Ideology of subservience

There is a particular ideology that the vast majority of citizenries — particularly among middle classes — have knowingly or unknowingly subscribed to, one that dictates their behavioral patterns and functions to maintain societal order through obedience, discipline, and diminishing expectations. There is no need for a leviathan state apparatus to enforce this, most willingly do so on their own: and at great peril.

One of the key facets of this ideology is a strong belief in rugged individualism as the vehicle for economic gain. There is an acknowledgment that ‘the game of life’ is, at its essence, a rat race that rewards hard work, resilience, and a ‘can-do’ attitude — with the underlying (and quite baseless) assumption that ‘success’ is the outcome purely and exclusively of merit. It does not seem to matter how many years one has spent in the cyclical pattern of wage labour, living a precarious — paycheck to paycheck — existence simply to survive and be able to put food on the table. Nay, it is said this is a privilege that can be taken away at any given moment. As if that were any consolation.

In order to avoid total catastrophe in case the worst ever comes to pass, saving a percentage of one’s income is vehemently promoted. Sacrifice is what animates this spirit: letting go of present needs for future ones, regardless of the cost this may come at. Enjoyment is treated as a sin. Don’t take the kids out to the movies; have them watch television. Don’t invest in a new instrument; download an app that’ll allow for a similar experience on the phone. Don’t populate the living room with furniture; embrace a ‘minimalist’ lifestyle like the Japanese. Save the money for a rainy day! All hell may break loose at any given moment, after all. And if it miraculously doesn’t, perhaps it can be used to purchase a car and health insurance. And if one is really lucky, perhaps a home near retirement: the ultimate objective — even if one is only able to live in it for a mere handful of years before being lowered into the grave. Better safe than sorry, bucko!

Gratitude is a third cornerstone; but a sickly, perverted kind. The maxim that one must be thankful not for positive outcomes, but the avoidance of disastrous ones: not starving, not going homeless, not being an outcast, and not falling prey to base instincts. ‘Whatever does not kill makes strong’ is the idea. Embrace pain, adversity, bewilderment — it is all part of the course. Character development. Intellectual growth. Career progression. Every minus, no matter how bad, is cleverly turned into a plus within this worldview: it’s all well and good in the long haul. So thank the Lord!

With reference to others, the modus operandi is an attitude based around suspicion and symbolic one-upmanship. A certain hyper-conservative doctrine plays a crucial role in fostering both. This is achieved by ensuring self-regulation via the promise of divine reward/punishment, which functions to promote a culture of narcissism — whereby people are always fixated on themselves. A tool that enhances this general spirit is the idea of the ‘evil eye’ — which argues (or at least implies) that one’s social circles are at any given point rife with feelings of envy and malice. If these are protracted, it is claimed that they have the metaphysical power to take everything away — naturally leading to generalised paranoia that assumes ill-intent from others as default. The antidote to this is to downplay achievements, conceal assets, and behave in a manner that creates the impression that nothing good is ever happening in one’s life. To deal with the discomfort of such an unnatural lifestyle, additional ideas are proposed. One is the claim that worldly affairs are entirely trivial in the ‘grand scheme’ of things, promoting a kind of pathological escapism. The other is that ‘idleness’ is the root of all sin — prompting people to simply be ‘active’ regardless of whether or not this is serving any useful function. In the vast majority of cases, this leads to a fixation on one’s mindless day job despite its exploitative nature — to the point that being perceived as ‘busy’ becomes a status marker in itself. Without time for rest, there is little opportunity for reflection — slowly serving to eliminate critical thought from society. At an aggregate level, both the aforementioned ideas lead to societal fragmentation and a total breakdown of communal values and aspirations — leading to an atomised landscape fueled by cutthroat, free-for-all market competition.

The final tenet of the ideology is a two-pronged orientation constituting fear and desire. The first has to do with a constant scapegoating to locate the source of one’s troubles. This could be by directed hatred towards religious minorities, who are held responsible for polluting the dominant ethical code, or ethnic peripheries, who are seen as unruly troublemakers that are stealing in urban zones, or women and transgendered individuals, who are slated for simply wishing to participate in society’s affairs. At a broader level, catchphrases like ‘corrupt politicians’, ‘inefficient bureaucrats’, and ‘lazy youth’ proliferate across the political ecosystem as convenient targets to distract from more central concerns such as the preservation of colonial-era institutions, rising levels of extremism, and a failure to democratise society. Alongside this, there is a push to acquire (and hoard) consumer durables as a way of emulating the upper echelons. By owning items such as cars, fancy watches, designer fragrances, latest smartphones, elaborate dishwashers, etc, middle to upper-middle classes can find a way to differentiate themselves from the ‘working masses’ and be similar — if only in appearance — to propertied elites. Of course, this is ultimately only a momentary aesthetic overlap without the economic (coercive) power that comes with controlling the means of production. In the age of rituals and symbolic representations, it does not matter.

Each of the proclivities noted above collectively form a particular hegemonic ideology that serves to keep the larger system of capitalism insulated from targeted critique or political adversity from a consolidated movement from below. These irrational beliefs — weapons of mass distraction — are incredible mechanisms that ensure continued participation in a game that is rigged at the outset and designed to exploit and extract as much as possible. Without a radical review of and departure from these regressive modalities, there is little hope of genuine prosperity.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2024.

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