Start recognizing the science fiction world you’re living in.
As someone who loves science fiction and writes science fiction, I biasedly believe it's some of the most important literature we possess. Particularly at this time in history. We can look at what has happened in the past and tell ourselves we’re going to learn from the mistakes of those that came before us, but it never happens. With sci-fi, however, we see the real world through a lens that is a little less scary. With the gossamer of fiction it’s easier to digest just how ugly reality can be. I like to share a lot about the real-world conspiracies, experiments, government projects and academic theories that inform so much of what we call science fiction. I like to talk about how Orwell and Atwood and Huxley viewed the world because it’s easier for people to swallow than a news article.
But I have been careful to tiptoe around the most prominent news of the day because, to be frank, I don’t like getting into online fights. Perhaps that makes me a coward. Perhaps it’s a way to maintain my sanity.
At my core, I’m a good girl. Typically, a rule follower. Type A to a fault. Although I’ve maintained what’s considered a controversial standpoint throughout the last year and a half I haven’t spoken about it online. The one time I attempted to share an email I sent to my children’s school opposing lockdowns I was attacked by some of the people who I’m closest to. Despite being right, I’ve never received apologies. Despite the evidence of hindsight, no one came with words of remorse or regret. These things hurt my heart. I don’t like to disappoint people. I can come off as tough, but when I know someone is angry with me, it eats me alive.
But right now I’m angry. Right now I’ve had enough. Right now I’m tired of being a nice girl. I’m tired of being palatable. I’m tired of being quiet. And I’m tired of pretending like it’s okay not to take a stance. I’m tired of acting like complacency and compliance doesn’t negatively impact my family. I’m tired of the labels and accusations. I’m tired of being asked to stay quiet for fear of rocking the boat, offending or being labeled as something I’m not. People will accuse me of ignorance, but be unwilling to debate. They’ll stick me in a category the news told them to. I don’t care anymore. What is right is more important to me than being liked.
So, I’m going to use the language that I speak to explain how I feel about the last year and a half. I’m going to talk in terms of sci-fi about my worldview. Why now? Because, in light of the recent executive order, and everything that came before it, I can’t pretend anymore like there aren’t sides in this. And like I haven’t chosen mine. But I’m not interested in being divisive either. The last thing this world needs is more division. So I want to paint a picture using the stories I love that we all consume passively, but are glaring warnings for what we’re marching into.
Our Science Fiction World
In science fiction we know damn good and well that the government never has our best interest at heart. We know that absolute power corrupts absolutely. That the new medical experiment most often leads to a zombie apocalypse. That when the Gilead’s and the Capitols of our narratives make decisions “for the people,” that it is never for the people. It’s for the people in charge. We know that the men who wrote 1984 and Brave New World were intimately tied to the powers that be of the time and had intimate knowledge of what the rulers intended for us. (Seriously, look it up. Aldous Huxley’s brother Julian was a prominent eugenicist who bridged the gap between Nazi style eugenics and the modern-day approach. How nice. As a member of the Eugenics Society, which still exists today as The Galton Institute, the Huxley’s were very plugged into what the elite had planned for us. A plan that’s playing out before our eyes.)
We know that Margaret Atwood used real history to write The Handmaid‘s Tale. We know that when a dictator slams their fist on a podium and demands compliance that we’re all in trouble. We know that authoritarian takeovers roll out slowly and under the guise that it’s temporary and for our own good. Again, I implore you to remember the slow trickle that changed America into Gilead.
Tyrants present their solution as the cure for all our ills. They give you someone among your own population to fear and hate and persecute, so you never look at the ones who are really responsible. They use terror and the prospect of death to lure you into submission. Please government, I’ll do anything, just save my life. And what we know for certain is that though their hatred may be aimed at a small group to begin with, that vitriol eventually comes for everybody. Remember, not even District One children were spared from The Hunger Games. Nor were the wives in Gilead allowed to read without losing a finger.
So, while it may seem like you’re on the winning team right now. I promise, they’ll come for you too.
Then there’s the overt matter of censorship. Where in sci-fi have those doing the censoring been on the side you root for? Was it the “firemen” of Fahrenheit 451? Or the Thought Police of 1984 that were the good guys? Or the machines in The Matrix who used technology to make humans docile and believing in something that wasn’t real while stealing their power for themselves? I can’t recall.
The fact that prominent scientists, medical studies and historical facts are being wiped from the Internet (there one day, gone the next), that Wikipedia pages are altering doctor’s roles and distinguishments, that Google produces significantly different results than other search engines and no room is allowed for debate on social media is an abysmal nosedive into science fiction worlds we used to use as metaphors.
And if you really want to see the framework for how viruses are used as a means for capturing the minds and rights of citizens, feel free to watch Utopia, V for Vendetta or 12 Monkeys to get you started. Aside from the obvious predictive programming, these very real agendas are put into film and TV to minimize and paralyze your ability to see that it’s actually happening right before your eyes. “Oh you silly conspiracy theorist, this isn’t a global takeover, you’ve just watched too much Netflix.” Are you aware that the Netflix founder, Marc Randolph, is the great nephew of Edward Bernays… the pioneer of modern PR and propaganda? What an odd coincidence.
Solutions for a Sci-Fi Filled World
What I don’t want is to simply point out all the ways this mess has turned into a science fiction story right before our eyes. If you can’t see these “leaders” for the power thirsty President Snow’s and Jeanine Matthews and Commander Waterford’s that they are, perhaps you can see the solutions.
It is when the disempowered many stand up to the over empowered few and demand their freedom, that the scales begin to tilt towards balance. It is in the recognition that opposing factions have to band together and that division is how they’ve been playing us all along. You’ll find that it often takes an act of supreme, insane bravery and sometimes an outlaw to say “no more” to petty tyrants. That love, abundant, enduring painful and perfect love, has more power than anything else in the world. More power than manipulation, mandates, programming or shame.
In science fiction, we see that if you are on the same team as corporate giants, bureaucrats and politicians, you’re the “Peace Keepers” the “Guardians” the “Agents.” And that the leaders you defend will happily sacrifice you to stay on top. They’ll make you do their bidding in the streets while they sit comfortably in their towers. They’ll act as puppet masters while sending you to slaughter. These people are not on your team.
For anyone reading this who feels angry, upset, or dismissive, because perhaps I’ve accused you of being a foot soldier for the villains... good. I want you to see who it is you serve. For those saying “yeah, but that is science fiction and this is the real world.” Know that they are one in the same. That our stories only connect when they come from a place of truth. That science fiction is about forecasting the future, and so many of them were right. That there’s a reason why our hearts cling to the heroines and despise the villains. There’s a reason why science fiction writers felt compelled to tell these stories. Start becoming abundantly aware of who is the hero and who is the villain in your reality. Is it the naturopathic doctor, the mother of an injured child, the outspoken independent journalist who has everything to lose that you’re fighting? Or is the enemy pharmaceutical giants who have been sued for billions for intentionally deceptive marketing, endangerment and death? The politicians who’ve become millionaires while holding office? The physicians paid handily for their mainstream perspective, even if it conflicts directly with previous statements they’ve made? Understand that the world you live in right now is a story in itself, crafted by controllers. That the archetypes that haunt and hypnotize our minds exist in reality. And that for many, The Matrix has developed them into an unwitting supporter of the machine by making them see in binary code and hate anyone who believes in a world beyond 1’s and 0’s.
And now… to the powers that shouldn’t be:
I see you Presidents, Prime Ministers, governors, Heads of the CDC, the WHO, the media. I see you for what you truly are. For the High Chancellor Sutler’s, the Agent Smiths and the Mad Titans that you are.
And I choose something else. I choose liberty and life and love and light. I am not on your team. I am on the side of humanity. Even the ones cheering on our demise at the moment.
Remember that the system always breaks. That nature is abundantly more powerful than anything in your labs. That you can do everything in your power to control our minds, but you will never have a grip on our hearts. Our souls. Know that the truth is always revealed in time. Feel terror deep in your gut as you continue to discover just how flimsy your control is. Be mindful that a single, well-aimed arrow, or a pen filled with honesty and spirit has the ability to topple you any day. We see you clinging. We feel your desperation. And we are not afraid.
My kids. The children of Zion, the Victors of the Quarter Quell, the Divergents… they will inherit this world with the understanding that they are more powerful, more capable and wholly sovereign in ways you could never imagine for them. In ways you will come to fear and despise because it means you are small compared to their unbridled greatness. These kids won’t bow to tyrants and their eyes will be fixed on the horizon, not their screens.
Human consciousness is elevating. More people than ever before see you for the cyborgs, parasitic aliens, power-hungry dictators and corporate cronies that you are… and you will not win.
