Let us think of an ordinary person living in a shanty town in İstanbul: There is a big difference between this person’s real situation and their ideal situation. The level this person wants to reach is very high, but his economic situation is not such that he can reach that level in any way. However, the moment he turns on the television, he is provoked, and this situation causes a disconnect and fragmentation in the individual’s identity.In a sense, this is one of the reasons why there are so many neurotic and schizophrenic people. This factor, which looks simple, can be considered an important cause of social unraveling, and ultimately, it is. There is another factor that has been overlooked and perhaps is completely unique to modern society. This factor is that institutions -- in the modern society -- have gained autonomy. There is more than one institution that has gathered under the roof of the state and is autonomous, and each one of these institutions asks the individual/person to play a role.
A person is forced to play 10 to 15 different roles in a single day. When this person returns to his “private” life, there is a fragmented identity that has been subject to mystifications (miscommunication where one-sided or mutual true feelings and thoughts are intentionally concealed so as not to upset the other side or express thoughts that won’t be welcomed).
This person either turns to alcohol, drugs or the Internet. The Internet and television have become means of escape. People try to relax and feel happy in a virtual world. On the other hand, there are also people who follow heretical beliefs.
They find a group of vague gurus, messiahs, mahdis and saviors and become affected by them. In traditional society, there were established moral norms, legal rules and traditional and social control mechanisms, and these kept people together. If there was disparity between people, judges (respected and loved elder people) would intervene and the problem would be solved without needing to go to court. Now there is a state of lawlessness and “normlessness.” This inevitably leads to the worshipping of power and power fetishism. In this way, neighborhood bullies and mafia leaders fill that gap and become role models for other people. All historical and traditional standards of judgment that keep the society together are impaired because there is “neighborhood pressure.” However, neighborhood, family and paternal pressure is necessary as long as it does not try to endanger basic rights. Unraveling starts in places where there is no pressure.
In actuality, everyone is an imperialist in their own small sphere. For example, if a person cuts in line instead of waiting for his turn, that person violates another person’s right. Old Spartan rules and morals have started to become valid in modern society; you can steal and engage in unlawful actions as long as you don’t get caught because, as Dostoyevsky said, if there is no God, then everything is permitted.
Magazine and pop culture is dominant in our day and age. This situation causes intellectual shallowness. People no longer think in-depth, contemplate or mediate. All mentalities have become shallow. Television and the media have become the only transporters of culture. The mentality of humankind has dropped to the level of a 12-year-old because the language of television is at the level of a 12-year-old child’s mentality.
Of course, it is very easy to manage and determine people at that level of intellectual shallowness. People do not realize it, but they are like social puppets in this amorphous society; they are managed and determined.
Until the 21st century, “Islam” controlled this society. Islam was this society’s frame of reference, hope and vehicle for struggle. Religious communities, political, social and cultural movements, associations and foundations made a place for immigrants in the society and rehabilitated them.
