Red pill, blue pill and the real conspiracy
A crowd of Trump supporters gather outside as seen from inside the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, before the riot broke out. Picture: Cheriss May/Getty Images
is one of the most iconic sci-fi action films of all time, where a hacker Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that reality is a simulated illusion controlled by artificial intelligence (AI). Released from his virtual prison, he joins a rebellion against the machines, led by the charismatic Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), thereby unlocking his true potential as 'The One' or saviour of humankind. The film opened in 1999, as part of a trilogy written and directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski with and , both released in 2003.
Conspiracy theorists especially (but not exclusively) on the political right have embraced due to its themes of control, deception and the nature of reality, which resonate with many conspiracy-driven worldviews. The film’s depiction of a small group of powerful figures controlling vast networks (the machines) resonates with conspiracy theories about government manipulation of the masses, corporate dominance, and secret societies - often repeated by Donald Trump as being the 'Deep State' organising in opposition to him. These are not fringe groups - for example, a quarter of Americans believe that the FBI instigated the January 6th riot which saw MAGA protestors storming the Capitol building.
In a key scene in the original movie, which has been co-opted into the core philosophy of many conspiracy theorists, Morpheus tells Neo: “The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth."
Neo is then given a simple choice, to take one of two pills. Swallow the blue pill and he will return to his normal life, blissfully ignorant that his world is an illusion ('The Matrix'). But he takes the red pill and wakes up to the real world, discovering the awful truth that humanity is enslaved by machines and his life has been one simulated reality. Neo’s choice has been coopted by ‘alternative’ online groups, where taking the red pill metaphorically describes rejecting mainstream narratives and 'waking up' to harsh truths of hidden realities versus remaining in comfortable ignorance.
George Monbiot is an author, environmental activist and veteran British journalist who writes for the left-leaning . He is long known for his bold critiques of modern society, especially in relation to environmental issues, economic systems and social justice. He is not one for right-wing conspiracy theories, preferring the term “conspiracy fictions”. However, in his latest book, he is effectively reprising Morpheus, asking us - his readers - to at least consider taking the red pill he is offering.
Monbiot appeared on the popular late last year to promote . The eponymous host is himself an American journalist, author and activist known for his critiques of American imperialism, advocating for social change and resistance to oppressive systems. Though at times sounding as if he was using a microphone stuffed into a wet cabbage, Monbiot brilliantly summed up our own blue-pilled world, with Hedges providing the backing music.
Their one-hour conversation explored the pervasive and invisible systems that shape our modern society, particularly focusing on the idea that there is a dominant, yet unseen "invisible doctrine" that underpins global capitalism, our incumbent socio-economic policies, political ideologies and the structural inequalities that define much of contemporary life. This ‘doctrine’ once had a name, but now has become so embedded into our society that it has simply become part of the accepted status quo.
According to Monbiot (and Hedges), this belief system is Neoliberalism, and its entrenchment has been quietly but deliberately normalised by the elites, shaping the decisions of governments, corporations and individuals in ways that prioritise profit, individualism and market-driven solutions over social welfare, environmental sustainability and collective well-being. Its systems of power have been institutionalised to such an extent across healthcare, education, the economy and democracy itself that they are taken for granted, with consequences that are often masked or ignored.
Neoliberal policies of deregulation, privatisation, free trade, austerity, tax cuts, monetary policy control and unfettered capital markets have been promoted by powerful vested interests as a self-serving political and economic philosophy that has steadily replaced the post-World War II consensus, based on the theories of economist of John Maynard Keynes. Neoliberalism is directly responsible for the extraordinary growth in global corruption, wealth inequality, social and environmental degradation, and many of the anti-democratic forces within our societies.
While the governments of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher are renowned as the standard bearers ushering in this new era of capitalism, in effect, both sides of the political divide in the USA and UK have long embraced its Neoliberal underpinnings. In particular, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair effectively abandoned Keynesian economics that supported social and economic interventions for the greater good by well-funded governments and its associated management of economic levers to achieve full employment, with encompassing social welfare and health programmes.
For Monbiot, President Trump is the inevitable result of this broken society, desperate for relief from the oppression of modern life but oblivious to 'The Matrix' that causes it. Yet, the Democrats are little better, having embraced Neoliberalism since the Jimmy Carter administration (with Hedges holding particular opprobrium for Barrack Obama and his vacuous 'Yes, we can' policy of emasculated hope). So, while the Republican right has embraced this new 'consensus', the Democrats - epitomised by Kamala Harris’s failed presidential bid - are hamstrung by an inability to see an alternative to Neoliberalism. They are effectively engaged in futile leftist performance politics within 'The Matrix', where the game is always rigged.
Monbiot’s book is a call for recognition and action, urging us to critically examine the hidden forces that drive modern capitalism and to work toward a more just, equitable, and sustainable future. But as Morpheus warns, if you take the red pill, our world will never seem the same again.
