New Opium for the Masses

OPIUM OF MASSES

“Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of the soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people” wrote Karl Marx in 1884. The statement has often been interpreted as a critique of religion by only stating the last part of the complete statement. Rather the idea had been that the masses are so oppressed that the only escape they find from the pain inflicted upon them is in religion. Such is the condition of our people now. They turn towards what relieves them of the pain and suffering. Now, the masses have rather taken a liking to electronic and social media, the new “Opium of Masses” (Here, in no way do I say that religion has been replaced). The people are continuously tied in a circle of electronic consumption. This has little space for fact checking and people continuously fall in traps- conspiracy theories and blatant lies- and the lack of professional voices regarding a subject add to the troubles.

Majority of our population is illiterate and upon that uneducated, there is no longer a need for consulting multiple sources or fact checking information, rather we feel that the information coming down to us is true and in its purest form. Whatsapp forward messages, YouTube video links are all favorites of the people who don’t have time to think of anything other than how to earn. The thought of not having a stable source of income is a cruel one and the modern opium provides the escape capsule. Conspiracies regarding the working of government and unseen forces hatching plans to destabilize the country prove to be nutritious as one has an ever present target to lay blame on.

There is a lack of professional voice on digital forums. Although, professionals from various field have started to come on social media and share their side of the image with the public there is still a barrier. Their voices are still not trickling down to the masses. This is happening due to two reasons in my view. One being the use of professional language that the populace is not able to understand completely and the second being that the professional voice is outnumbered in front of the voices of conspirators. These two concerns need to be addressed urgently in order to weed out foul narratives.