, we are threatened with violence and imprisonment. Through the endless infliction of pro-state propaganda in government schools, we grow up believing in mad illusions such as “countries,” “virtuous violence,” “participative democracy,” “voluntary taxation,” “moral murder” in the form of “armies” and so on.
