A transparent world
Abstract
In a transparent world, every piece of information is open and available to the public and every member of this society. Especially in recent years with the rise of social media, the topic has become more and more discussed and relevant, but it has already been a relevant topic since the late 18th century when philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Jeremy Bentham laid the foundational works and in the 20th century, authors like Yevgeny Zamyatin, George Orwell or Lois Lowry elaborated with their dystopian novels on this topic.
Historic development of transparent a transparent world
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Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was a Swiss philosopher and an advocate for the idea of a transparent society, as he believed that transparency would create equality in society. As a consequence, people would be more honest and open with each other, which would close gaps and prejudice in the community and enable everyone to cooperate more easily. In his opinion transparency meant reducing inequality by having the powers shared among different parties and giving everyone access to the same information. This way, people could be able to create their own opinion and every member of society could better understand how the political system works.
In "The Social Contract," Rousseau posits that there is a social contract that every individual automatically agrees to and they surrender their own rights as an individual to a community in exchange for safety and public welfare. Through this agreement, a legitimate government is created that represents the citizens according to their will. According to his views, this contract should promote equality, freedom, and the well-being of all members of society. It is also important to understand that the government gets its power from its citizens.1
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) was a British jurist, philosopher, and social reformer. He left an incredible impact on political philosophy and legal theory. He dedicated his life to the pursuit of knowledge and social progress. His most notable work, "The Panopticon," laid the groundwork for the idea of a transparent society. Initially, it was meant as a design for a prison that featured a central watchtower surrounded by individual and transparent cells. The unique about the panopticon was that the prisoners could never be certain if they were being observed or not. This would create a psychological mechanism of self-discipline and discouragement for the detainees.
Besides prisons, Bentham believed his concept could also apply to various social institutions, including government, corporations, and even private households. He argued that his design of a transparent society could promote accountability, prevent corruption and protect the liberties of individuals. In his opinion power and authority should not be exercised in secret or shielded from the public, as this secrecy would be a fertile ground for the abuse of power.
While his vision remains relevant until this day and is an ideal to strive for, implementing it requires careful consideration of unintended consequences. There is only a very narrow line between transparency and privacy and for that reason, a transparent society requires well-thought-out laws and effective ways to prevent the misuse of power. 2
Dystopic novels about transparent worlds
It is not very hard to imagine that after the above-discussed philosophical ideas, also authors of the 20th century were intrigued by the ideas of a transparent society. Since the distribution of power and the social and political structures were currently undergoing radical changes during the lives of philosophers like Bentham or Rousseau, it was easy and encouraging for them to think of these new structures. The ideas of both of them could very well be described as a sort of utopia that society can considerably benefit from. In the science-fiction literature that emerged in the 20th century, most of their ideas had been picked up again and questioned. As a consequence, the transparent society is rather seen as a dystopia, which the three following novels shall demonstrate.
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
The novel We was published in 1920 and written by Yevgeny Zamyatin. The plot takes place in a future society called One State which was created after a war that lasted for 200 years. The totalitarian regime that governs One State wants to control every little step of work, every little action in life, and even relationships (have to be permitted by the government). The control goes so far that even names were prohibited and instead replaced by numbers.
The main protagonist of this novel is called D-503. He is a nautical engineer who is involved in the construction of the spaceship “Integral”, which is supposed to spread the ideologies and worldviews of the One State across the universe. D-503 is a very system-faithful citizen who has never experienced any urge to rebel against his system and does not feel any form of emotions. He refers to himself as a strictly logical person, whose logic can only be disturbed by things such as love or hunger. His compliance with the system of strict order goes so far that he is even afraid of the number since this number only exists in theory and there is no logical reason for its actual existence.
His life changes as he encounters I-330, who is a woman with a more open worldview than his. Those views are not allowed by the government of One State. I-330 represents everything that is forbidden in this regime, such as rebellion, individuality, and emotions, and provokes in D-503 the thought that there must be something to discover beyond One World. She proves to D-503 that there is more to life than just strictly following the routines and schedules that One State provides to its citizens.
The central narrative and conflict of this novel are that D-503 is torn between his love for the totalitarian state with its routines and logic and the love he feels for I-330, who made him discover a new world by breaking some of the rules and introducing something like emotions to him for the first time in his life. 3
1984 by George Orwell
1984, published by George Orwell in 1948, is a dystopian novel that is set in an oppressive and totalitarian society. Its protagonist, Winston Smith, is a middle-aged official in the Ministry of Truth and his responsibility is to rewrite historic records, in order to make them align with the Party’s propaganda. As Winston is dissatisfied with his life and the totalitarian regime, he starts writing a diary, hoping to publish it and have people read it freely and without censorship.
Every citizen’s thoughts and actions are monitored and controlled by an institution called the Thought Police. Their task is to enforce strict obedience to the party's ideology and suppress all forms of individualism and protest. All forms and shapes of happiness, love, and freedom are prohibited by the Party. To ensure this, every citizen is watched through telescreens with cameras, and hidden microphones and there is propaganda about surveillance basically everywhere. Any expression of dissent can result in punishment or death, after which every evidence of the rebel’s existence will be censored or even destroyed.
At work, Winston falls in love with a fellow worker, Julia. They secretly meet a couple of times and learn about Goldstein’s book, which is a piece of literature written by the biggest enemy of the party. As a result of possessing this illegal book and leading a relationship that is not permitted by the government, both of them are caught and punished by the Thought Police. The couple gets separated, imprisoned, is completely brainwashed by The Party, and to end their torture they admit to crimes they never committed and betray each other. After learning that even the biggest literature of the opponents was written by the Party, Winston eventually accepts its ideology, and the last words of the book affirm his complete submission: "He loved Big Brother." 4
The novel reflects Orwell's critique of the totalitarianism and political repression, epitomized in the totalitarian states of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Orwell uses the character Winston to illustrate the dangers of a society where the individual is subordinated to the state and the government has complete control over every aspect of life. Orwell also warns against the dangers of propaganda and the manipulation of the truth.
Throughout the novel, Winston longs for a past he cannot remember. He is haunted by memories of his childhood and the life before the rise of the party. This nostalgia emphasizes the importance of history and the dangers of rewriting it for political purposes. The party uses the history department of the Ministry of Truth to distort the past, creating a constant state of uncertainty and confusion among the population.
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The plot of Lois Lowry’s novel The Giver takes place in “The Community”, that is separated from the rest of the world. Citizens cannot make any decisions for themselves. Every aspect of life, such as the partner, job, and even the children of a family, is decided by a group of elders. This council can observe the actions of every individual of society through cameras and microphones and also sets strict rules. The people in the society are deprived of all of their memories and the history that predates the existence of The Community. These steps are taken to make them align with the Community’s values and even distractions like colors or even music have been removed.
All of the memories are held by just one old man, who is called the Receiver of Memories. Jonas, a twelve-year-old boy, is chosen by the council of the elderly as the next Receiver. He is granted permission to work with the current Receiver of Memories, who from now on will become the Giver of Memories. Through telepathy, every memory that predates the Community will be transferred to Jonas to enable him to advise the council. The boy starts to understand that society's monotony has led to the elimination of emotions, free will, free choices, and love. The Giver shows him colors for the first time, he learns about music and finds out about a war that caused the creation of The Community. Jonas begins to experience emotions for the first time, he learns about love, heartbreak, and the fun and grief that life could provide.
As he becomes increasingly annoyed and skeptical of a bland society, Jonas learns about the society’s secrets. He learns that babies who do not meet the set standard or are identical twins are euthanized and that elderly beyond a certain age are released to Elsewhere. This phrase is a euphemism for death, which makes Jonas realize even more the darkness that comes with the supposedly perfect world he lives in.
Along with the current Receiver, the boy decides to release those withheld memories, which is possible if the Receiver escapes the community. He runs away from his community with a baby who was intended to be released to Elsewhere. During his escape, he finds out that the world outside his Community provides a lot of difficulties as well, but on his journey, he can benefit from the memories transferred to him. Whether he succeeds and whether the release of memories helps to change the Community is left up to the readers’ imagination, as the book has an open end. 5
Common Aspects of all dystopian Transparent Worlds
All of the above-summarized stories characterize transparent societies in ways that shall be specified below.
One common ground of all the science-fiction novels is that the totalitarian transparent society resulted from a groundbreaking event that shook society. In the novel We and The Giver, this has been a terrible war that predated the governing force. In the novel 1984, this war is even still ongoing and used as a tool for propaganda.
In all of the novels the sense of memory or history is either hidden from the citizens, like in The Giver, or the controlling power is censoring and changing history, like in the books 1984 or We.
Besides that, there is always one strict regime that has overwhelming power over every aspect of life. In the giver, this is represented through the council of the elderly, in the book 1984 instances like the Thought Police, The Party, and the Ministry of Love represent this power, and the totalitarian government in the novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is just the third represent of an almighty institution that abuses its power to the fullest. All of these pieces of literature have implemented one thing that Jeremy Bentham already stated as potential risks for transparent societies: having one strong power, that is abusive of its citizens and demanding total control and insight despite not allowing any insight into their own processes.
This only one-sided transparency is another aspect that all of the novels shares, be it The Party that observes everyone but hides in its ministries and corrects history, the council of elderly in the novel The Giver, or the permanent governmental observation in We.
Another thing on the other hand that probably is very much to the liking of Jeremy Bentham is the fact that in all of the examples that were provided, the permanent control leads to every step being planned ahead of. This however unfortunately also leads to some sort of numbness that each citizen of the society experiences, since there is no room for individual choices, but as a consequence, there is also no room for any sort of emotions. In The Giver, Jonas suddenly realizes how plain and similar every single day is and even colors or music have been removed from everyday life, the government in We by Zamyatin even propagates the advantages of being without any emotions and also the Thought Police intervenes by prohibiting any kind of love except for the love to the Big Brother.
In conclusion, one could say that all of these works encourage their readers to get up and fight the development of totalitarian systems and the oppression of citizens by one power with too much influence.
Transparent Worlds and social media
Social networks have become an integral part of modern society, and their impact has been felt in various aspects of social and political life. The emergence and widespread use of social networks have contributed significantly to the achievement of a more transparent society. A transparent society is an open society where citizens have access to information, and where government and other institutions are accountable and responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people.
Social networks provide a platform for people to share information and ideas freely and engage in discussions on issues affecting their lives. They offer an opportunity for people to express their opinions and connect with others who share similar views, irrespective of their location. Through social networks, people can access information about government policies, programs, and activities, which can help them to hold their leaders accountable for their actions. The relationships formed on social networks enable people to monitor government officials and demand transparency in their decision-making processes.
Social networks also help to expose corruption and other malpractices in society. By sharing information and evidence of wrongdoing, social networks create a more significant impact in holding authorities accountable. Journalists, activists, and NGOs often use social media as a tool to expose corruption and promote transparency. Social networks also provide a platform for citizens to report cases of corruption, thereby holding public officials accountable.
However, social networks also have their limitations in promoting a transparent society. The veracity of information posted on social media is oftentimes very difficult to verify. This oftentimes leads to misinformation like the shape of the earth being flat or conspiracy theories such as "Pizza Gate".6 Besides that social networks have a very strong tendency to influence its users in a way the regime in 1984 did with its citizens.7
Personal opinion and conclusion:
I would like to conclude that social networks have contributed significantly to the promotion of transparency and help make people even more accountable for their actions than they were in the past. They are the platform that enables people of sharing information and have open and uncensored discussions, and in some cases, they even helped to expose corruption or the abuse of power. Hence, they can contribute to the creation of a transparent society.
As societies continue to evolve in the digital age, the principles underlying the transparent world can provide valuable guidance in shaping a more just and accountable world, as long as we prevent the transparency to become as dystopian as it was displayed in the novels We, 1984 or The Giver and stay within the boundaries that Rousseau and Bentham thought out.
References
1: 1 https://www.getabstract.com/de/zusammenfassung/vom-gesellschaftsvertrag/4853
2: 2 https://www.grin.com/document/304027
3: 3 Yevgeny Zamyatin: We, Penguin Twentieth Century Classics, 1.06.1993, 208 Pages; ISBN-13: 978-0140185850
4: 4 Orwell, George: 1984, E-Kitap Projesi & Cheapest Books, 14.06.2022, 324 Pages; ISBN-13: 978-6257120890
5: 5 Lowry, Lois: The Giver, Ember, 24.01.2006, 208 Pages; ISBN-13: 978-0385732550
6: 6 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/pizzagate-gunman-d-c-sentenced-four-years-prison
7: 7 https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2019/11/google-facebook-surveillance-privacy/