Human Mind is the place where ideas are born and from human interaction they get strength. Though ideas are universal and each human mind has the capability to approach them they are refined and confirmed through minds of fellow human beings.
Take the example of French revolution and American war of independence, where the idea of overthrowing oppressive forces gained strength in the coffee shops, or, democratic decisions in the streets of Rome. In each instance the ideas got momentum from the interaction of Humans. Governments throughout the history have tried to control the Human interaction because they know and they fear the fact that any congregation has the potential to generate an idea which can be lethal to their existence.
Through many years we have seen the autocratic governments dispersing the crowds even when they are protesting in a peaceful manner (Red Square in Russia). We have seen the “Democratic “governments of today controlling any form of gathering which is seemingly against them .
The concept is simple and that is The Power of People will be greater than the coercive power of Government If and only If people gather. The only way of making the coercive power of government greater to that of public is to destroy it’s cradle i.e. interaction of Humans.
For ages therefore Governments have tried to delude people through Wars, Religion, Entertainment ( 7 hours a day of T.V. watching) and controlling the information channels to make circumstances where people do not interact with one other (The idea has been beautifully explored in the Media Control of Noam Chomsky.). The result is that today we have no place where we can meet and discuss our ideas.
Even the latest and the most powerful invention for the general public i.e. internet has also become a threat to governments worldwide whether they are autocratic or democratic because it transfers power back to people; because it gives them a platform to generate, discuss, refine and spread their ideas and most importantly it gives them a tool to know what exactly their governments are up to.
And no doubt, from China to U.S. governments are hell bent on controlling it on some pretext or the other. (Well, It is a different topic altogether and I would like to write on internet freedom later).
The whole point of saying it is that today we have no way of open interaction and it gives governments a free hand even as they impose their decisions on us. The governments all over the world are happy to see people divided and lost in their own worlds as they freely control their lives. Over the years, the authorities have developed subtle means of controlling the public rather than force. They have started realizing that hypnotising someone is better than killing him and that is a more dangerous situation as we combat to generate and fight for ideas which justify human existence.
