Thread: Literary We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
View Single Post
Old 11-20-2012, 09:42 AM   #9
paola
Wizard
paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
paola's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,824
Karma: 5843878
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: UK
Device: Pocketbook Pro 903, (beloved Pocketbook 360 RIP), Kobo Mini, Kobo Aura
Quote:
Originally Posted by caleb72 View Post
First of all - horrifying.
actually, I've found a link - the writeout is here and the whole programme here (it was back in 2004 though: doesn't time fly )

Quote:
Originally Posted by caleb72 View Post
Secondly, are you saying in terms of dated that you think that the harshness of this dystopian society doesn't measure up to reality? That it somehow whitewashes just how terrible such a society can be with the above as an example?
yes, precisely: though once you put it so starkly I start feeling I may have been too harsh. The Operation is horrifying indeed, though you may argue that we do willingly submit to milder forms of it still today, whenever we subscribe to anything that does the thinking for us (ok, yes,I am thinking religion), or simply suspend the thinking (e.g. drugs).

Quote:
Originally Posted by caleb72 View Post
This is the dead horse I like to flog, but in my country, the road toll - those dying in or because of cars - is an example of how the powers-that-be exert a kind of control over the population.

Slogans like "Speed Kills" and similar litter our roads and media. The use of speed signs to reduce the need for thinking, the control over what you can or can't do while in the car, the constant barrage or information telling you that you're too drunk to drive or too drowsy. And all of this is swallowed because people don't accept the consequences of chaos, of freedom. The fact that people can die on the road is somehow abhorrent and not acceptable and this oppression both subtle and unsubtle is applied in the name of controlling something that can not be controlled.
Actually I forgot to comment upon this one: agree to some extent, but what about the issue of "who pays for it when things go wrong"? You can get the same result (i.e. a "littering"of "Speed kills") not because of a "nanny state", but simply on the basis of a very pragmatic approach whereby I have to curb my enthusiasm for fast/drunken/drowsy driving as you would have to pay (with your taxes) for my medical care/funeral or just for road repairs when I go straight at the bend
But perhaps I am putting it too simplistically (if that is an English word)?
paola is offline   Reply With Quote