We Are the Borg, Resistance Was Futile

The old adage that truth is stranger than fiction is perhaps no more evident than by comparing our current societal norms with those outlined by the Star Trek antagonists, the Borg.  When the lines between truth and fiction are blurred, when “truth is not the truth,” and repeated lies become accepted as truth, we should not be surprised when fiction becomes reality.

Borg

For Star Trek fans, the title above will have instant recognition.  In the Star Trek franchise, the Borg are individuals who have been “assimilated” into the Collective.  That assimilation turns the victim into a drone through augmentation with cybernetic components.  A drone will have organs and limbs replaced with biomechanical parts depending on their assigned function.  Each drone has a “cortical node” which will control biomechanical functions.  Drones are part of a hive with a group mindset referred to as the Collective.  They are controlled by a subspace network that ensures that each member conforms to the will of the hive and their collective consciousness is a powerful force.

Locutus, Captain Picard being Assimilated

"We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships.  We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us.  Resistance is futile.”

We have all been assimilated through technology into various “hives” known as Republicans, Democrats, Independents, or Name-Your-Group.  Assimilation infers that you have been robbed of your individuality, which meant your humanity was also gone. The Internet, with the help of our hyperconnected mobile networks, means we are living in a time of rapid communication.  It also means that we suffer from an inability to process that informational barrage in a meaningful manner.  We get lazy and seek the line of least resistance.  We let the Collective do our thinking.  We give up our individuality in exchange for being part of something larger than ourselves.  We are part of some dystopian future where "I" is replaced with "We."  The individual is gone.  We join the Borg and become one, and none.

Borg Collective in the Hive

We watch and listen to our Smart-Phones and our Smart-TVs and become part of the controlling subspace network.  We are connected through our technology and motivationally influenced by the cacophony of information that assaults our senses on a daily basis.  We have social media, 24/7 cable news media, and print media vying for “eyeball time.”  We are the Borg.

Ferengi

While the fictional Borg Collective had a Borg Queen, she was the totality of the Collective.  She/they had assimilated the cultural identities of the conquered.  We, on the other hand, have joined separate hives with singular identities.  Each hive, however, performs like a Borg Collective.  If I had to guess, Republicans would have been assimilated Ferengi as they were devoted to capitalist accumulation.  Democrats would have merely been Species 5618, aka humans.  Pardon my hive bias.  There is no individual thinking within the Collective, only the mob mentality that pervades the collective conscience.

Borg Queen

Our technological advances have been both a blessing and a curse.  Humans are more connected than ever before.  Information travels at light speed around the globe.  Lies travel even faster, warp speed to maintain the analogy.  We need to know when to filter our information.  When to trust a source and when to remain skeptical.  Somehow an old sign in a paint and body shop I used to use comes to mind.  It read, In God We Trust, all others pay cash.  For our purposes, trust but verify.

Develop your own thoughts and ideas, don’t just parrot the words and memes of others.  If you listen to MSNBC and CNN, switch over and listen to Fox News to see and hear their views.  You don’t have to agree with any one of them, just hear them out and reach your own opinions.  Resistance is only futile if you are lazy.

Time to wake up and draw your own conclusions.