Here is my propaganda poster made with Canva.

Be aware of first-hand ideas!

My propaganda poster for The Machine Stops is a poster created by the machine or central committee to try and remove personality. The book follows a theme of control from the machine onto society. I highlighted the main quote “Beware of first-hand ideas,” because it shows how the machine controlled one of the major aspects of humanity, their minds. The propaganda device this uses fear. This quote from the book, pinpoints what the book is about. It is saying that critical and creative thinking is too hard for humans and saying that the machines ideas should be the default. This also highlights a dystopian characteristic. Another quote I incorporated is “A generation seraphically free from taint of personality.” I added this quote because it is a perfect example of how much control the machine has over the population. It shows how much the machine has changed and controlled the society into thinking that a perfect world is one where everything is the same. While the only way for people to be free is to be themselves. It is also an example of using virtue words or glittering generalities, saying they will be free without a need for personalities. I added “become a part of society” with this part to add a bandwagon effect. I was mostly inspired by the blunt control by the machine because it is so shocking to imagine a society getting to a part in time where being yourself is a mistake. Relating it to today’s society where everyone is unique and one of a kind. I believe that keeping this outlook going into the future could save us from technology overcoming us.

Synthesis for Machine Stops and Wall-E

Society is becoming less empathetic towards each other the more time we spend on our devices. The Machine Stops, written by E.M. Foster, is a dystopian story involving dehumanization, control, and breaking free. This short story, written in 1909, makes one think critically about where we stand with our technology. Wall-E, produced by Andrew Stanton in 2008, created a new way of looking at our consumption and production of waste. Society can continuously learn about what they are doing wrong, but nothing will change till action is taken. Throughout The Machine Stops, we read about how society has adapted under the control of the machine. One of the main characters, Vashti, treats the machine as something to worship and something that keeps her safe. This relates to how society now, in 2022, treats their phones, some feel lost and without purpose without their phone. While Vashti worshiped the machine; another character, Kuno, despised the machine and refused to succumb to the machine. Kuno would tell his mother, Vashti, what was wrong with the machine and told her many times they should be leaving the machine behind. “…We created the machine, to do our will, but we cannot make it do our will now. If has robbed us of sense of space and sense of touch…,” said Kuno. Yet, no one listened until the machine began to break down and collapse onto society. Society today will be too far gone when the time comes to save the planet.

In the movie Wall-E, humans were seen as mindless consumers. Society would jump, metaphorically, on to any trend that was sent out by the machine. They didn’t read into what they were consuming or caring about where the old things were going. In the machine stops, society also became mindless consumers by consuming music and information without giving it a second thought. Today, many consume misinformation and mostly listen to other people’s opinions on topics before experiencing it for themselves. Without experiencing things for ourselves, society will become more and more detached from reality. The more time we spend on our devices isolating ourselves on our technology the more we will be missing out on something extraordinary. In comparison when Kuno was talking about life on Earth and who has spoken to on the surface, and Vashti was still relucent to believe him. “Oh, tomorrow – some fool will start the machine again, tomorrow.” Vashti spent so much time isolating he4rslef in her cell that she couldn’t comprehend what was happening in front of her. As the whole city crumbled, she still believes that the machine will go on. Society today wouldn’t know what to do when technology comes to an end, it might never come to an end. We won’t know, but if we don’t act and try and learn from what we have done. To try and change where we are going, nothing will stop us from mindlessly consuming any content fed to us.