V for Vendetta

[Philosophy Now]

Floris van den Berg watches The Open Society and its Enemies, the movie.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/71/V_for_Vendetta

[Bill Wiltrack]

.






..........................................






,

[spike]

Both Francis Fukuyama and Karl Popper are mentioned in this article. Both men came up with novel ideas, Fukuyama with his end point in human governance and Popper with the open society.

I have an observation outside the article, that it's odd that Fukuyama didn't mention Popper or his open society at all in his book "The End Of History". After all, liberal democracy is not possible without an open society. Moreover, what prompted Fukuyama to think about the 'end of history' is the collapse of liberal democracy's chief rival, communism, which definitely was an enemy of the open society.

When communism collapsed Popper was in the spirit of I told you so.

[spike]

I don't think this article has it right. The author thinks that there is a great possibility our open society could becoming a closed, totalitarian one if hit by devastating circumstances. There have been constraints placed on it when such attacks have occurred. But I don't think a totalitarian one is the answer or will ever happen. The author forgets the attacks of 9/11, which dealt quite a blow to our civilization. That attack could have, in his thinking, justified a closing down of our open society but it didn't because it knew better and had the safeguards to prevent it.

We have lived in an open society for generations and have grown accustom to it. During that time we have built and expanded many institutions that promote and protect our openness. I don't think we are going to relinquish it as easily as the writer seems to think. Moreover, I think a collective mentality has set in within our open societies that believes free people are better at resolving major problems than its opposite of being closed down or controlled by a totalitarian regime. One reason why open free societies are more advantageous is because of the networking and individual volunteerism that occurs within such societies, which totalitarianism would destroy. Under totalitarianism there isn't the same sense of wanting to help strangers or work for the common good, because under totalitarianism there isn't the mass sense of belonging or having a stake in the system.

I think we have learned that open societies work better than closed ones. All we have to do is look at the failures of communist societies, which were closed. Closed societies breed mass corruption and inefficiencies. They don't develop the stamina or resilience of open societies. Closed societies are unsustainable because individuals are not free to contribute to it's betterment. Closed societies nurture a culture of mistrust and fear, making it worse in dealing with major catastrophes. In free societies you can freely exchange ideas on how to resolve problems and improve things. In closed societies you only compound the problem by remaining silent or lying about it because you can't freely express your thoughts.

No, closed societies are not an option today under any circumstance.

[GreatandWiseTrixie]

I don't think this article has it right. The author thinks that there is a great possibility our open society could becoming a closed, totalitarian one if hit by devastating circumstances. There have been constraints placed on it when such attacks have occurred. But I don't think a totalitarian one is the answer or will ever happen. The author forgets the attacks of 9/11, which dealt quite a blow to our civilization. That attack could have, in his thinking, justified a closing down of our open society but it didn't because it knew better and had the safeguards to prevent it.

You say it was an attack on civilization, as if some outside force. It was civilization itself, "attacking" itself. Also clearly fake, basic physics would imply that such a thing is structurally impossible. Therefore, it was an inside job. Only thanks to believing Hollywood Looney Toon acme physics, in the land of explosive crates, zero gore headshots and curving bullet physics can such a thing be believed. If even cops and firefighters don't trust their own government, neither should you.