Memoirs of a Dying Era: Reflections for Descendants and Extraterrestrials

2020s: Quarantine Insights

When the quarantine was announced in Kazakhstan due to COVID-19, a major volunteer organization made a call on social media, and many volunteer groups pledged to help people by delivering groceries and essentials. Naturally, our team joined in as well.

Of course, the assistance was primarily aimed at pensioners, large families, and people with disabilities. We spread phone numbers on social networks where people could request help, and delivered groceries (mostly) to those in need. Meanwhile, we received a lot of requests from healthy and young individuals. These people felt very embarrassed about their requests, offered their help in return (as a form of compensation), and explained they were reaching out due to desperation, not because they were unwilling to work, but because the quarantine had shut everything down. When accepting help, they directly asked to join us, not wanting to seem like beggars, and were ready to undertake any work, just asking us to "give it to them". Obviously, we couldn't grant them permissions to move around the city during the quarantine; we just helped as much as we could. And such appeals were not few, accounting for 30 percent, or even more. These individuals shared that they usually work at least two or three jobs, but still have no savings; everything goes towards rent and loans (taken out, for example, to send their children to school or buy clothes for themselves and their kids).

Most of the volunteers, representatives of the middle class, were drawn to volunteering by "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs". Many held onto the stereotype that "the poor are lazy and stupid, which is why they are poor." But facing reality, especially for women who the system tends to keep in the dark, shattered this view. It's not about the weakness of women, but about the system's benefit in maintaining the status quo. If women were to see the truth, they could inspire change, and the system would be destabilized. Thus, conditions are created to keep women away from understanding reality. Having faced reality, many have had their views on the poor shaken. Many have realized that the poor remain poor not because of their own failings but because the system forces them to work endlessly, leaving no savings, no free time for education, or even to question why they continue to be poor despite working hard. There was no time to delve into politics, hold elected officials accountable, or assist their neighbors. Essentially, there's no time for any activities beyond endless labor just to afford daily food and housing.

From childhood, I understood that people remain poor due to socio-economic conditions. In the courtyard where I lived, the janitor's son and the minister's son were friends (something unimaginable in today's world). I realized early on that "luck" often isn't deserved, or the lack of it, within the framework of capitalism. In the capitalist system, most people, including the middle class, are caught in a game of "5 people and 4 chairs", where to cheerful music, 5 people circle around 4 chairs, and you need to find a seat as soon as the music stops. For one of the five, the music will abruptly end, and luck will vanish.

Reflections: 2020s Quarantine Insights

In one of his works, the renowned futurist and science fiction writer Isaac Asimov mentions a concept he called "the Theremin ratio." As he describes it, the Theremin ratio links the degree of the masses' tolerance to the privileges granted to them. This equation is reflected in the real world, particularly within the capitalist system framework, where creating a middle class serves as a crucial element for controlling revolutionary sentiments among the masses.

The middle class is a group that possesses a certain level of material well-being, sufficient for a comfortable life but not enough to wield significant economic power. They typically engage in professional activities, have access to education and cultural goods, and are often seen as a standard of success and stability in society.

In the capitalist system, the middle class plays an essential role in maintaining social order. Thanks to their privileges, middle-class members may be less inclined toward revolutionary sentiments, as they have more investments in preserving the current system.

However, this does not mean that this class is entirely satisfied. Instead, the middle class remains in a constant struggle to maintain and improve their material conditions and social status. Their "privileges," such as stable employment, access to education, and healthcare, can be presented as a reward for their "slavish labor." This creates an illusion of the possibility of social ascent and ensures peace and tolerance within society. It highlights the importance of the middle class in maintaining social order and preventing social upheavals, showing that privileges and tolerance go hand in hand.

Equally important from a sociological perspective is the psychological experiment with the game "Monopoly," conducted at the University of Berkeley, USA. A psychologist randomly selected 100 pairs of students to play "Monopoly." A coin toss determined who among the two students would play the role of a rich player, and who the poor. The "rich" player received several privileges: initially, they were given twice as much money, and they could roll the dice twice in succession. Players' behavior was observed using a hidden camera. It turned out that within the first 15 minutes of the game, the behavior of "rich" players changed significantly. They began to show signs of dominance: becoming unceremonious, loudly clacking their tokens on the board, making disparaging remarks, and even taking more cookies from the basket on the table. And all this developed in them in just 15 minutes of play. After the game, "rich" players explained their success with their actions and decisions, forgetting that they had a significant advantage over the "poor" from the start.

After conducting dozens of studies involving thousands of people, the psychologist asserts that an increase in wealth and status in society leads to an increase in self-focus, a decrease in compassion, manifestations of altruism, and ethical behavior, while justifying greed and the pursuit of personal gain.

Capitalists have become quite adept at controlling rebellious sentiments. The capitalist system is not held together by force but rather by propaganda, by insinuations forcibly implanted into our psyche by the media. As Goethe said, "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free" After endless propaganda bombardment, few think to change the system's rules or revolt against it. People prefer to chase after illusory privileges and "success" within the framework of ostentatious cyclic consumption.

Yet, no one can even imagine life outside the capitalist system, so deeply ingrained are these mindsets. And in this world, people remain unhappy, losing their humanity upon achieving "success," or suffering from societal rejection and stigmatization, feeling unfulfilled when they don't.