Both individuals and societies tell themselves stories to simplify and make sense of the messy chaos of reality.
Adam CurtisRead
Ever since the economic crisis in 2008, millions of people have accepted cuts in all sorts of things - from real wages and living standards to benefits and hospital care - without any real opposition. The cuts may be right, or they may be stupid - but the astonishing thing is how no-one really challenges them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the lack of public resistance to austerity measures following the 2008 economic crisis.
Adam Curtis highlights a concerning trend where millions have accepted significant reductions in wages, living standards, and essential services without substantial pushback. This observation raises critical questions about societal complacency and the nature of public discourse, suggesting that whether these cuts are justified or not, their acceptance by the masses signals a troubling absence of challenge or debate in the face of adversity.
Themes
Economic Crisis AusterityPublic ComplacencyLiving StandardsOpposition
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about current economic policies during a community meeting.
More from Adam Curtis
All quotes →In our age of individualism, we see computers as ways through which we can express our individuality. But the truth is that the computers are really good at spotting the very opposite. The computers can see how similar we are, and they then have the ability to agglomerate us together into groups that have the same behaviours.
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One of the guiding beliefs of our consuming age is that we are all free and independent individuals. That we can choose to do pretty much what we want, and if we can't, then it's bad. But at the same time, co-existing alongside this, there is a completely different, parallel universe where we all seem meekly to do what those in power tell us to do.
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So much of the language that surrounds us - from things like economics, management theory, and the algorithms built into computer systems - appears to be objective and neutral. But in fact, it is loaded with powerful, and very debatable, political assumptions about how society should work and what human beings are really like.
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Throughout the western world, new systems have risen up whose job is to constantly record and monitor the present - and then compare that to the recorded past. The aim is to discover patterns, coincidences and correlations, and from that, find ways of stopping change. Keeping things the same.
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