Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure it was real? What if you were unable to awake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world, and the real world?Technically, regardless of whether we are fully awake or not awake at all, life and everything we may need to survive in this world costs money. Money in most countries is part of the system enslaving us as it is borrowed by governments at interest from international banking conglomerates. This is the exact same thing as personal loans, mortgages, and business loans, and even credit cards, in that, interest is added to interest in perpetuity ad nauseum. Skip a payment, add two extra payments down the road... The trouble is that for each dollar printed into existence there is an added percentage, I hold a $10 bill in my hand, but to those it was borrowed from it is worth $10.10... So? So ask a simple question: how do we find that 10¢ when the dime would cost 10.1¢? So we'll print 10 dimes and 1 penny which owes $1.01101. It never actually ends and there is never enough money in existence to cover the interest because new money costs more money that doesn't yet exist... But without money we are homeless, naked, and starving, just like NEO would have been after being flushed from the power plant when he woke up were it not for Morpheus' rescue. Most countries actually had a solution to this problem at one time, but were convinced by international banking conglomerates that printing money was far too complicated for mere mortals and should be left up to, none other than, international banking conglomerates... Fancy that... This only ends, when money is printed by governments without interest, true, it must be carefully managed so as not to hyper inflate or hyper-deflate, but at least $10 won't have a dime nobody can see somehow embedded into it... And we are finally able to wake from the dreamworld.
The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.Everybody has been programmed from the moment of their birth that it is their duty as a citizen to have a job, vote, raise a family, love their country, honour their religion, hate what their parents hate, follow the rituals passed down, etc... There are so many things that we are taught to accept and trained to do that it often feels wrong to question WHY? In fact, WHY, is a question that eventually cannot be answered if continually re-asked, except with "BECAUSE IT SIMPLY IS.". Add to that the human ego which sometimes reacts in very bizarre ways when backed into the corner of 'I have no fucking clue WHY'. Thus we tease or lash out that which goes against our concept of real regardless of how compelling or logical the argument against that belief you are vehemently defending in fear that your delicate vision of reality fracture and take your sanity with it... It is a defense mechanism of the mind to not breach certain barriers we believe would cause chaotic brain synapses and possibly even kill us in one fell aneurysm like Pandora's Box. I won't argue that the escape route isn't difficult, and often it must happen in phases otherwise we likely do fall to the base instincts of eat, shit, fuck, and sleep... Obviously there is little goal in degenerating into animals, thus we need to hold on to some level of morality for civilization to continue to thrive.
Neo: ... Choice. The problem is choice.
The Architect: The first Matrix was quite naturally perfect; it was a work of art, flawless, sublime. A triumph equaled only by its monumental failure. The inevitability of its doom is apparent to me now as a consequence of the imperfection apparent in every human being. Thus I redesigned it, based on your history, to more accurately reflect the varying grotesqueries of your nature. However, I was again frustrated by failure. I have since come to understand that the answer eluded me because it required a lesser mind, or perhaps a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection. Thus the answer was stumbled upon by another: an intuitive program, initially created to investigate certain aspects of the human psyche. If I am the father of the Matrix, she would undoubtedly be its mother.
Neo: The Oracle.
The Architect: Please. As I was saying, she stumbled upon a solution whereby nearly 99% of all test subjects accepted the program as long as they were given a choice, even if they were only aware of that choice at a near-unconscious level. While this answer functioned, it was obviously fundamentally flawed, thus creating the otherwise-contradictory systemic anomaly that if left unchecked might threaten the system itself. Ergo, those that refused the program, while a minority, if unchecked would constitute an escalating probability of disaster.
Morpheus: Everything begins with choice.Choice. Even if barely perceptible, keeps us in check, keeps us feeding the system. What choice? Voting. We elect our leaders, but often at a lesser of two evils stance which ultimately means we do not really like either (or any for those of us with more than two parties) choice. In the only superpower this is the most pronounced where the only choice is left vs. right, Democrat vs. Republican. Yet those choices look increasingly the same as time moves ever forward. This is partially because regardless of who is elected, the government wins the election. Meaning: the top people may change every 4 years, but the rest of the government remains employed, doing exactly what it had been doing in the 4 years prior. The second reason this choice looks the same, is because both sides are ultimately backed by powerful corporations and banking interests. Which corporations isn't even relevant to the equation since most corporations are at some point part of the same committees and fund the same think tanks and continue to thrive by agreeing behind closed doors not to really compete, but just to appear as though they are. Majority of corporations want the exact same things in 'life': death to workers rights, less governmental interference, more tax shelters, and lower import/export tariffs. Bankers are even more transparent in that they want to trade humanity as a commodity and bet all other banks will fail before they themselves do. Note: there is no if associated to failing, because with the derivatives market as it looks now, most of them are hoping not to be the last one holding the bag in their little game of musical hot potato chairs. Besides they now know they can find a way that we are stuck holding that bag so they can continue playing long after the music has stopped. So yes choice, even if only at an unconscious level allows 99% to accept the programming, back the candidate of choice, and vote, even if the whole system is rigged. I am a systemic anomaly to the system, because I not only do not accept the system, I explain why I don't, so it is conceivable that agents may some day break down the door and haul me away.
Merovingian: No. Wrong. Choice is an illusion, created between those with power and those without.
Neo: What does he want?This is pretty self explanatory: the law has become so complex, and at the same time so stacked against individual rights that the concept that was the American Dream is now impossible. You stand a greater chance of being struck by lightning 8 times than to get off a boat start at the bottom of a corporate ladder and end up president of the corporation, or for that matter, start a business which becomes some huge corporation somewhere down the road. It is no longer about the odds of something like that taking off, because now it's about legislation which prevents one person from competing against a large corporation. Even if someone manages to get past all that, one of those larger corporations will buy out that smaller company if the idea was good enough. Large companies and banks just keep getting larger via mergers and acquisitions at the expense of progress and innovation. Large corporations are too riddled with bureaucratic red tape to be agile enough to innovate, and banks are simply too bigerest to fail (because they'd owe more money than has ever existed in the world if they did fail).
The Oracle: What do all men with power want? More power.
Neo: You're not human, are you?The Media. Mainstream media is towing the line and pushing the programming, whether via NEWS, Movies, Sitcoms, or Dramas. But at the same time the underground media can also have it's agenda. I have not claimed to be an expert at anything, but I believe what I say and write... Does that mean you should? How could I prove to you that I am not hired by the homeland security industry, or pushing the corporate agenda of my employer? I can't. I have no way to assert that I am not hijacked, and sometimes I am even wrong in my assumptions... So can I even trust myself? And I have not even used the industry standard terms of tin-foil hat conspiracy theorist wing-nut yet... Could it be that I am crazy as the media likes to call out when they have no more logical explanations they can use in rebuking my claims? Trust is a broken commodity in the present world. I rely on my own gut and hope that it hasn't lead me astray, but you can't feel what goes on in my gut, you can't hear the thoughts in my head until they've escaped into the keyboard. You don't even know if I've been writing this article for years, or minutes; suggesting either a very thought out essay or a manifesto of ramblings. I could be a genius or I could be a madman, and there is really only a fine line between the two anyway.
The Oracle: Well, it's tough to get any more obvious than that.
Neo: If I had to guess, I'd say you were a program, from the Machine world. [looks at Seraph] So is he.
The Oracle: So far so good.
Neo: But if that's true, that could mean you're a part of the system, another kind of control.
The Oracle: Keep going.
Neo: I suppose the most obvious question is: how can I trust you?
The Oracle: Bingo. It is a pickle, no doubt about it. Bad news is there's no way you can really know if I'm here to help you or not, so it's really up to you. Just have to make up your own damn mind to either accept what I'm going to tell you, or reject it.
Smith: I killed you, Mr. Anderson, I watched you die. With a certain satisfaction, I might add... and then something happened, something that I knew was impossible, but it happened anyway: you destroyed me, Mr. Anderson. Afterward, I knew the rules, I understood what I was supposed to do, but I didn't. I couldn't. I was compelled to stay, compelled to disobey. And now here I stand, because of you, Mr. Anderson. Because of you, I am no longer an Agent of this system. Because of you, I've changed. I'm unplugged. A new man, so to speak; like you, apparently, free.Appearances can be deceiving... Well, actually, most of the time, they are deceiving. There is much more to most stories than meets the eye, and facets to every person we've ever met that we may never actually know. There are even facets to ourselves which we are unaware of until such time as they decide to surface. Maybe I am deathly allergic to some food I've never eaten. Maybe I know how to escape from an angry grizzly bear, should I ever happen upon one. Maybe I am phobic of hedgehogs and only realize it on being confronted by one up close. But the most deceiving of appearances is the polished P.R. image of corporations, banks, and politicians. Public Relations is a billion dollar industry which revolves around putting lipstick on a pig and telling everyone how beautiful this 'not a pig' is. Whether this pig is a brand new untested medication, swampland in Florida, or the Patriot Act it is painted in whatever light was desired by the side who had the most P.R. dollars to spend. It may not always work as we've seen in the repeated attempts at ACTA, but unfortunately it works more often than not. And it's all meant to obscure Purpose. Without all the P.R. window dressing, purpose would be plain as day. The very name 'Patriot Act' was designed to obfuscate it's purpose from those who were designated to vote yay or nay to it's passing without ever having to actually read it: it is patriotic, thus I must not be opposed lest I am painted as unpatriotic... Yet it's purpose was anything but patriotic, wasn't it? No matter, it's too late to realize that it was a pig wearing lipstick now that you are married to it.
Neo: Congratulations.
Smith: Thank you. But as you well know appearances can be deceiving, which brings me back to the reason why we're here. We are not here because we're free; we're here because we are not free. There's no escaping reason, no denying purpose, because as we both know, without purpose, we would not exist. [multiple copies of Smith appear, surrounding Neo, reciting the following] It is purpose that created us, purpose that connects us, purpose that pulls us, that guides us, that drives us, it is purpose that defines, purpose that binds us. We're here because of you, Mr. Anderson. We're here to take from you what you tried to take from us. [plunges his hand into Neo's chest, attempting to assimilate him] Purpose.
Neo: Why am I here?Two points are reinforced in this passage, both of which the media and politicians are using against us. Obfuscate the question with an unrelated answer and hope nobody notices that you didn't actually answer the question, and if they do, change the subject to have them raise a different question.
The Architect: Your life is the sum of the remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the Matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control, which has led you, inexorably, here.
Neo: You haven't answered my question.
The Architect: Quite right. ...Interesting, that was quicker than the others.
Neo: Others? What others?
The Architect: The Matrix is older than you know. I prefer counting from the emergence of one integral anomaly to the emergence of the next, in which case this is the sixth version.
Neo: There are only two possible explanations: either no one told me, or no one knows.
The other point is that of revisionist history. Retelling a story, putting in slight modifications with each telling of the (no longer) same story, eventually molds the story into whatever you want the listener to believe. Using this method the greatest tyrants in history can appear to be the greatest heroes and vise-versa. This is done in Hollywood, and this is done in the textbook industry. Then it is parroted and trumpeted over and over again until it is permanently imprinted on human memory. We retell the lie to our children believing it to be the truth, and knowing that 'truth' so intimately it's almost as though we bore witness to the event ourselves whether it happened yesterday or five centuries ago.
Smith: Why, Mr. Anderson, why, why? Why do you do it? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something, for more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom? Or truth? Perhaps peace? Could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson, vagaries of perception! Temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose! And all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself, although, only a human mind could create something as insipid as love! You must be able to see it, Mr. Anderson, you must know it by now, you can't win! It's pointless to keep fighting! Why, Mr. Anderson, why?! Why do you persist?!Why won't all these conspiracy-theorist tin-foil-hat wearing lunatics just give in and watch Honey Boo Boo content to power the system happily remaining a cog on a gear endlessly driving out more financial slaves? Because once you see the elephant in the room, you can't not mention it. It will refuse to hide regardless of camouflage or special effects.
Neo: Because I choose to.
Morpheus: I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.I understand what's wrong with the world, and I have always felt something was wrong with the world even before I understood it. I may not know the best course of action to fix it, and maybe nobody can fix it permanently. But is it not worth trying to fix it? Is it not worth exposing these flaws to as many as possible in hopes that everyone can try to work out the solutions together? Do the majority of us not want the freedom to choose our destiny?
Morpheus: Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.
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