So you have a collection of different ways that you have identified that there are tools for disconnection.
K.F.: That's right.
R.K.: Let's talk about them.
K.F.: Okay, what we've got this is really we're moving from one book to another but we'll stick with Time's Up for the moment because that's really is the core of this book, describing what these tools of disconnection are.
The tools of disconnection that are used against us, that's what we need to be clear. They're not tools that we can use although yes there are certain ways that we can borrow ideas and use them against the system but essentially they're ways that we see that we have been manipulated as I say into believing that we are completely separate from the real world.
Tools of disconnection take many, many forms. They can range from, there are some fairly obvious ones such as advertising making you believe that there is a life that you want to lead that is completely isolated from the real world, that this wonderful life that you're presented with, this ersatz enjoyment, these consumer goods that essentially we have learned to believe that's all we need as human beings to be happy.
There are other things, I mean I won't go through every single one obviously because that's going to take time. There are other things such as this idea that we have choice. So for instance if you're the kind of person who votes and you think you have a choice between different parties, straight away if you start analyzing it, and you can hear it in the tone of my voice once you analyze it you realize there is very little difference between the different parties in the bigger picture.
They all want a capitalistic economy, they all want things to grow, they all want to keep people living within a certain range of rules and regulations in order to benefit the industrial economy. So really there is no difference in between parties but we're given this idea that there is choice.
This idea there is choice between how we live our lives. We can have a choice between different television channels, different internet providers, different types of kitchen roll or types of breakfast cereal but that's not really choice, that is simply this idea that you've been brought up to believe that tiny differences actually matter a lot. When we get into the more sinister ideas such as authority then we start to really see where this disconnection is taking place. So you live in a hierarchy.
Industrial civilization requires a complex hierarchy and study after study has shown we obey authority given the right circumstances. And if you're in a place of work you accept a certain amount of authority from managers, directors, chief executives, etcetera etcetera and that authority comes from the top down.
You are told what to do, you accept that, you do your job regardless of how destructive it is. And then we get to the idea of direct threat. So, direct threat from the police, direct threat from the military, direct threat from having your liberty taken away if you do anything wrong, right into direct violence. And violence which is committed upon people time after time in the name of law and order, in the name of trade, in the name of having power from one country over another, this is a very direct form of disconnection.
And the final one as it is in Time's Up is this idea of hope and my ideas of hope have changed slightly over time but really I take a cue from Eric Jensen who in his original seminar article described this concept of hope as being essentially something that is an alternative to getting stuff done.
So it's like a prayer. It gives you this idea that by just wishing something could be better, it actually makes something better. Which is patent nonsense if you look at it in clear light of day and hope can be very very damaging because although if you're right at the bottom, if you're in the worst possible situation a glimmer of hope can possibly pull you up.
If you actually want to achieve anything significant beyond that, hope is not going to get you there, actually doing stuff is going to get you there. That's the only way you're going to achieve anything. Not by sitting by and saying, oh I agree with you or I have given you a like on Facebook or I've re-Tweeted you. That's how hope really shows itself up in this technological world.
It's just not a way of getting anything done so hope really is a tool of disconnection as well.
R.K.: And you have a pretty extensive list as well of other disconnecting categories as well. Rewards for being good consumers, make us feel good for doing trivial things, give us selective freedom, freedom, pretend we have choice, turn us against one another, sell us a dream, exploit our trust, lie to us, scare us, abuse us, school us, steal our language, steal our time, and give us hope. And you have got in your book, you describe in detail each one of these and how they work to disconnect us. So what are they disconnecting us from?
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