Mr. Robot and Philosophy: Beyond Good and Evil Corp (Popular Culture and Philosophy) by Edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison-Greene

Author:Edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison-Greene
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780812699678
Publisher: Open Court
Published: 2017-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

Only Light Your Torch If There Is No Recourse

So far, my friend, you’ve seen two roads. The one road was paved by Edmund Burke, who many regard as the founder of what we know today as conservatism. He believes that revolution is inherently bad and therefore an unjustified course of action because it flings any society rich in history and tradition into chaos. We had no plan for the fallout of the 5/9 hack, and because of that cities have been blacked out, trash has been piling up, there are more people in poverty than out of it, and blood was spilled. We didn’t create a new society. What we did create was chaos in a society that was unsuspecting.

On the other hand we have the position of Karl Marx, who saw the evils of capitalism and the bourgeoisie, which we see played out by the actions of Evil Corp. Evil Corp is a corporation with a monopoly on people’s lives in the form of technology and financial control. They are a corporation that doesn’t care about the lives their business practices ruin or even kill as long as it leads to a bigger bottom line. For Marx, only revolution could wrestle away the control such institutions possess and give it to people like us to create our own society and our own future. Otherwise, the bourgeoisie would keep dominating and nothing would change.

These are two very different views, but which one is correct? Perhaps it depends on the conditions that give rise to the revolution. This is what political philosopher Kai Nielsen argues. Nielsen agrees with Marx on the topic of revolution, but only under the condition that no other actions could have been taken to achieve the same result. This idea is illustrated by the work of Elliot’s friend Angela. Angela, who lost her mother in that toxic spill, chooses to join E Corp and change the company’s practices internally through non-revolutionary means by climbing the corporate ladder and making the necessary changes to the company’s practices. The fact that Angela had this path available to her would likely cause Nielsen to doubt the justification and overall legitimacy of our revolution. He may look at us and point to Angela and say that we should be more like her and find ways to spread our message through non revolutionary means.

The only problem is that Angela ultimately failed in her non-revolutionary approach. The moment she stepped into the board room and tried to openly discuss how E Corp’s factories could have higher safety standards and practices, her voice was immediately silenced with icy stares and mocking laughter. Phillip Price, while taking an interest in Angela for some reason, was never completely honest with her about the leaks that killed her mother. In the end, Angela’s attempt to change E Corp from within was like trying to move a brick wall with sheer force. If Angela, with her good nature and intelligence, couldn’t change the actions of the corporation as

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