The Evils of Free Will: Difference between revisions

There is so much [[Crapsack World|suffering in the world]], so much hate, inequality, and ignorance. So much ''chaos!'' But what if there were a way to solve these problems? [[Utopia Justifies the Means|Wouldn't doing so by any means be justified?]] Well it just so happens there is a bright side to these problems -- thoughproblems—though daunting, they all have one common cause and it ''can'' be "fixed." The cause? Free will.

A subtrope of [[Utopia Justifies the Means]] and a [[Stock Evil Overlord Tactics|quintessential]] [[Evil Plan]] to [[Take Over the World]]. Frequently justified by the [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] [[Visionary Villain]] (or even [[Knight Templar]]) in a [[Just Between You and Me]] with the hero as being a small sacrifice. If it means no conflict, a quadruplication of the standard of living, the eradication of inequality, poverty, discrimination, and ''hate...'' [[Deal Withwith the Devil|isn't it worth it?]]

* In a way, this is also Light Yagami's plan for the world in ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]''. Sure, people can be bad if they really want to... but it's always paid back by death, unrelenting and immediate. Anything that goes against Light's high standards - even being lazy - earns the dissident a heart attack and vilification for standing in the way of justice.

** Gihren Zabi of the original ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' gives a little speech about this, implying [[Democracy Is Bad]]. He then goes onto talk about how [[Social Darwinist|the weak]] and [[Kill the Poor|poor]] must be [[A Nazi Byby Any Other Name|culled]].

* The Brain Drain in ''Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance'' promises to unite all of mankind and make all our lives easier by invading our minds for its sinister purposes.

* [[Serenity (Film)|Serenity]] has The Alliance, or a least River Tam's interpretation of them, state "We're not telling people what to think. We're just trying to teach them how."

* B-movie reviewer Scott Foy's [https://web.archive.org/web/20101226103553/http://www.foywonder.com/current_columns/foy_0609.html review] of the pro-Christian drama ''[[C Me Dance]]'' -- in—in which a teenaged girl is graced with the ability to convert people to Christianity via her touch -- pointstouch—points out that the film's ''heroes'' apparently believe in this trope, leading to most [[Unfortunate Implications]].

{{quote| Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is a horror movie, just one with a great big smile on its face that doesn't realize what it truly is. C ME DANCE is exactly like all those bodysnatching horror movies we've seen where someone gets taken over by an evil presence that can infect and impose its evil into anyone it comes into contact with. Sure, it's the power of Christ this time around but that doesn't make it any less sinister in its affront to the very notion of free will.}}

* While the authorities aren't seeking to create an entire world based on this trope, when prison is unable to reform Alex from ''[[A Clockwork Orange (Literaturenovel)|A Clockwork Orange]]'', he is subjected to conditioning that takes away his ability to commit violent or sexual acts, eventually [[Driven to Suicide|driving him to a suicide attempt]].

* {{spoiler|Oberon}} from [[John C. Wright]]'s ''[[War of the Dreaming (Literature)|War of the Dreaming]]'' wants to relieve Earth of its evils, chaos, and agonies by applying this trope. Predictably, the heroes tell him to [[Screw You, Elves|get stuffed]].

* ''[[Brave New World (Literaturenovel)|Brave New World]]''. In an inversion from the ''[[Demolition Man]]'' example, the populace is kept mindless, carefree and obedient by making sex and drugs ''[[Bread and Circuses|readily available]]''.

* ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]''. The <s>ultimate nightmare</s> consummate dystopia, where you (if you're a Party member) are being watched, judged and scrutinized everywhere by Big Brother to the extent that you do not have privacy, and even the ''concept'' of free will is being phased out by the gradual introduction of Newspeak, a bastardized version of English where all thoughts that oppose the state are grouped together under the label of "[[We Will Use Wiki Words in Thethe Future|crimethink]]," or in the common parlance, "thoughtcrime." Those who retain enough individual thought to question the system are strung along to believe they're rebelling against it, only to have their hopes (and their minds) crushed [[Room 101|through torture and institutionalized]] [[Mind Rape]].

* In ''[[We (Literature)|We]]'', the name of the disease is imagination. The location of it in the brain has been discovered, and an operation has been devised to cure it.

{{quote| "We are one -- alone -- and only, and we love you who are one, alone, and only."}}

* ''Candle'' by [[John Barnes]] focuses on the conflict between the last man on Earth with free will and the agent sent to bring him in. The agent narrates, so it starts off anti-free will yet oddly sinister ("You get the help you need, but [[Paranoia Fuel|you never]] [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|know]]"), then passes through five different [[Shades of Conflict]] as more and more background is revealed. The eventual conclusion seems to be that {{spoiler|[[Hive Queen|Hive Queens]]s are bad, but [[Mental Fusion]] is okay}}--which—which is [[Broken Aesop|completely contradicted]] in the sequel.

* The guiding principle behind the [[Dystopia|dystopiandystopia]]n "Community" in Lois Lowry's ''[[The Giver]]''. The elders make everyone's choices for them, including their career and their spouse, because if people were left to their own devices they might make the ''"wrong"'' choice. To limit people's choices even further, they go so far as to make the population colorblind.

* The idea is outlined in a story-within-a-story in ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]'' called the Grand Inquisitor, where Christ comes back and is arrested by the Holy Inquisition for giving humanity free will, consequently allowing misery from the ability to sin. The Grand Inquisitor of the title accusing him wants to bring everyone into the church, and to indoctrinate them so fully that sin will no longer be possible, and he considers Christ an opponent as a bringer of freedom. He claims that Christ should have given in to the temptations of Satan in the wilderness, and used his power to make the world paradise again. {{spoiler|Christ never says a word, but kisses him on the cheek, at which the Grand Inquisitor recoils, opens the cell door and tells Christ to leave and never return. This was part of the [[Nietzsche Wannabe]] Ivan's [[Hannibal Lecture]] to Alyosha, his monk brother.}}

* One of the entries for Dignity in ''[httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20140112144559/http://dictionaryofmoments.com/ The Dictionary of Moments]'' is about a situation where, originally, dangerous criminals were fitted with some kind of mind control implant which made them docile and obedient, but it worked so well that increasingly more people were fitted with them until everybody was, 'for the good of society'. Readable [httphttps://web.archive.org/web/20200327145948/https://www.dictionaryofmoments.com/?p=1763 here].

* In the [[Left Behind]] book ''Kingdom Come'': [[La Résistance|The Other Light faction]] outlines in their ''If It's True'' manifesto that by God [[Death's Hourglass|not allowing "naturals" to live past 100 years of age]] as unbelievers, then He is against mankind having the right to choose for themselves and thus [[God Is Evil|is considered "evil"]]. This is part of their clarion call to have their teachings be passed down to the next generation of its converts so that the generation that gets to [[Final Battle|confront God and Jesus Christ at the end of the Millennium]] [[Kill the God|will be "assured victory"]] when [[Sealed Evil in Aa Can|Satan is released]]. [[Curb Stomp Battle|Unfortunately for the Other Light,]] [[You Can't Fight Fate|it didn't turn out as they hoped.]]

* In ''[[Across the Universe (Literaturenovel)|Across the Universe]]'', Eldest declares individual thought to be one of the three causes of discord, and uses [[Government Drug Enforcement]] to limit it as much as possible.

* This is the dark side of several "good" factions in ''[[Dragonlance]]'', and the main point of disagreement between them and the neutral factions. (It's been demonstrated that this won't actually work--whenwork—when the evil goddess Takhisis was banished from the world, the Church of Paladine effectively ''became'' evil by persecuting the neutral factions.)

* "The World" of [[EEE. E. "Doc" Smith]]'s ''[[Subspace Explorers]]'' was set up generations before the time of the story as the perfect serf planet: everyone is born, lives, works, and dies in a caste defined by their life-long work;<ref>which also defines the scope of their training, education, entertainment, and social interaction</ref>; they have serial 'numbers'<ref>actually strings of letters</ref> instead of personal names; they live in barracks until welded into a breeding pair by dictate of their manager caste;<ref>whereupon they pump out new workers as fast as possible</ref>; their entire language is trimmed to the barest bone, with no proper names and no words for concepts that they shouldn't think; the Company is their god, its Agents their rulers, and producing its Products their only reason for living; and throughout their lives their every word, breath and heartbeat is monitored by a device around their necks which can deliver a lethal electric shock if the Agents decide they are 'mal'.<ref>glosses as 'maladjusted', 'malcontent', 'disaster', 'disastrous', 'bad', 'incorrect', 'invalid'...</ref>.

* In ''[[Charmed (TV)|Charmed]]'' episode 12 season 7 "Extreme Makeover - World Edition," The Avatar want to create utopia by curbing free will. In the end, in episode 13 season 7, "Charmageddon," [[Big Damn Villains|the evil side saves the day]].

** A double subversion of this appeared in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S1 E5/E05 The Keys of Marinus|Keys of Marinus]]" where the villains sought to break the rule of the Conscience Machine which enforced morality. The Doctor and his friends agreed that the Conscience Machine had to go anyway.

* The Borg in ''[[Star Trek the Next Generation|Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' are amazed people aren't lining up to be assimilated. [[Hive Queen|The Queen]] touts it as a ''blessing.''

* The Nebari from ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'' seem to work this way. Chiana repeatedly complains of the strict rules on her homeworld and gives the harsh treatment of non-conformists as the reason she {{spoiler|and her brother}} ran away when they were young. Her first appearance even shows this, as she is a prisoner being carted back home for not conforming. And, because Moya is a magnet for bad guys, the Nebari do eventually show up and try to "mind cleanse" the crew.

* Used as a [[Motive Rant]] by Dick's [[Evil Twin]] in ''[[3rd Rock Fromfrom the Sun]]''.

{{quote| "That's the problem with this planet. You've wholesale and retail, pink packets and blue packets, Republicans and Democrats and the party that crazy midget started. How they love their ''choices''. Everyone has to have their own ''point of view''. There should be only ''one'' point of view. '''MY''' point of view. I've got a message for these humans. The buffet line is about to close... ''forever''!"}}

{{quote| Safe from pain, and truth, and choice, and other poison devils...}}

{{quote| "Freedom of choice is what you got, [[Freedom From Choice]] is what you want."}}

* The [[Useful Notes/Mormonism|LDS Church]] believes that [[Satan|Lucifer]] planned to do this. While Jesus offered himself as an atoning sacrifice to allow those who sinned to be resurrected and have a chance of returning to Heavenly Father, Lucifer offered to ensure that ''everybody'' would get back to heaven in return for all of the power and glory. He planned to do this by taking away people's free will and prevent them from being able to sin. When his plan was rejected he and his supporters refused to back down and after the War in Heaven, were banished to the outer darkness, where they continue to try and upset the Plan of Salvation.

** This trope is at least referenced in just about every sect of [[Useful Notes/Christianity|Christianity]]. If there was no free will, [[The Devil]] would never have rebelled, and Adam would have never eaten the [[Forbidden Fruit]]. In fact, there wouldn't be a need for the [[Big Red Button|Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil]].

* The ultimate goal of Necrons in ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' is to cut away the connection between the Warp and realspace. While this would prevent the Chaos Gods and the daemons from interacting with the mortal world, it would also prevent interstellar travel and communication, and destroy the souls of all sentient beings, depriving them of their free will and turning them to cattle for the Necrons' C'tan stargods.

* {{spoiler|Megumi Kitaniji}} from ''[[The World Ends With You (Video Game)|The World Ends With You]]''. {{spoiler|His O-Pins brainwash everyone so that there will be no differences.}} In a strange twist, {{spoiler|[[Well-Intentioned Extremist|he has a sympathetic reason for trying to do this]], as [[The Man Behind the Man|the Composer]] has decided to erase Shibuya}} if it doesn't change. Fortunately for everyone involved, {{spoiler|[[Physical God|the Composer]] changes his mind at the last minute and Shibuya is spared.}}

* Sheng-ji Yang of ''[[Sid MeiersMeier's Alpha Centauri]]'' strongly believes in achieving this. For the most part, he comes off as a tyrant, but his goals are rooted in legitimate Eastern philosophy, have a distinct [[Utopia Justifies the Means]] flavor, and are extremely similar to [[Ascend to Aa Higher Plane of Existence|Transcendence]], leading to quite a bit of [[Alternate Character Interpretation]].

** In ''[[Devil Survivor (Video Game)|Devil Survivor]]'', most of the [[Holier Than Thou|Angels]] are actually ''pissed'' that God is treating the lockdown as humanity's [[Last Second Chance]] rather than immediately revoking their free will.

* The [[The Knights Templar|Templars]] in ''[[Assassin's Creed (Video Game)|Assassin's Creed]]'' have the elimination of free will as their number one goal. Of course, this involves brainwashing the entire human race and establishing a dictatorship with the Templars in control.

** If you complete The Truth puzzles in ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Video Game)|Assassin's Creed Brotherhood]]'', it turns out that {{spoiler|''capitalism''}} was engineered by the Templars to enslave humanity, with {{spoiler|television}} serving as a method of indoctrination and control. However, it turns out that {{spoiler|Generation Y is not only becoming ''immune'' to its effects, but is beginning to rebel against the subtle control the Templars have instituted with the Free Market and Wall Street.}}

* In ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]'' this is the solution of the [[Big Bad]]. In order to prevent the {{spoiler|discrimination of Half-Elves everyone will be turned into angels without thoughts or emotions.}}

* In ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]'', this is the stated goal of {{spoiler|the Patriots, according to the Colonel/Rose AI}}, to the point that they outright tell Raiden he "doesn't deserve" to {{spoiler|think for himself}}.

* In ''[[BioBioShock Shock(series)]] 2'', this is the [[Big Bad]] Sofia Lamb's main belief. As a collectivist, she believes that true good can only come from people destroying their sense of self to work for the benefit of the whole and that individuality (which she sees as a genetic disorder inherent in humanity) is the true root of human evil. This belief goes very deep, actually, and by the end she's ready to {{spoiler|''kill her own daughter'' and all of Rapture}} rather than let them live under the "curse" of selfdom.

* In ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (Video Game)|Pokémon Diamond and Pearl]]'', Cyrus believes that Spirit is the cause of all suffering, so he [[The Stoic|rejects it himself]] and tries to destroy it in everyone else. ...By capturing the origin deities of emotion, wisdom, and intellect, and later {{spoiler|planning to destroy the entire freaking universe and just start over}}.

* The Qun in the ''[[Dragon Age]]'' franchise preaches that the only choice that matters is the choice to excel in your Qun determined role or to die. Those that do not submit to the Qun are "bas" -- things -- and—things—and unworthy of respect. Those that leave it are "Tal'Vashoth" and are considered worse than dead as living insults to the Qun. Despite the implicit lack of free will in this code, the [[Dragon Age II|sequel]] shows many people in Kirkwall willing to convert to the Qun even though the Qunari ''aren't actively preaching anything''. After living in [[Wretched Hive|Kirkwall]] for so long, the order the Qun offers seems very compelling.

** It should note that the Qun technically doesn't think Free Will is evil as much as it is ''nonexistent''.

** Technically, the Qun ''does'' allow for choice - so long as your choice is within your role. For example, a warrior has no choice be anything but a warrior, but that warrior can choose ''how'' to do his job.

* ''[[Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)|Schlock Mercenary]]'' works with this concept via {{spoiler|nigh-omnipotent ship AI Petey}}. On the one hand, he's running around grabbing up villain groups and conscripting them into positions trying to help out innocents and stop bigger villains (kinda reminiscent of ''[[The Stainless Steel Rat]]''). On the other hand, he points out that he wants to preserve free will, and in service to that ideal is refusing to take certain steps that would be more efficient than his current methods. He even talks this over with the strip's resident moralist, Theo Fobius.

* [[Played for Laughs]] in ''[[Girl Genius (Webcomic)|Girl Genius]]''. Klaus [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20061101 should have known] what sort of answer he will get from ''[[Psycho for Hire|DuPree]]''.

* Megatron the Predacon came to this conclusion somewhere between the end of ''[[Beast Wars (Animation)|Beast Wars]]'' and the beginning of ''[[Beast Machines (Animation)|Beast Machines]]''.

* In ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'' "Treehouse of Horror" story "Time and Punishment", the first alternate timeline Homer arrives in has ''[[Not So Harmless|Ned Flanders]]'' ruling the world like this. Those who resist are taken for [[Nightmare Fuel|"Re-Neducation"]].

{{quote| '''Flanders:''' Now, in case all that smiling didn't cheer you up, there's one thing that never fails: a nice glass of warm milk, a little nap -- [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick|and a total frontal lobotomy!]]}}

* ''[[DantesDante's Inferno (Video Game)|Dantes Inferno]]: An Animated Epic]]'': God's willingness to give all those around him free will is what led to Lucifer fall from heaven and grant him ever-increasing power in hell as most souls on earth damn themselves to everlasting suffering rather than ascend to Heaven.

{{quote| '''Dante:''' How could God allow this?<br />

* The example that essentially served as the origin for this trope was Thomas Hobbes' philosophical treatise, ''Leviathan''. In his work, Hobbes argues that humans have a default "state of nature" where they are ruled by their selfish impulses, and are automatically inclined to seek their own betterment over anyone else. Thus, Hobbes' argument is that in order to avoid total destruction and chaos, people must give up their freedom to a leviathan (powerful ruler) who can use his authority to overrule humanity's impulsive tendencies and provide long term security in exchange for some freedoms. Most villains who subscribe to this trope, particularly those of the [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] variety, tend to to present their ideas as something of an extension of Hobbes original argument. They almost always ''also'' believe ''they'' should be the ruler (or loyally serve someone who thinks this).

* Very many despots of the [[[[Utopia Justifies the Means]] |utopian variety have put this trope into operation]], often on a grand and horrible scale. Stalin, Pol Pot, Chairman Mao, and the leaders of [[The French Revolution]] spring readily to mind, but they are really just the tip of the iceberg.

{{quote| '''"'''Freedom of speech is too precious a freedom to be meddled with..... And since I am sure of this in general, and since I'd expect most of you to be so too, I shall probably shock you when I say [[Hypocrite|it is the purpose of my lecture tonight to argue in one particular area just the opposite]]. To argue, in short, [[The Evils of Free Will|in favour of censorship against freedom of expression]], and to do so in an area of life that has traditionally been regarded as sacrosanct. I am talking about moral and religious education. [[Big Brother|And especially the education a child receives at home]]....parents (have) no god-given licence to enculturate their children in whatever ways they personally choose....in short, [[Manipulative Bastard|children have the right not to have their minds addled by (religion)]]. [[Utopia Justifies the Means|And we as a society have a duty to protect them from it]]. So [[Culture Police|we should no more allow parents to teach their children to believe]], for example, the literal truth of the Bible, or that the planets rule their lives, [[wikipedia:Appeal to emotion|than we should allow]] [[Bait and Switch Comparison|parents to knock their]] [[Insane Troll Logic|children's teeth out]] or [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}ALZZx1xmAzg lock them in a dungeon]. That's the negative side of what I want to say. But there will be a positive side as well. [[The Evils of Free Will|If children have a right to be protected from false ideas]], [[Brainwashing for Thethe Greater Good|they have too a right to be succoured by the truth. And we as a society have a duty to provide it]].'''"'''}}

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