Calculus of Compliance
18th July 2022
Current American popular culture eerily demands the same behavior of ordinary Americans as Havel’s hypothetical greengrocer. Whether you’re putting on a face mask before entering a grocery store or stringing up a pride flag for the month of June, Americans are signaling their conformity to the whims of the ruling class. Whether they’re actually an ally or think masks are effective is irrelevant. Like Havel’s greengrocer, all that matters is their desire to show that they’re team players. The only difference is that it is the retaliation of social media mobs rather than NKVD agents that citizens fear now.