IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2015 - 11

industry will only spawn an even
greater level of consumerism and
give rise to new and novel underlying challenges.

their pale cheeks anew.
And when they had finished, and the terrible pictures had faded out, a
voice had spoken suddenly, like an explosion, in the
Secret Room.
"Well, gentlemen, are you
satisfied that resistance is
futile?"
Just the voice; but to one
man in the Secret Room,
and to the others when his
numbing lips spoke the
name, it was far more than
enough. For not even the
wisest of the great men
could explain how, as they
knew, having just seen him
there, a man could be in
Madagascar while his voice
spoke aloud in the Secret
Room, where even radio
was barred!
The name on the lips of
Prester Kleig!
"Moyen! Moyen!"

Robots (2005)
Now, let's get down to the
business of sucking every
loose penny... out of Mr.
and Mrs. Average-Knucklehead.
What's our big-ticket item?
Upgrades, people. Upgrades.
That's how we make the
dough.
Now, if we're telling robots
that no matter what they're
made of, they're "fine"...
how can we expect them to
feel crummy enough about
themselves... to buy our
upgrades and make themselves look better?
Therefore, I've come up
with a new slogan. "Why be
you when you can be
new?"
I gotta tell you, I think it's
brilliant...

What does it mean to consider
that resistance is futile? Resistance
to what? To the creature? Perhaps
in modern times we can speak of
being resistant to the status quo
and to the collective, or to mass
surveillance and privacy invasions,
or to unrelenting advertising and to
endless apps. Nowadays, anyone
who is seen to oppose any form
of perceived "progress" is considered an obstacle to its adoption.
The measurable targets and business aims (which include "transfer pricing") of mega corporates
involved in hi-tech innovation and
manufacturing is to ensure that
consumers are in a constant mode
of upgrades. It is for consumers
to be locked-in to not only hightech gadgetry but one appliance
after another, albeit in the home, in
the workshop, and outdoors. (See
[6]. For the script, see [7].) The 3D

september 2015

But the truth is that struggles
are not wasted, opposition is not
useless, and resistance is not
futile. The worker unions which
rose from within the very bowels
of the Industrial Revolution itself
are proof enough that power bases
can be challenged and defeated.
Over the last ten years especially, there has been a backlash with
respect to researchers who ponder on the conceivable harms of
new technologies. It might well be
easy to be positive about everything that is invented, optimistic
about its use value in society, and
even to be seen as with-it and progressive about something that is
showcased to be "convenient" and
"efficient." But how many are paying attention to the trajectory implications of our Future Tech which is
∕

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

become increasingly irreversible,
and the long-term fallout of these
technologies on our humanity, on
our ontological freedoms and individual rights?
We have been led to believe by
the transnational "puppeteers" and
the global marketers that we have
unlimited choices, but the reality is
these "infinite" choices have in the
main to do with the most immaterial
of things: from an endless selection
of television channels and lifestyle
magazines right through to typically
redundant application software, and
the limitless supply of "brand name"
mobile phones. All this to keep the
illusion of choice operating.
One of Ma rsha l McLuha n's
stock apothegms hits the mark: If
it works, it is already obsolete!
Bruce Springsteen's clever song "57
Channels (And Nothin' On)" also
sums up this condition very well.
On things that truly matter we have
either no choice or limited choice:
on those who will govern us; the
accountability of the corporates;
on sending our children to war; the
distribution of wealth. The choices we can make as consumers are
more often than not meaningless,
and make little if any difference to
anything, except to establish and
to legitimize the positions of the
power elite. Or as globalization theorists today argue, it makes better
sense to speak of a transnationalist capitalist class.
Lots of different choices will
often mean amusement and distraction. But this is nothing new.
"Entertainment" was always a ploy
to numb and to "dumb down" the
masses when things were not going
too well or when "changes" needed
to be introduced on the sly. The
Romans were masters at this and
the arena spectacles the imperial
court would stage to appease, to
control, and to "educate" its people are legend. Pliny for instance,

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2015