As an individual interested in Internet Security, I have been watching a show called “Mr. Robot.” The plot line generally follows an individual named Elliot Alderson with a social emotional disorder who is an extremely talented computer hacker.
The first season follows Elliott as he tries to bring down a monopolistic corporation called E-Corp, or as he calls it “Evil Corp.” By the end of the season, Elliott has managed to paralyze E-Corp’s business which, in turn, has significantly affected the American economy whereby the debts of millions of citizens have been erased.
The episodes that examine society’s breakdown as a result of the hack is a fascinating study of how North American society might react to a market collapse. Of course, the market problems described in this show revolve around the erasure of debts and not a total collapse of financial markets and people’s retirement savings.
At the end of episode 10, Elliot’s sister Darlene is observing a crowd of friends who are enjoying a party following the E-Corp hack. It was her simple observation that completely floored me because it captures what I feel about how Humanity would benefit if money we’re completely eliminated from our lives. Darlene said, “… look at all these people. They’re free because of us … They’re finally awake. They’re finally alive!”
What I took the statement to mean was that these people were now free of the burden of debt slavery and having to work to simply survive. What they were free to do now was be themselves without the stress of having to constantly eke out a living always under the thumb of major corporations that dominate their lives and control their fate at virtually every turn.
Now THAT is really living!
