I read The Revolution Will Be Digitised by Heather Brooke recently. It’s about freedom, democracy, control, and privacy in the digital age.
Before that I read The True Believer by Eric Hoffer. It’s Hoffer’s observations about why people join mass movements, whether they are fascist, communist, or religious movements.
A phrase that Hoffer used has stuck with me. He contrasts tight-knit societies with those where individuals are anonymous and free.
He describes people in mass societies as being free but that often they only feel free to feel inadequate.
And it seems to me that the cure for feeling inadequate must begin with acceptance – accepting oneself for what one is; for exactly what one is, without pulling back.
And that seems to me to be key in the struggle between democracy and control.
The struggle begins where and when people accept themselves for what they are and not what they have been labeled or allowed themselves to be labelled.
The struggle between freedom and control begins here.