One friend who left the comment earlier in one of our blogs described the social media as the opium of the masses hinting to what is quoted from Marx or Engels. I found the description somehow correct. However I have some humble ideas to add.
Supposedly, the original quote says that the religion is the opium of the masses. Therefore one strong objective of a Marxist activist is to vehemently fight with the religious beliefs of the masses as one of the main endeavours of his activism.
Marxist position has an additional reason or perhaps the reason behind its proposition regarding the religion. They believe that they are scientific thinkers and their ideas are based on science and in science there is no place for the religion. One can find cause of any phenomenon in nature without need to attribute it to an unseen omnipotent nonphysical entity. For that, they also called themselves scientific socialists.
The historical dialectic of Marxism interpretes religion as a hindrance to the uprising of the masses. They believe that the poverty in religions is described as the result of the destiny of the individual, disobedience to god, a way of testing the faith of the believer. Also, according to the understanding of them of the religions, wealth is something that god has given to the owner of wealth (i.e., capital).
We have to leave these things now. However, it still remains some juice in this catch phrase. Surprisingly, I can generalise the same preposition to other things. For instance (and this is already has been said by some), the Marxism is the opium of masses. Religion and Marxism, and as my friend says, the very brand new Social Media, at the end of the day would fall in the hands of power and the authority and will be used against the ordinary people in a way to opiate them.
Mao believed that he had found a way to prevent such a phenomenon to happen by constant revolution and he created some excitement in the population of his followers, as one might interprete, to opiate them in the religious belief in his red book.
Robert Michels’s Iron Law of Oligarchy and Vilfredo Pareto – Gaetano Mosca’s Theory of Ruling Elites hinting to other rules governing aggregate of humans. According to Pareto and Mosca any conceiveable way of government will end up to the rule of lions by force, that is, the direct and ruthless governance or the rule of foxes by stealth and cunning and manipulative democracies both resulting frustration and inability of man to create a just and fair system
I differentiate just versus fair as I say. Just means that you stay on your agreement. For example, if you agree to pay ten pounds for a hand woven ‘broderie anglaise’ to a young weaver on the assumption to sell it in your shop for £12 then paying him the promised fee has fulfilled the criteria of you bing just towards him. When you pay justice has been done, full stop. Now assume someone comes to you and falls for the item and pays £20. It is “fair” that you give that extra £8 to the creator. All right, you had a role here, then give extra £6 by all fairness to the creator.
It is difficult. Isn’t it? Religion asks you to be fair and get reward in some other unseen world. Non-religious ideas, such as Marxism, say that you will be rewarded by a medal or by remembrance from the future generations. In both cases you will be deprived of 400% increase in benefit.
As usual I fell far from my goal title of the post. Social Media created from the beginning of the 21st century, became the most used mass media in the history of man and could break all the boundaries that already existed among humans. When we come from our daily toils back home and while we are having dinner with our families then at the same time we can talk and gossip about everything with any intention as if we are gathered in the village pub or coffee shop. We do not read evening newspaper (if they still publish) or watch TV. Everything is available on the Internet. Above all things on the we like the social media.
We like the chatting and banter and warmth of the environment that we have created for ourselves. We become addicted to it. We are addicted but not opiated. If you exercise every day you become addicted but by no means you are opiated.
When Marxism investigates history, it does not say that early Christians, before Emperor Constantine, were opiated; in contrast, it believes they have been revolutionary and in favour of the movement of history to higher tiers of civilisation.
What happened then? And happens to any future strives of man to establish a just, lawful, and fair and balanced society. The authority and power come and find their way into it and at the top of it. Then they will use it against you and to opiate you.
(to be continued)
