Prison-nation of Internet Slaves

[William Prest]

“Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage. Minds innocent and quiet take that for an hermitage.” so the quote attributed to Richard Lovelace, a 17^th century British poet-Royalist goes; but there is a new reality and paradigm out there that is alienating people from one another in a way hitherto unseen. It is being done on the battlefield of the mind. The phenomenon is seen most strongly among the youth were the pace of technological change is so rapid, that the virtual toys of three years ago are now considered old by the latest generation of gamers, ap-users and surfers are familiar with; things unknown by those just a few years older. Those of us who have seen the rise first of the PC, then the bulletin board service on the old 8 bit DOS based system, then the internet, the ethernet and now tens of thousands of applications and virtual reality games on I-phones, I-pods, I-pads and the like that have most of us feeling like we've been left behind in the dust. There was a time a few decades ago where it was not so challenging to keep up with the latest development, but now the pace is withering, even for the best. Originally, the internet was the reserve of the military and it is still controlled and being used by the war departments of the world.

Today there are children and young adults who no longer read books, newspapers, who no longer enjoy outdoor playing of sports, camping and the like. They have become enraptured of the latest virtual reality, making the geek the lifestyle that is the most admirable and imitated. These games have a strong hold and are a potent profit maker for the capitalists. They have been modified to recruit youth soldiers as young as 13, who play video games with real consequences thousands of miles away while they play in air conditioned comfort while real people die or are crippled several thousands of miles away. Extensions of these video games use drone planes to watch people in Afghanistan and Iraq and use robot bombs to penetrate target locations and approach human targets with deadly consequences. Many ware visors that make the virtual world almost identical to real time experience, at least to the mind that links to the external world through the senses. These things are very enrapturing to the point of addiction such as experienced with some mind altering drugs. Although there are programs to help people who use these products 50 plus hours a week, not everyone finds their way to them. People have given up jobs, lost homes and families to them.

Perhaps the worst thing about these all invasive distractions is the real social alienation that is displaced by virtual social interaction. Young people are losing social skills during what should be their most formative years where they have to interact peacefully with others. They can't interact with others of just three years difference in age. In times not so far distant into the past, people had to inter relate across the entire age spectrum. Language changes along with behaviour and we see this with a rapidity hitherto unseen. It has been noted for instance, that with the emergence of Twitter and tweeting, writing has completely changed with short cuts like “:), :(, ;), LOL, U for you, 2 for to or too and a host of other writing shortcuts. Grammar of just two years ago has declined sharply. There is a myth about the confusion of languages at the tower of Babel, that is now being fulfilled with rapidly changing technology today.

Many of the video games are violence and war oriented and war is the most profitable industry for the capitalist system. War where “you don't get hurt” while others die or writhe in crippling agony for your pleasure is an attractive potential for any military organization. This has been fulfilled with drones and robot bombs. It has been and continues to be the way that one group can win over another with superior fighting powers and technology. This has been the lesson of history, but the other lesson is the one of the permanent revolution. That tells us that the side without the superior technology does not have to go through all the development stages to reach the same level. All that is required is the acquisition of already existing technology. In real terms, if we use robot drones and bombs controlled halfway around the world, so can the other side once they acquire them or reverse engineer a captured item and then redirect the weapon to the source that originally created it.

Lenin remarked that countries were nothing more than a collection of “prison-houses of nations”. This can exist because of ignorance, the censorship of crucial survival skill knowledge, dumbing down and substituting a virtual reality for the real thing. Knowledge has become a commodity controlled from the top down and we have arrived at the stage of a prison-house of virtual reality internet slaves that is now the reality of the modern era. Once more the battle field has changed in the class war. A new strategy is needed in order to educate and liberate humanity. The young generation has to be snatched back from capitalist control.

Perhaps one way to approach this is to interest game developers to create revolution games beyond the poor resources that already exist. PC virtual reality gaming is an extremely competitive and currently profitable industry. There are many PC savvy geeks attempting to get rich quick with the “right game”. There are also political people searching for new ways to educate the people, especially the young. Perhaps there are some already out there that fit all the categories. Whatever the case, the people who consume games have to be aware of alternatives to the violent, killing and torture games that are so popular now.

We are also on record for stating that the internet is controlled by the state and military and can be manipulated in any way they see fit, including total censorship. The rash of censorship, hacking and manipulation of the last couple of years is a clear sign of control from outside. We are also on record repeatedly as advocates for local action and recruiting as we do not know how long the state will permit such activity on the internet. We all have to fight for a just world where we stand. That fight must be for the end of capitalism and the emergence of a planned economy.