The Matrix - Wake Up, Sheeple!

Missed me? I know you did.

As you’re reading this piece that has been released after a 2-year 5-month hiatus, you might be wondering why I stopped writing. I have a very good reason - I’m EXTREMELY lazy.
But fear not, while I haven’t been writing, I have been watching movies. So. Many. Movies. I shall be more dedicated to the cause this time around.
Quick reminder: this is NOT a newsletter about The Matrix movie. It’s just what the movie made me think about.

Okay. The Matrix movie.

Synopsis

A hacker named Neo discovers that reality is a computer simulation designed to keep humanity docile while machines harvest their energy. Guided by Morpheus and Trinity, he’s offered a choice: the blue pill to stay asleep in the illusion, or the red pill to wake up to the terrifying truth. He chooses the red pill, and begins the fight to see, and to resist.

Review

Who am I to review something as HOLY as The Matrix? All I can say is that it’s really good.

Now for why we’re really here.

The Matrix has got me thinking about…well the matrix. But not the simulation Morpheus spoke of, I’m talking about the invisible hand all around us, guiding our every move.

The powers that be.

Wake up, Sheeple!

Now this is an interesting topic, and the proof of just how interesting it is is that there’s a few notable Germans who have spoken about it. As we all know, Germans are the jolliest people on the planet, and three (Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, et al) of them came together in the 1940s to form what is “The Frankfurt School”.

The following quote (unjustly, but adequately) presents their central idea:

And that’s what I also want to talk about, in less douchey terms. Ok fine, it’s equally douchey, just in a different way.
The point is that there exists an invisible machinery in the world that guides populations, even entire civilizations, along well-lit paths. Do this, be this, think this - and life will be easy. And it will. But what is this life? And who does it benefit?

Them. Only them.
And who are they, you ask? The modern matrix can largely be divided into two parts:

• Government - tells you how to behave and what you can do.

• Capitalism - tells you what to buy and how to be happy.

• Of course, these two are constantly coming together and creating babies (think banks, movies & the law itself) to bind you from all sides.

Look at it this way: the government builds the walls and capitalism paints them. One tells you what you can’t do, and the other, what you should. One enforces control through fear and the other through desire. Together, they make obedience feel natural, even aspirational. You follow rules not because you’re forced to, but because you think you’re choosing to. That’s the genius of the system: it is oppression disguised as persuasion.

Everything is sold as “the right thing for you”. It’s usually not.

The plan is simple: blind the populations with a mask of acquiescence and pleasure, and they’ll soon forget to do the most important - and most human - task there is: to question.

And that’s all I’m trying to say here: question everything.

There is a world behind our world, here’s how it shows itself:

A Beginner’s Guide to spotting The Matrix in the Wild

I started to write this section, but soon realized I could just copy-paste a section of the movie. And as you might remember from earlier, I’m EXTREMELY lazy.

Morpheus: I imagine that right now you're feeling a bit like Alice. Tumbling down the rabbit hole?
Neo: You could say that.
Morpheus: I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he's expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?
Neo: No
Morpheus: Why not?
Neo: 'Cause I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life.
Morpheus: I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know, you can't explain. But you feel it. You felt it your entire life. That there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there. Like a splinter in your mind -- driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Neo: The Matrix?
Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is? The Matrix is everywhere, it is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, or when go to church or when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back.

Here’s a quick guide:

(you can read it, but you can also hear it in a somewhat familiar voice)

And I care because?

This is the important question, right? And like all important things in life, this too will be boring.
By now you get the gist of what I’m trying to say - there are powers that control the world around us, slowly guiding herds of sheeple along a gentle, preset path. And most people are fine with that. Why wouldn’t they be? Comfort is a powerful anesthetic.

Here’s the danger - when you stop thinking, you stop being.

The moment you outsource your judgment to convenience, you start to erode what makes you human: the capacity to choose freely, to see clearly, to decide for yourself.

You have a civilizational duty to think.

Philosophers have been warning us about this for centuries. Kant said enlightenment was “man’s emergence from self-imposed immaturity.” Self-imposed — because no one chains your mind but you. The Matrix doesn’t need to lock you in a pod when it can simply convince you to stay there. You must remain unconvinced.

Make no mistake, this call to action is purely philosophical. I’m not handing out a to-do list. Nor am I asking you to chain yourself to a bulldozer or to topple the government before the next issue is out (though historical evidence suggests you should have some time). It IS all in our heads.

You don’t owe this to anyone, except yourself and everyone else.

When we live in a world where so much is designed to influence what we think and feel, the most radical act is simply not to. Philosophers like Kant and Arendt tell us that thinking is the essence of freedom. The moment you choose to see the invisible patterns around you, you reclaim a piece of your own mind. And once you see it, you can’t unsee it. You start to live more deliberately, choose more consciously, and inspire others to do the same.

So no, I am not saying to take it upon your sad shoulders (do you even lift bro?) to change this world. All I’m saying is that seeing The Matrix is the first step. It’s the spark that keeps the flame of critical thinking alive. And if enough people do that, well, that’s how civilizations stay awake. That’s how we remember that the most meaningful things aren’t the ones we touch but the ones we think.

To end, here’s the movie again:

Morpheus: You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. Remember -- all I am offering is the truth, nothing more.

In conclusion, what I want to say is: watch The Matrix, it’s a good movie.

Until next time!