Pow Power Powerless

Vaclav Havel wrote a very insightful essay which helped to shed new light onto social conditions which make people feel powerless. His essay urges people to live truthfully rather then following blindly some empty ideology. This is a very good argument as every human being should be truthful to themselves and to those around them. That is one of the only decent human things which can be seen as universal. This idea of Havel’s regarding truthfulness and, humanity relates a great deal to German sociologists Max Weber’s two notions of the iron cage as well as the disenchantment of the world. In Havel’s essay he explores conditions is Eastern Europe which make people adhere to an empty and meaningless ideology. Because these people live their lives in a meaningless fashion, just to go by unnoticed it dehumanizes them. They lose genuine political interest and therefore do not partake in any meaningful political dialogue. This leads the masses to become disenchanted because this is just the way that things are, what can be done about it. The Disenchantment of the world inevitably leads these people to live in an iron cage of their own creation. By perpetuating these slogans and meaningless propaganda the people just keep perpetuating ideals which have no purpose but to sustain themselves and their ideologies. If people try to break free of the iron cage then they are seen as disloyal and irrational and are sent off somewhere to be isolated, put with other crazies, or worse. Although these consequences may seem dire, which is worse? Living a meaningless numb life and detaching yourself from everyone around you, or admitting to yourself the truth and suffering the consequences. Max Weber and Havel I think would both agree that being truthful is ultimately the righteous decision.