Overton Window

I read the first 27 chapters of this last night. It was quite a read. The introduction is engaging, the pace is fast, the characters engaging and the plot...chilling, and chillingly possible.

The biggest surprise for me is the intertwining of documents, policies, and political thought both historical and present in such a way that presents a very possible "alternate" view of the present. I only say alternate because this is a work of fiction (or "faction" as Beck calls it). We see things happening today in the headlines that mirror the text, a shattered economy, inept government handling of very important matters (or, if not inept, so "goal" driven as to leave the human out of the equation), instances of the press being present before incidents occur to report on them as they happen. Very scary stuff.

It's very easy to brush this off, and to say all of these points have nothing to do with each other. I'm quite sure that's what the Germans said during Hitler's rise to power, or the Russians prior to the fall of the Tsar (or Czar...choose your spelling). The "this type of thing can't happen here" cry when it already almost has (during the tenure of Wilson especially).

The book reminds me, in some ways, of C.S. Lewis' That Hideous Strength, because, although in Lewis' text the events are driven by spiritual forces, instead of just insidious human ones, the governments and actions of people in power end up looking very similar. And both books are a resounding criticism of the natural (or unnatural) end of "progressive" thought. Humans controlled by government for their own good. (Although the ultimate "controllers" of that government may be seen to be different forces in the two works, or then again, maybe not.)

The sad thing is, every time this has happened in history, the governments devour their populations. People as individuals cease to exist for their own sake, and only exist to feed and propagate the machine, or the individuals who run the machine. It is no longer Deus ex machina but rather the machine IS god. And as a machine, there is no conscience, no soul, nothing human driving it. It exists for its own sake.

It is this type of thought that allows for "ethnic cleansing" or "removal of undesirables." It is this type of thought that kills teachers, thinkers, religious figures, and individual freedoms. It is this type of thought that steps on the downtrodden with jackbooted ruthlessness. It is this type of thought that demands conformity and brutally crushes anything that appears that might be the slightest bit different. Imagine the world as a vast concrete slab, where any flower appearing through a crack is cut off, lest it threaten the structure.

It is interesting that so many have perceived this in the past as demonstrated in Rudyard Kipling's poem used in Beck's book, or in C.S. Lewis' work, or in Orwell's 1984, or Thomas Payne's tracts, and hundreds of other places. And the cry to pay attention and to wake up occurs again, and again.

The sad thing is that these things are ignored. People sleep, or think it doesn't apply as they go to movies, or listen to their i-pods, or are concerned with the vapid "real housewives" of some community, or become consumed by a big gathering of 'futbol' teams. And they let their world slip away.

The good thing is voices keep reminding us to be vigilant. Let's just hope that we remember to wake up and listen.