Before delving deep into the issue, i merely thought that biopower was a force only present in the most corrupt governments in the history of mankind such as Hitler and Stalin and how they used the state to control the lives of all of their people. However, the more and more I think about, I believe that every single nation and goverment uses extreme forms of biopower and that we, the citizens are completely oblivious to it. Biopower is defined as 'practice of modern states and their regulation of their subjects through "an explosion of numerous and diverse techniques for achieving the subjugations of bodies and the control of populations". This basic definition obviously describes the terrible regime of Stalin as he exploited and subjegated his own citizens for his own personal gain. However, as I started reading more into biopower and how it has evolved I realized that our "modern form" of biopower is "an emphasis on the protection of life rather than the threat of death". With this evolution of biopower, whichever entity has the power or duty of protecting life can exert its biopower as almost any action can be justified as saving life. A huge example of this in our current society is speed limits. The government introduced speed limits with the hope that it would save many lives on the road because people would not be able to drive at very high speeds. We take this idea for granted, and do not question it. However, by introducing speed limits, the government is able to set this psychological barrier that prohibits one from driving fast not because you are not physically not able to, but because the government has the authority to protect life and you must follow it. Speed limits are a very subtle form of biopower, but what it could evolve into is a scary thought. The government controlling your speed could become the government controlling what you eat because of health reasons, which could turn into the government controlling what you wear because it might promote a violent reaction, or many other ridiculous limitations. When the government has the right to protect life, all of these terrible atrocities are justified because they just might protect or save a life. It is our duty as citizens to reject the idea that the government should protect life and make it our own individual goal to help protect all life in order to stem this new growth of biopower.
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