A Victory For Oppression By Carl Sagan

The Suppression of Ideas

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” (goodreads.com) The theme of suppression of ideas is not only present in novels, as it is a real world issue as well. Carl Sagan refers to the idea that if society is lied to enough, they tend to ignore the idea that they are in fact being lied to because they eventually reach the point where they’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. This

Fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or pose a threat, and as long as fear is present in individuals, nobody will dare take action against the threat. In an article called A Victory for Oppression, it states, “The Castro family has controlled the country and the economy with an iron fist that punishes Cubans who speak out in opposition and demand a better future.” (wsj.com) This quote can help one understand how fear is a factor that leads to oppression and the suppression of ideas. Since the Castro family has aroused so much fear within the Cuban society, they have power and can punish anybody who opposes them, as stated in the quote. Thus, the Castro family has been able to suppress the ideas of the Cuban society. Also, another web document states that, “Violence is probably the most obvious and visible form of oppression. Members of some groups live with the knowledge that they must fear random, unprovoked attacks on their persons or property. These attacks do not necessarily need a motive but are intended to damage, humiliate, or destroy the person.” (mrdevin.files.wordpress.com) Similar to the previous passage, this small paragraph from the document called Five Faces of Oppression, emphasizes the fact that fear is prevalent in a society that is faced with an oppressive government and is a factor that can contribute to the suppression of ideas. This tactic is also very prevalent in dystopian novels because when one arouses fear in society, society does not dare to take action because they are too fearful of the consequences should they get caught. This is why arousing fear in society is so successful in suppressing ideas. Even though an individual may have an idea, they will not take action because he/she fears the consequences should they get caught.