HAhmed.com

Idiocracy is probably the best movies you’ve never heard of. In fact, it’s worth renting for the first ten minutes alone. It’s basic premise argues against the scientistic myth of the evolutionary progress of intelligence. Instead of the world becoming smarter over generations, it portrays a world where competent, intelligent people are outbreeded by promiscuous dumb people.

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"As the 21st century began, human evolution was at a turning point. Natural selection, the process by which the strongest, the smartest, the fastest produced in greater numbers than the rest. A process which had once favored the noblest traits of man, now began to favor different traits. Most science fiction of the day predicted a future that was more civilized and more intelligent. But as time went on, things seemed to be heading in the opposite direction. A dumbing down. How did this happen? Evolution does not necessarily reward intelligence. With no natural predators to thin the herd it began to reward those who reproduced the most and left the intelligent to become an endangered species."

* * * SPOILER ALERT* * * The movie follows the main character, Joe Bauers (played by Luke Wilson), a completely average person. He is recruited in a top-secret military hibernation project, where is sealed in a frozen coffin to be awoken a year later. The project’s director is fired and the experiment is forgotten about. Joe awakens from his coffin 500 years into the future. The future portrayed in Idiocracy is one where everyone is completely stupid. Being smart “is gay”. The world is run by corporations. Starbucks is now a brothel chain. The most popular show on television is one of a person continually being hit in his testicles. The world’s water supply is replaced by Brawndo (a Gatorade rip-off). When Joe awakens 500 years into the future, he is declared the smartest person in the world. He is promoted to the secretary of interior to help correct the world’s problems. The first task he attempts to solve is why crops are no longer growing. He figures it might have something to do with the Brawndo they are feeding the plants. This dialogue from the film was beyond hilarious:

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Joe: "For the last time, I’m pretty sure what’s killing the crops is this Brawndo stuff." Secretary of State: "But Brawndo’s got what plants crave. It’s got electrolytes." Attorney General (Sara Rue): "So wait a minute. What you’re saying is that you want us to put water on the crops." Joe: "Yes." Attorney General: "Water. Like out the toilet?" Joe: "Well, I mean, it doesn’t have to be out of the toilet, but, yeah, that’s the idea." Secretary of State: "But Brawndo’s got what plants crave." Attorney General: "It’s got electrolytes." Joe: "Okay, look. The plants aren’t growing, so I’m pretty sure that the Brawndo’s not working. Now, I’m no botanist, but I do know that if you put water on plants, they grow." Secretary of Energy (Brendan Hill): "Well, I’ve never seen no plants grow out of no toilet." Secretary of State: "Hey, that’s good. You sure you ain’t the smartest guy in the world?" Joe: "Okay, look. You wanna solve this problem. I wanna get my pardon. So why don’t we just try it, okay, and not worry about what plants crave?" Attorney General: "Brawndo’s got what plants crave." Secretary of Energy: "Yeah, it’s got electrolytes." Joe: "What are electrolytes? Do you even know?" Secretary of State: "It’s what they use to make Brawndo." Joe: "Yeah, but why do they use them to make Brawndo?" Secretary of Defense: "’Cause Brawndo’s got electrolytes."

Now whats not funny about this dialogue, and the movie in general - is the fact that this concept of the future is not that far-fetched at all. In a world already run by corporate-controlled media, and where everything around us is so commodified and materialistic - we are already being dumbed down. Who dictates what is fashionable? Or what we should eat? or how we spend our free time? Who dictates what we do for entertainment? How much of our lives are truly destined by our never-ending quest to satisfy our desires? When you think about it - so much of our lives already are. And Muslims and their concept of the deen is by no means immune from this. This type of dialogue regarding why Brawndo is so good for us - unfortunately is also present in many of our Muslim communities - and this is by no means any laughing matter. So many dialogues with Muslims regarding participation in non-Muslim government affairs, and culture in Islam, and other "controversial" issues are simply diluted to essentially stupid dialogues. As much as it hurts me to say it - blind following of religion - without any personal reflection about God’s signs, or understanding of the history of Divine Revelation, or most importantly, understanding of the Ultimate Reality of Tawhid is very dangerous for our ummah. Is humankind destined for such an idiocrous fate? My answer would be… yes.