FITNOLOGIC
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Lessons we can learn from Blade Runner 2049

28/10/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
​Blade Runner 2049 is a science-fiction movie that follows the story of agent K, a Los Angeles police officer whose task is to track down rogue replicants. Replicants are mass-produced bioengineered humans that are used as slave labour workers. It is the sequel of the original Blade Runner movie that came out in 1982. As the name suggests, the story takes place in 2049. 

The movie offers a very pessimistic vision of the future, or a dystopia (as opposed to a utopia). It shows us what the world could look like if some of the problems we are facing now get worse. It addresses the issues of over-reliance on technology, the impact of man on the environment, overpopulation in urban areas and corporate power over democratic governments.

Overpopulation and unaffordable housing 

The Los Angeles of 2049 is an overpopulated urban area made of giant buildings as far as the eye can see. There are no parks or any green spaces and the few animals we see are replicants, or artificial animals. It is a place where concrete has taken over nature. It is a society in which a full-time worker can only afford a tiny apartment in a dodgy neighbourhood.

The main character K (Ryan Gosling) lives in a apartment so small that it looks more like a prison cell than a proper apartment. One can’t help but wonder if this is what unaffordable housing will lead to in the future. In addition to house prices, low wages growth and an increasing job insecurity, owning a house will soon become the realm of science-fiction too.    

Technology doesn’t necessarily mean progress

The society of Blade Runner 2049 relies heavily on technology, such as flying cars or holographic female companions. The main character K shares his life with a hologram named Joi. Joi is an artificially intelligent product whose purpose is to bring consumers happiness and companionship. There is a sense throughout the movie that technology has become toxic. To the environment first, and to the people who have become addicted to it, as seen in the main character K’s addiction to his holographic girlfriend. 

Technology doesn’t necessarily mean progress. The mistake is to believe that because a new technology is available we should always use it. However we should carefully weigh the pros and cons of using a new technology and consider its long-term impact on employment, the environment and society in general. If a technology allows us to do the same amount of work with half the number of employees but puts millions of people out of work, should we use it? If a technology allows us to be more productive at the expense of the environment, should we use it?

Uber is today’s Wallace Corporation 

Too many companies try to squeeze every single drop of life out of their employees in exchange of a minimum wage or questionable employments contracts. In Blade Runner 2049, the Wallace Corporation is the company that manufactures the replicants (the artificial humans) and uses them as slave labour workers. When a replicant rebels against the corporation, they are ‘dealt with’ (tracked down and killed) by the police.    

A company like Uber is the Wallace Corporation of today. Their ‘partners’ as Uber calls them (understand employees with no social benefits) work for crumbs and can have their contracts cancelled at any time. An increasing number of companies are hiring people on a subcontractor employment basis because they don’t have to pay for entitlements such as holiday leave or superannuation. 

Because something is legal doesn’t mean it is ethical ​

It is no secret, Uber’s ultimate goal is to get rid of all drivers and use self-driving vehicles instead. Removing the human factor altogether will reduce costs and increase profits. Which raises the question of ethics in business. Are employees considered assets that need to be looked after or overheads that need to be reduced to the minimum? With great power comes great responsibility. The growing power of corporations over governments gives them the responsibility to adopt ethical practices such as looking after their employees and the environment. 

Blade Runner 2049 was released last year, 35 years after the original Blade Runner movie. The same issues are addressed in both movies, and the idea that in another 35 years we may still be facing the same problems is a great cause for concern to me. As a conclusion, let’s take a minute and reflect on this quote from the movie: ‘Every leap of civilisation was built off the back of a disposable workforce.’
1 Comment

Will I ever be as great as Muhammad Ali?

15/10/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
I was born on the same day than Muhammad Ali. Not the same year though, a few decades later, but on the same day. Which makes me a great boxer by birth, doesn’t it? 
​
​I got introduced to Muhammad Ali when I watched a video of the 1977 Oscars ceremony in which he appeared on stage with Sylvester Stallone. They teased each other and traded friendly jabs in their fancy suits. Ali oozed charisma. I immediately took a liking to the man. And when I discovered we shared the same birth date, I decided to learn more about his life story. 

​
‘This will be the greatest upset in the century of all boxing.’ Ali before his first title fight against Sonny Liston.  

Ali grew up in the American South during the segregation period. He started boxing when he was a kid and discovered he had a real talent for the sport. He won a gold medal at the 1960 Olympic Games and went on to become the heavyweight champion of the world at the age of twenty-two. His bouts against Joe Frazier and George Foreman are among the greatest boxing fights ever. At the end of his career, Ali had a record of fifty-six victories for sixty-one fights. To this day, he is the only boxer who has won the heavyweight title on three different occasions. 

‘I’m so fast I can run through a hurricane and don’t get wet.’ Ali before his epic fight against George Foreman. 

Inside the ring, his boxing style with his hands down, his unorthodox footwork and his uncanny speed captivated the audience. Ali moved like no heavyweight before him. Outside the ring, it was his personality and his political stands that set him apart. Ali was a boxer, an activist and a philanthropist. He fought for fame and titles inside the ring. He fought for freedom and equality outside the ring. He challenged the establishment by publicly criticising American politics on the issues of race equality, civil rights and the military intervention in Vietnam. Few people have done more for the African-American community than Ali.

‘Keep the camera moving because I’m kinda fast.’ Ali showcasing his footwork on television before his first fight against Joe Frazier.

Muhammad Ali is nicknamed ‘the greatest of all time’, and he definitely is one of my greatests. Ali achieved his dream of becoming the heavyweight boxing world champion and he gave up his title when he decided to stand by his values and principles of not taking part to a government-sanctioned killing exercise, the Vietnam war. He was heavily criticised at the time and even labelled a coward. He was taken to court and convicted for refusing the draft to serve in the war. He was stripped of his title and banned from boxing. His sanction was eventually overturned three years later.
​
‘You won’t even stand up for me in America for my religious beliefs and you want me to go somewhere and fight.’ Ali’s speech at Howard University in 1967, days before refusing the draft.

Today, the Vietnam war is regarded as one of America’s history darkest episodes. Time proved that Ali did the right thing. He sacrificed his prime years as a boxer and he gave up all he had worked so hard for his whole life to do what was right. He was the champion on both sides of the ropes. This is what made him the greatest. 
​
​
Professional athletes of today are paid way too much to even think about taking risky political stands and put their careers on the line like Ali did. As for me, I'm not sure I'm ready to give up on my dreams yet to follow my convictions and do what is right. I am ten years older than Ali was when he refused the draft and I am probably another few years away from reaching such wisdom. I do hope that one day I get the chance to prove I can be great too and transcend my own interests for the greater good of society. 

'I’m gonna fight, not for me, but to uplift my little brothers who are sleeping on concrete floors today in America.’ Ali in the 1996 ‘When We Were Kings’ documentary. 

Ali's life spans seventy-four years, from the segregation period to the election of the first black president of the United States. He inspired people to believe in themselves, to stand against injustice and to fight for equality. Ali is an icon of the twentieth century. And people will continue to sing his rhymes and quote his lines for a very long time.  

1 Comment

    Author

    'French, free-thinker and promoter of social justice.'
    ​Thierry

    Archives

    April 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018

    Categories

    All
    Construction
    Education
    Employment
    Fitness
    Social Justice

    RSS Feed

Site powered by Weebly. Managed by Champion Web
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact