The article is devoted to the answer to the question of what idiocracy is. The meaning of the word cannot be explained without comparison with the following concepts: democracy, aristocracy, partocracy. All of them consist of two parts, where the first has a different translation, and the second is derived from the Greek kratos ("board", "power"). What is this political system and when did the term first appear in literature?
"Idiocracy" is a movie
The beginning of the use of this concept was laid by the film of the same name by Mike Judge, one of the most versatile celebrities in Hollywood. He is a screenwriter, and an actor, and a producer, and an animator, and a composer. Moreover, he has an engineer education. In 2005, Judge turned to a science fiction story, violating the widespread belief that the personality of the future would be a more civilized and intelligent person. In his opinion, over 500 years from the beginning of the 21st century, the process will go in a completely different direction - towards the dulling of society.
There are many reasons for this, and one of them is the childfree movement, to which the most intelligent individuals are exposed. It is up to them to realize: if they will not give birth to children, then the problem of demography will be solved by others, including the marginalized sections of society. And then there will come a period of gloomy dystopia, recreated in a picture called "Idiocracy". What does the word mean in the context of the proposed film?
The power of idiots
The first part of the word is also of Greek origin and translates as "ignorant man." In medicine, the term defines the deepest of the three degrees of mental retardation - idiocy. In everyday life it is used to characterize a person stupid, limited or stupid. Combining the two parts, we get the following: "idiocracy" - a word meaning a political system where people with low IQ have power. Is this the movie?
In 2005, the average IQ score was 110 points. In the 2505th, where the heroes of the picture — Corporal Joe and the prostitute Rita — turned out to be about 20. But can the term in question be interpreted as “the power of idiots”? Yes, the society has degraded, but the paradox is that people whose highest IQ is higher than others are just appointed to the highest posts. Corporal Joe, who turned out to be in the future as part of an experiment on freezing ordinary people, passed the test well and immediately received the position of Minister of the Interior.
Is "idiocracy" an ideocracy (an ideal device)?
Such a system, where everyone is employed depending on their abilities, where there is no place for blat, kinship and bribes, is this not an ideal society? It is believed that during the translation the letter "e" was replaced by "and", and the word radically changed its meaning. What other points may indicate that the society of the future represented in the film has advantages over ours?
- New repair technologies. The modern approach leads to the refusal to restore the broken and obsolete. Most prefer to throw a thing and buy a new one. The film shows, for example, houses where a collapsing building is connected to a neighboring ordinary cable. Restoration and repair is sometimes much cheaper than building a new one.
- The invention of new household items. Enormous savings can be achieved, for example, in the toilet seat on which Frito, one of the main characters of the film, sits in front of the television.
- Getting rid of complexes. The society of the future lifted the basic natural needs to the pedestal. The main occupation that fellow citizens indulge in is reproduction.
- Higher religiosity. The hospital, where Corporal Joe falls, bears the name of the Holy God. Modern people still believe in treatment, pills and surgery. After 500 years, the Almighty becomes the main hope.
Brief description of idiocracy
Nevertheless, the opinion cited just above can be considered ironic rather than claiming to be true. Idiocracy is a political system in which the dulling of society and a sharp jump in fertility led to the economic crisis, environmental disaster and the destruction of culture as such. Only one company is flourishing - producing energy drinks. Hyperinflation, pornography, registration of the population with tattoos, the complete replacement of speech with slang, dubious entertainment in the form of a movie called "Ass" and nights of rehabilitation carried out to combat riots - these are the main characteristics of this device.
At the same time, the head of state is still the president, speaking from the rostrum with arms in his hands. A significant moment is his former profession - a pornstar. The family tree presented in the film perfectly demonstrates how the construction of such a society is possible.
Fate painting
Judge was able to convincingly show that, following the theory of Darwin, Galton and Mendel, 5% of geniuses and the intellectual elite with a probability of up to 95% can easily be absorbed by other descendants. This is precisely what led, after 500 years, to the creation of a society of unicellular creatures drinking electrolytes. Unfortunately, evolutionary selection may also have a minus sign.
The state is interested in improving demography by stimulating the birth rate of the best representatives of society. Idiocracy is a warning, according to the authors. But this approach has caused reproaches in sexism, racism, slander of the American dream by society and the state, etc., due to which the film was not widespread.
Despite the fact that the majority saw the film on DVD, we can talk about the rooting of the term "idiocracy". Its significance is that stupid and limited people should not be at the head of civilized countries. This leads to disaster. So, in the film, it was Joe, who became president, that people owe the fact that the Earth is still spinning.
