Living in our Own Matrix: Reality is a Choice

I started watching the Matrix Resurrection. As a big fan of the original series I had high hopes that were dashed as usual by a crappy remake.

The story of the Matrix in which we are all trapped in this Virtual Reality fictional world while acting as living batteries for our robot overlords. But there are rebels who choose to give up the comforts of this fake world. Rebel candidates are given a choice: blue pill to return to the ease and normality of the matrix or a red pill that shows the reality of how the world works.

The red pill symbolizes truth and the choice to see all the lies around you. It’s an awakening of your mind. It allows you to literally break out of the fake world matrix surrounding you.

Unfortunately, the term “Red pill” has been co-opted by the loser manosphere movement but I think the actual concept is still relevant for us all.

We’re all trapped by the myths, stories, and family and societal expectations that we grow up with. In the authoritarian side of the world like Russia and China and it’s Ilk, the ruling class want to keep the populace even dumber and more ignorant. They blatantly lie, filter & keep information away from you. If you don’t know what’s real, how do you resist? Then it’s easier to be used as cannon fodder or cows to be milked.

In the Capitalist West, it’s a bit more insidious and maybe even smarter. But the goal is the same: Control. We are trained to be consumers, not producers. To buy and value things but not people or our time. These myths and lies are propagated in the liberal West by an outdated education system, mainstream media, corrupt government and consumerist culture.

We are told stupid things like “keep up with the Jones”, that entrepreneurial endeavors are too risky, that we should get a good education and focus on getting a good job whatever that means. And an even more pernicious message is that we should trust what the government and media says because they know better and care about you.

What a crock of garbage but it’s all around us. It reminds of the story about the old fish who runs into some kid fishes and he asks them “How is the water boys?” The kid fishes respond “what’s water?”

This is exactly the situation we all find ourselves In. Most of us are so busy we don’t even question or know what we are surrounded by. Running on a continual treadmill. As the famous Matrix quote: “Billions of people just living out their lives, oblivious.”

So you sometimes feel like something in our lives is off. Wrong. But yet we don’t do anything. A character called the Analyst describes this situation well: “Quietly yearning for what you don’t have, while dreading losing what you do. For 99.9% of your race that is the definition of reality. Desire and fear.”

For many of us, it requires a traumatic episode in your life like a divorce, recovering from a serious health issue or facing economic ruin. These can act as wake up calls and a signal that something is not right. Sometimes it can be meeting and having a conversation with a new person, or reading a book that really opens your eyes. I find travel to new and exotic places also makes you question your assumptions of the world. These are the moments when the mental breakthrough happens.

It also requires an open mindedness and openness to being seen as different or weird by the wider population. It requires a willingness to question and sacrifice your certainty to see the reality and truth around us.

There is a quote in the movie:

“The paradox between free will and destiny. Are we all just algorithms doing what we are supposed to do or can we escape our programming. Is it free will or destiny.”

I think a lot about personal freedom, about the idea of Sovereign Individual. What does it mean to be truly free in this world? You can not be free if you work for someone else. You cannot be free if you do not face reality. You cannot be free if you do not see and understand how the world truly works so you can build your own better life.

So the question now is: Red pill or Blue Pill?

Do you wake up or keep sleeping walking through life like the 99.9% of sheeple out there?