The Remedy of Time and Chaos904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3mXfzQnLW
In order to properly address a real-world problem in numerous societies today, I will base this writing on arguments I wish to share that I invite anyone to object to in the comments.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE4a9iVZj8R
To keep this writing interesting, though, and ensure it is actually seen at all, I will provide two fictional stories to exemplify my arguments.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUycZY57Ati
Before starting, we can all agree as mostly-rational human beings and a close community of writers and readers that everyone does have some abstract right to the freedom of expression. However, we can equally agree that this right is still stifled in the modern era, where nations of people are oppressed and many have no way of even knowing it.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVo48PmkkK
So, the essence of the problem we are addressing is how to ensure people have their right to the freedom of expression when those who decide their citizens' empirical rights have forgone this most basic of privileges. The answer, as I will argue, is time and simple application of chaos.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1waAmHjy7Q
As a foundation, imagine a totalitarian society that completely oppresses freedoms of expression in speech and media. Since this is an organized nation, you most likely jumped to the dystopian idea of a brutal police force that forgoes things like pepper spray and tasers for tear gas and firearms when it comes to enforcing the law. You wouldn't be wrong, as some enforcement group would do just as their title implies.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2D689vLIZx
Now, put this large-scale society aside and focus on this idea we have uncovered: enforcement. Just as benevolent laws are enforced so are the malevolent ones. Oppression must be ensured in some way, as most people will fight against or just ignore the law if they find it to be immoral. Someone must enforce the laws that are morally objectionable in a society that accepts such atrocities.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAUwisCTk4b
This brings me to my first example. Picture a society with the following conditions:904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡneetDweHgO
Population: 200904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG3wFFLCBVH
Law Enforcement: 5% of population904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCn3SkXQu75
Law Enforcement Arsenal: Pepper spray, tear gas, tasers, etc.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF6VleS0xMq
Law: Oppressive (no civilian weaponry, oppression of freedom of expression)904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7ZSF7R4Nn
Now, this society may seem quite strange, but is it not far off from the large-scale one we just imagined? Only the population size appears to have changed, really, since fictional, dystopian societies often have disproportionally large law enforcement. This makes sense when one considers that being a part of the corrupt government or law enforcement is one of the only ways to avoid being actively oppressed by said enforcement. Job demand would be huge, and supply would be more than willing to provide if it meant recruiting more oppressing figures.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMZXWwXjC8
So, what is the point of this example? Well, this is where we begin our first short story...904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5CZrKw6zG
John was a family man, a hard worker. With a wife and daughter (the limit of the legal family size) he was almost ready to retire, not that he would be able to, of course. Working at the steel mill provided just enough income to get by, let alone a retirement fund. The only way that would happen is if he joined the local police force or got into the exclusive politics of this town. The former would be impossible because he figuratively and literally didn't have the heart for it. A birth defect disqualified him, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to do what they do even if he had the chance. At the very least, no other blue-collar job disqualified those with handicaps. 904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡggPaiF52ZY
No one seemed to care about what went on around here. They gave the rarely seen protester only a passing glance before they were tased or gassed and often put to death. With a policeman for every ten citizens, it was hard to hide anything from their watching eyes. They didn't even need lethal weaponry. High-grade pepper spray and tear gas would do when it came to suppressing an individual or riot. Citizens could only ever gather a small group to resist, after all, and rogue policeman suffer the worse consequences. The last riot was years ago and consisted of 23 people. The town suffered a significant population drop afterward.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1gR5jmQrPb
The law constantly kept population size and free-thinkers in check. However, that would again be challenged today. John found himself among thirty other workers at the steel mill, which was the main production of the town, exporting to foreign, unknown lands and importing cheap, bland food. They were yelling, but John hardly heard anything. He was desperately looking for an escape, but the doors leaving the main floor were closed and locked shut. He wanted no part of this riot.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJZrpbM1qG
Suddenly, from the catwalks above, voices shouted over megaphones. two policemen - two for thirty - were arguing with the rioters, not attempting to calm the situation. Before John could do anything to let them know he was not a part of the riot, tear gas rained down in canisters. Thirty grown men screamed in agony as the gas filled their lungs. They would survive after climbing the railings and being arrested, though harsh punishments would come. John, on the other hand, collapsed as his defective heart gave out under the effects of the gas.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EcM2V0ubO
Fifteen percent of a population seems like a significantly large number, higher than many real-life resistances against oppressive authorities. However, it took only thirty percent of the law enforcement to break them.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wzJTOlV2c
Now, let's go back to the previously imagined totalitarian society and peek at another story where the only differences are in population size and the arsenal of those who oppress the people.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XwXhQ6rwg
John had a gun. He didn't know where he got it, but he knew he could do this. Hundreds of freedom fighters flooded past him as he rested a cut shoulder. They chanted and raised their guns in resistance to the force before them.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3hY8NUNVV
The law enforcement had brought out their main arsenal. Light armored tanks blocked off the street, armored soldiers took aim, and tear gas flooded between buildings. This was good, though.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzCbyIK5pK4
On John's face clung a mask like that of those around him. Gas masks had been smuggled into the city before their attack. Every militiaman had one to protect from the gas and occasional pepper spray, though such nonlethal weaponry was a thing of the past. The tear gas now served as a cloak for the militia to move through discreetly.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLuyJYme5t
The soldiers who were embedded on the street took aim not at the militia but at their fellow law enforcement. They saw the force and outcry of the citizens they were meant to protect and defected of their own volition. The tanks they commandeered were blocking the street from hostile vehicles.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7nPJEMGYI
John still wondered how the resistance had gotten this far so quickly. Perhaps it was the preparation they were able to make before acting, smuggling the weaponry and gear they needed into the city, convincing others to join them, and causing chaos throughout the system. However they did it, it was inspirational as citizens who wanted to fight joined their fellows for this day of revolution.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksp8DHqHQH
John gripped the handle of the gun he held, adjusted the mask upon his face, and promised himself that he would see his family again. With a nod to no one, he began running after those who were already laying siege to the city hall.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDH7sWbtoRg
Now, it may be hard to use fictional stories as a basis for argument, but these can be quite intuitive.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKWlyBfMzAB
Ordinary citizens like John are not inspired by proportion. They are filled with hope by sheer numbers. In a small town like the first story, the proportional resistance is the same as the second, but no one found hope in a group of thirty steel workers. This is why oppressive forces attempt to keep populations in check. They realize the power in numbers.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZ0SkbSLsL
Here is where time comes into play. As time goes on, even the most authoritative government cannot prevent a growth in population. They also cannot stop foreign ideas and societies from affecting their citizens. A town of two hundred may be controllable, but a city of twenty thousand isn't going to be isolated by a force of only one thousand. People learn and compare the practices of others to the customs instilled upon them.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeWcbc3E48k
Once the people have grown and learned, they will rebel and cause chaos. Rarely does a dictatorship simply change into a morally acceptable form of government. Often, it must be crumbled and rebuilt as such. So, others will see the chaos and lack of control and join those who have caused such a god to bleed.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡku4x5v8FHk
I cannot provide a single definitive solution to this problem we abhor, but I can assure you that time will heal these wounds upon our species. People will rise and see what life has to offer. They will fight those who resist change and overcome the oppression they have long suffered. All it takes is a simple application of chaos in a system that has long needed such a remedy.904Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXR1d0V4fFI
