Morlocks and Eloi

In 1960 MGM released the movie The Time Machine, based on the H.G. Wells 1895 science fiction novel of the same name. The film depicts H. George Wells, played by Rod Taylor, as a scientist who has developed the ability to travel through time. The film depicts a series of events the real Wells would have no knowledge of, but serves the film well. George Wells stops in London during World War I, World War II, and as a catastrophic nuclear holocaust begins. George Wells’ trip culminates with his landing in what appears to be an idyllic utopian land of the Eloi, where people were calm, happy, well fed, and oblivious to reality.

As I look at America in 2023, I would characterize a large portion of the American population and voters just as oblivious to reality as the fictitious Eloi of the Wells’ novel. They buy their $7 cup of coffee each morning on their way to work. They play video games or watch mindless television in the evening and sports all weekend. They enjoy plenty of choices at the grocery stores, a cool home in the summer, warm home in the winter, a cell phone, and a reliable vehicle. So far, their life is comfortable, so why be concerned about what the government is doing? After all, it isn’t impacting them that much. Like the Eloi, they are oblivious to the liberties they are losing, oblivious to the fact their government is blatantly lying to them, and that America is becoming a police state.