Depictions of the end of the world frequently portray a one-world government that takes control of the world. Control is often obtained through empty promises made to “world citizens” during times of distress. In this article, I will attempt to outline a way in which a world government may come to be and how it might eventually control the human race.
For the purpose of this article, I define a successfully “controlled” human race to have the following characteristics:
- A single entity defining social norms
- Limited free will with no sense of self-conscious
- Perfect order and harmony in societal relations
- Little instances of rebellion from orthodoxy
Disclaimer: The ideas presented below, if enacted, are radical and dangerous. They do not reflect my personal beliefs and I do not endorse these ideas by any means. This article was written to demonstrate the susceptibility of the human race, and how we may be exploited in the future. I give credit to the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley for many of these ideas.
Step 1: Induce Worldwide Hysteria
The first step to control the world is to induce worldwide hysteria by propagating an international war. When I say war, I mean the bloodiest imaginable. The war would last many years, and violence would become enrooted in the daily life of every inhabitant. In order to manufacture a stable and controlled society, a time of prolonged instability must be sacrificed.
The suffering caused by widespread despair would create a massive vulnerability in the human population. Once it reaches a point where stability becomes a rare commodity, any relatively persuasive entity who promises stability would be endorsed and carried to power. For the remainder of this writing, I will refer to this entity as the World Government.
Step 2: Destroy Books, Monuments, and Religion
Individuals make decisions based on their knowledge of history, their observations, and their life experiences. In order for the World Government to begin to control decisions made by humans, it must destroy all sources of history. This includes books, historical artifacts, monuments and memorials, certain buildings, and the notion of religion. Without history to base decisions on, individuals would be left to base their decisions solely on experience and observations. Over time, the collective experiences and observations of society would diminish, and the remainder would become universal.
Step 3: Sterilize the Majority of the Human Race
Human population is a variable that must be managed in order to control the world. Nearly 99% of men would be sterilized, and up to 80% of women. The 20% of women and the 1% of men who are fertile would have their sperm and eggs harvested. The World Government would control the number of offspring produced by artificial fertilization and uterus-less incubation of fetuses. Individuals who are not sterilized will be forced on a strict contraceptive regime.
Step 4: Instill a Rigid Caste System
Create a number of castes within society. The highest class would be composed of a small number of people while the lowest class would encompass the largest number of people. The highest class individuals would perform primarily intellectual work, while lowest class workers would perform ordinary physical labor fit for their abilities.
Individuals in society would be born into their caste. The highest class would be the tallest in the society with the best genetics, and the lowest class would be the shortest with the lowest intellectual potential. The differences in physical (ex. height) and mental (ex. intelligence) characteristics between the classes would be controlled by the World Government. The agency responsible for reproduction would expose high class embryos to optimal conditions, while low class embryos would endure disadvantages.
Step 5: Eliminate the Concept of Family and Long Term Relationships
In a controlled society where population and reproduction are artificially controlled by the World Government, families are no longer necessary. With artificial fertilization and uterus-less incubation, women no longer need to get pregnant with a man.
All children of the society are raised communally (but separated by caste). Eliminating the variable of family dynamics creates a more stable society. Raising all children in the same environment also causes the children to act in very similar ways. Everyone in society would have essentially the same childhood.
Individuals are also barred from participating in long-term relationships. Instead, they are encouraged to be sexually active with whom they please, but not with the same person for an extended period. Strong emotional bonds between two individuals increase the chance that they will separate in the future, therefore increasing the risk for instability. In the future society being described, sexually transmitted diseases would have been permanently abolished by genetic alterations.
Step 6: Condition the Human Race from Birth
Conditioning is an important part of a controlled society. Through various means, individuals will be conditioned in the following ways:
- -To be proud of their caste, but not resent castes above or below
- -Enjoy their pre-destined occupation
- -Willfulness to consume products and services such as transportation
- -Indifference to death, ignorance of old age
- -Long term relationships are unwanted
- -Leave no desire left unfulfilled
- -Live in the present, don’t dwell on the past
- -Family is an esoteric concept with devastating consequences
An example of conditioning may be bringing toddlers to a hospital or a morgue and giving them desert, as to desensitize them to death.
Step 7: Leave No Desires Left Unfulfilled
As mentioned in Step 5 and 6, no desire should be left unfulfilled. Things like sexual and monetary desires result in societal instability. Every individual would be free to be sexually active as they please. Promiscuity would not be looked down on. Every individual would have the same housing, clothing, income, and hairstyle so that no one is envious towards another.
Step 8: Eliminate Illegal Drugs While Promoting Anti-Depressants
Everyone in society would use a form of anti-depressant. The drug would be quick acting, and would induce happiness for an extended period. The drug would be popped like candy and chewed like gum. The drug would act as a “catch-all” to cure all remaining instability that still exists in this hypothetical society.
Step 9: All Rebels Banished
In order to ensure stability, freethinkers must be swiftly removed from society. Whether it is by execution or imprisonment, rebels cannot be left to poison society with their unorthodox perspective.
Everyone in society is conditioned to operate in order to contribute to society. Society is reliant upon obedience of a universal set of social norms that must be followed by all.
Effects of a “Controlled” Society
Citizens are essentially brainwashed. This is possible due to all children being uniformly raised. After a length of time, all members of society would be the same, apart from differences in caste. Each citizen would draw upon the exact same experiences, observations, and knowledge when making decisions, thus making their actions predictable and controllable.
Free will in a “controlled” society is nonexistent. Everyone is conditioned from birth to desire, enjoy, and reject all the same things. There is no evidence of personal aspirations or determination.
It is almost impossible to picture yourself being happy in this “controlled” society. This is because you and I have a different perspective on happiness. If our only knowledge of happiness were defined by what you and I do in a typical day, we would surely be happier people. However, we are aware of the things the others have that we do not. This awareness is something that is nonexistent in a controlled society.
In the realistic society that we live in today, there are differences in physical, mental, and genetic characteristics between all individuals. These differences define a metaphorical container in which we live our lives. The size of this container is influenced by our knowledge, intellectuality, and natural abilities or talents. The smartest person in a town may be working an ordinary construction job, even though he or she has the potential to do the most amazing intellectual work. This unfortunate placement of occupation today is due to the unpredictability of individuals and society as we know it.
In a “controlled” society, the container would be strictly defined for each individual. Everyone would be happy working within their strict bounds defined by their “container.” With the absence of books and the discouragement of learning, an individual’s container is defined solely on the caste in which they are born.
There are, of course, downsides to free will and an uncontrolled society. We have to deal with murder, violence, unpredictability, and the dynamics of other people’s relationships. Eliminating the instable variables of life, as I tried to demonstrate here, creates an artificial society with no real purpose. The word “individual” was used numerous times throughout this writing, while in a “controlled” society, no true individuals would really exist. Individuality is an asset of society that must not be underestimated.
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That’s a scary proposition, but who knows – maybe we all would be happier, and the world would be a better place.
Unless lack of creativity leads to our ultimate doom. If we’re all conditioned to think in a certain way and aspire to do specific things, the desire to do “different” things that may be required to prevent our extinction wouldn’t exist. Just a thought.
I agree. If the trade off is limited free-will, no innovation, and no individuality, I’d have to decline a “perfect” society.
I prefer happiness based on reward from work (as a result from determination, aspirations, etc), rather than artificially created happiness.
Dear Innocent/Naive blogger,
(Un)Fortunately, most of what you discussed will be either impossible by itself, or previous steps being impossible, so you lil’ scenario will never happen. Or so I wish.
Step 1 is essentially impossible, evident by the fact that we still have multiple nations on Earth. Remember, people have been trying to do this for millennia, ever since, let’s see, the first military/government block’s formation. That’s no less than 3K years ago. Guess what, it failed. Essentially, it bogs down to this: either one nation must have extreme advantage over all others, or several nations commit suicide to kill each other. The first case is almost impossible, except the case with a loose alliance of multiple states (or the nation quickly disintegrates into multiple states, think of Mongol), which renders any steps after that impossible. The second case (which essentially was Cold War), well, rulers are not stupid, and they know that if they start nuke war, the whole race will be erased, and there will be no one left to rule.
Well, the first step has succeeded, I think, ONCE: Qin Dynasty of China. Yup, and Qui Shi Huangdi proceeds to second step. He burned books, buried (alive) learned class, etc. Result? Um, his son was abdicated from the throne, and his dynasty was quickly destroyed after his death. It is impossible, as one may see, to root out all culture to destroy! Stories, knowledge will pass on; if you try to stop that, they will simply fasten their speed of passing on.
Given that the first two steps are impossible, we can safely ignore the rest. In other words, you way to world domination is essentially wrong. DEAD WRONG.
Now, let’s consider ANOTHER way to dominate the world, illustrated by the Popes (or, Christianity) and, again, China. First, wars are not THAT bloody. Christianity’s taking over of Rome is not that all bloody; China unification, on the other hand, was all about ending wars, when the people were so sick of war that they basically support whoever stop that thing. Then, assimilation. No, they do NOT burn books, they do NOT kill of culture. They make those their owns. Think about how the Church claims old Gods as Christian Saints. Chinese, well, their power to assimilate is something of legend (look at all countries around China, and you will understand). Next is about “moral.” This is important piece! No, they will NOT sterilize anyone, since that is unnecessary. You want slaves, and brainwashed people are much better. Brainwashing them, through the use of “morality”, is much cheaper and more effective. Next, you create an image of mobility (that is, reverse of whatever you say about class structure). In Christian case, it is Heaven; in China, it is their seemingly open class system. NEVER let people know that they are restricted! That’s the key. At this point, well, no other actions are really needed.
Another point to make: good regimes do NOT kill of freethinkers. First, there are no such thing to begin with. Second, for any exceptional people, they are showered with awards and high positions, etc. Like Christian Saints and many high positions in Feudal Chinese government. Or, scholarships in American Ivy League. With this, those potential enemies become extremely useful pawns, for multiple battle fronts: they project the image of mobility (thik about “American Dream”), while generate ideas and innovations necessary for the regimes to continue ruling.
As you see, my dear blogger, you are way TOO naive to rule the world. Controlling the world involves very little force of your own: masculinity is mostly a hyper-testosterone myth. Controlling is all about soothing, morals, benevolence, etc. Remember, all regimes are essentially democratic: they rule as long as their subjects let them so; thus, it is vital that they appear righteous, benevolent, and opportunity-filled. Even to brainwashed people. Once you have that, once your people are ready to die for you, well, dominating those hot-headed, stupid, short-sighted enemies are trivial.
“you are way TOO naive to rule the world.”
No individual or organization, let alone myself, is even remotely qualified to rule the world. I sincerely hope that, in the future, no individual considers themselves so worthy.
The steps I laid out could not be enacted in a course of 5 years, or even 50 (and they should not even be attempted). The ideas laid out in this article are dangerous paths that our society *might* follow in the next hundred years, if not to say thousands. The effects of which might not be as obvious as I have made them appear, but present nonetheless.
Regardless, I thank you for the well thought out comment. I appreciate your insights.
I can assume you’ve read the foundation series by Issac Asimov!!
This really can be called a revolution, this doom would be for a long time, and would make the revolutionaries die by old age.
But I think it would be impossible, there is always a different thought to destroy this “perfect world”.
I think the worst thing that could happen to us is to live in a perfect world, the desire to improve and hope for something better is what makes us grow.
~Up from Brazil
Nice post. Thanks.