If Technocracy wasn’t bad enough traditional beliefs, the Technopoly is. The invention of the concept of the Technocracy led to rough times for tradition. Suddenly, beliefs from the beginning of time began to be pushed aside and ground into dust. Though this dust still laid in the backs of Mankind’s mind, the Technopoly finished the Technocracies job and blew the dust of Tradition into the abyss of forget, irrelevance, and unimportance.
The Technopoly basically describes the society of Brave New World, a land where technology is not just the dominant ideology, but is now the only ideology. Tradition and its unscientific beliefs were made to be not only irrelevant, but actually harmful to the grand narrative of “Progress is Good.”
While it’s nearly impossible to even doubt the Technopoly that exists in the World State, claiming that America has already reached it is, what I believe, an over statement. To be a Technopoly, it would mean the death of non-scientific beliefs. Religion, art, and even independent thought would be completely gone. That is not the current state of America. While it’s obvious to see our progress towards what someone would call a Scientific Hell, we have by no means reached it. While its values, ideas, and importance are slowly fading, religion still plays a prominent role in our society. To take away religion would mean to take away nearly all of societies morals and what is thought of to be right and wrong. It would mean, if our morals erased while our minds not robotic (and I do not believe we have become so linear in thought that we would be thought of as robotic), it would mean a mass of chaos and confusion. The laws the held society together would crumble, and (unless thrust into the arms of the reassuring technology) our idea of civilization would cease to exist. So no, I do not believe America has become a full fledge Technopoly, but is merely fixed on the tracks leading to it.
Also this chapter leads to another concept on the discussion of the singularity with the discussion of the Luddites, as well as the beginnings of the Technocracy. The creation of the factories during the early years of the Technocracy can be seen very similar to the Singularity in the beginning years of the next stage past Technopoly, where technology is not only the central driving point for humans, but humans in fact become technology. The fact that the Luddites exist goes to support the idea that a war will occur as the Singularity begins. Just as Luddites of the 19th century fought against the “satanic” factories for dehumanizing mankind, the 21st century Luddites will be fighting the same war for separation of man and machine. However, if the idea that history tends to repeat its is actually true, this also could be seen as pleasant news to those who fear that the Singularity will be mankind’s Doomsday. While, when first created, the factories were seen as evils of the world, they eventually were balanced out, regulated, and overall integrated in society, and a normality was restored. One could hope to be so optimistic towards the Cyborg years of the future
