Freedom, People. Dystopias, People.

"It is reasonable to argue that the man set upon by thieves in Christ’s famous parable had a claim – a moral claim – upon those who passed him by, and one that only the Good Samaritan was prepared to answer. But such cases of basic morality impose claims on each of us individually, and cannot be answered on our behalf by the state." 

-- Roger Scruton

"... until finally they were given their liberty, so far as the law goes,--and that is only a little way, because, after all, every human being’s life in this world is inevitably mixed with every other life and, no matter what laws we pass, no matter what precautions we take, unless the people we meet are kindly and decent and human and liberty-loving, then there is no liberty. Freedom comes from human beings, rather than from laws and institutions."

-- Clarence Darrow

Through laws, the government can create a space for freedom, and in the modern world this ought to be its primary function.  However, it is mostly up to people to make sure that space cleared for freedom is something more than a cold vacuum in which we are safe from direct harm but isolated, lacking the cooperation and interactions that make life fruitful and even meaningful. 

There are certain things that are necessary for a society to function properly, especially one that is based on the ideas of freedom.  Those things cannot be legislated or enforced by a government. They need to come from people, be in people.  And they need to be instilled in people by families, communities and other organizations that people associate with on a mostly voluntary basis and that they respect. 

Yet, people seem to look upon the government and technology to make our lives better: freedom, prosperity, equality.  The government can provide the environment for those things and technology can help people achieve them, but in the end it is people that make them a reality.  Thinking that government or technology can and should fix all our problems always makes me think of dystopian stories.  

On one end of the spectrum is Orwell’s 1984 where an oppressive government controls thought fear.  On the other end is Huxley’s Brave New World where the government controls through entertainment and pleasure.  In both cases, the government seems to think that it is fixing problems and making a better society then what would otherwise be.  We may find that hard to believe, but that doesn’t mean those leaders didn’t believe it or that there isn’t at least some truth to it. 

Maybe "A Brave New World" could save us, but only maybe.  Huxley's vision of control through entertainment and pleasure is far more practical and close to reality than Orwell's control by fear and coercion.  People can more effectively and amiably be persuaded or even tricked into doing something because they see it as good for themselves than they can be forced to do it thought fear.  We see this all the time in advertising, and technology and corporations are so powerful today because they are good at doing this.  

Still, Huxley's idea that the people entertaining us would be interested in more than just filling their own pockets is far more utopian than it is realistic.  We are amusing ourselves into (political) division, (social) chaos and (environmental and geopolitical) catastrophe.  What we should really be doing is spending time with and relying on the people around us, not looking to technology, companies or the government to fix our problems.