Re: Matriz reloaded

["Henry C.K. Liu" <hliu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

We have to be careful about the difference between form and content.
Matrix can easily be used to alert the unthinking of the dangerous
infiltration of evil socialism into God's gift to the world: capitalism.
 The Darkness at Noon, Animal Farm genre. If socialism must reduce
itself to mindless sloganeering, it will fall into populist fascism.
There is no substitute for critical thinking, even for the young, the
golden age of inquisitiveness.  I know because my first career was
college teaching.  Those who do not want to or who is satisfied with
mindless slogans should stay away from demonstrations and watch them on
TV.  Socialism is not very complicated and is generally understandable
to most everyone.  Concepts like equality, fairness, cooperation, can be
taught in kindergarten and should be.  By the time one becomes a mature
professional, socialism can only be understood as a mid-life crisis.
The promotion of paranoia has little to do with freedom.  As Pogo said:
then enemy is us.

Henry C.K. Liu

Eliyanna (Erin) Kaiser wrote:
> Pretty much everything that needs saying has been said, but I want to
> add one small thought. Although it's just a big-budget Hollywood film, I
> think it's worthwhile to remember that young people really do watch all
> of these films (myself included here), and they can be used by activists
> to explain concepts that we would otherwise have trouble explaining to a
> generation fed on DisneyInc.
>
> Take for example the Seattle protests in 1999. One of the slogans used
> there that caught a lot of attention was, "Wake Up Muggles" - a
> reference to the Harry Potter books (not then a major movie series). I
> can easily imagine an eye-catching slogan of "Take the Red Pill" which
> could be an interesting way to catch the attention of young people
> suggesting that the capitalist system is like the Matrix, and that it's
> time to wake up from inaction and a state of unconsciousness, "reload"
> with some new ideas, and wage "revolution". It doesn't matter that this
> may not be what the filmmakers had in mind. It's just worthwhile to
> remember that popular culture is one of many ways of relating to people
> in the real world that is non-alienating. This isn't of course any
> overall strategy to relating to working-class people, it's one of many
> tactics that I think we should certainly not discount.
>
> I mean, really, It is after all the RED pill.
>
> Eliyanna