Unplug from All Things Babylonian
In The Matrix movie, when Morpheus tells Neo that “many are not ready to unplug from the system,” he is highlighting a deep truth about human nature that resonates in our world.
The “system” in The Matrix symbolizes the Illusion designed to control people, use them, drain them energetically. This “matrix” is an artificial framework that manipulates and controls humanity by providing a false sense of reality. This mirrors how many people today remain confined by societal illusions, unable or unwilling to look beyond the facade of lies and control.
Morpheus recognizes that the comfort of the system often outweighs the discomfort and challenge of confronting the truth. Many people have been conditioned over years, or even generations, to accept the world as presented to them. Unplugging from this system involves facing a harsh and often unsettling reality: realizing that everything once believed to be true is, in fact, a lie. This demands immense courage, a willingness to embrace discomfort, and, above all, the readiness to let go of long-held beliefs.
Moreover, those still plugged into the system frequently become its most fervent defenders. The system has become intertwined with their identity — their beliefs, values, and sense of self are all rooted in the illusions it perpetuates. To challenge the system is to challenge their entire worldview, making it easier for them to protect it rather than confront the possibility of deception.
Defending the System: A Psychological Response
When Morpheus mentions that “many will fight to protect it,” he is addressing a psychological phenomenon known as cognitive dissonance. When faced with information that conflicts with deeply held beliefs, people often experience discomfort and will reject the new information to preserve their sense of security. This is why individuals still enmeshed in the system will defend it vehemently, even in the face of evidence suggesting corruption or deceit.
For those unwilling to unplug, the system represents safety, order, and familiarity — a mental prison that provides structure and predictability. To confront the truth would mean losing this sense of security and their role within the system. Consequently, many will fight to maintain the status quo, even if it means sacrificing their freedom and truth.
Clinging to the Illusion in the Modern World
In today’s context, this concept is profoundly relevant. The system can represent various facets of contemporary society — political ideologies, economic structures, societal norms, and even religious dogma. People cling to these systems out of fear, ignorance, or a desire for control. Or is it from a sense of continuity and a need for the seeming certainty of the herd of people around them.
Society and its institutions — religions, media, education, and government, — these institutions program individuals from a young age to accept these systems as reality. We grow up with it and rarely question it. It is our “normal.” It promotes a narrative: if you follow the rules and play your part, you will achieve success and fulfillment. Yet, this narrative is not true for everyone.
The process of awakening involves questioning these narratives and examining the very foundations of accepted truths. Later a series of less-well written movies, they called such people DIVERGENT. They were not content to simply stay stuck in pre-made categories for them. Even Plato, in his Rebpulic, had pre-made roles that the individual was force-fit into… in the name of sering the greater good. However the real greatest Good is blossoming into the purpose Father God intended for you when He created you — which might have little or nothing to do with the pre-packaged roles society pressures you to play.
Unplugging: A Difficult, Yet Vital Journey
Unplugging from the system, akin to the metaphor in The Matrix, represents waking from a collective dream sold to the masses. It entails stripping away layers of illusion to see the world as it truly is, not as we’ve been conditioned to perceive it. This process is challenging, involving the dismantling of years of societal conditioning and confronting uncomfortable truths about ourselves and the world.
For those who are ready, unplugging is an act of liberation — a step toward freeing oneself from the mental and spiritual constraints imposed by the system. However, for many, the fear of the unknown and the pain of relinquishing long-held illusions can be overwhelming.
The Matrix as a Metaphor for Control
You simply have to love truth/reality MORE than the comfort of illusions. Those who remain attached to the system are often blinded to this truth because the system rewards conformity and punishes deviation. They perceive those who unplug as threats, not because of any inherent danger, but because these individuals challenge the false security that the system seems to provide.
Defending the Illusion: The Role of Fear
Fear is the system’s most potent weapon — fear of the unknown, fear of losing status, and fear of being wrong. This fear compels people to defend the illusion vehemently, projecting their fear onto those who disrupt the illusion they’ve built their lives upon. When Morpheus says that many will fight to protect it, he means they are defending it not out of belief but out of fear of what lies beyond.
The system’s power relies on keeping people in darkness, disconnected from their true essence and used by forces they dare not even try to understand! Those who cling to it do so not because it serves them, but because they do not yet know who they are without it. They have, in this way, taken on ITS identity instead of having become real — having found one’s own identity.
Moving Beyond the System
For those who have unplugged or are in the process of doing so, it’s essential to remember that not everyone around us is ready. Remember the line from the poem “Lady of Shalotte”, who said she was half-sick of shadows. The murky world to confuse us of the matrix is that shadow realm, not quite dead, but not really alive either.
“Half sick” is not ENOUGH to set us free from the cultural programming. We must become fully sick of artificial roles that society tries to cram us into. We have to be willing to sacrifice everything for it. The lady of Shalotte only reached a half-sickness. And thus she died, as another famous quote from Thoreau says living “a life of quiet desperation.”
Like Neo, we must navigate the world understanding that many remain prisoners of their own minds, held captive by the illusion. The goal is not to force others to awaken but to continue living in truth as beacons of light, planting seeds for those who are ready to see beyond the veil. Half sick is not willing to sacrifice everything to break through the veil of programming, to the harsh-and-painful, to the risky and uncertain, but to the REAL life that awaits us!
Morpheus’s insight remains timeless: many are not ready to unplug because they are not prepared to confront the chaos of the real world, where their perceptions, beliefs, and identities must be reassessed. Until they find the courage to look beyond the illusion, they will continue to defend the system.
