The idea that the masses in society have become mentally (and physically) weak because of the declining amount of time and quality of
sleep they get.
In the Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn says, "sleeplessness befogs the reason, undermines the
will, and the human being ceases to be himself, to be his own 'I.'"
Instead of Soviet-era prisoners, imagine the modern society in which the majority lack sufficient
sleep. The main difference here in modern society is that the sleep deprivation process is not physically enforced by the regime, but its rather determined by the choices of the individual. These are choices that individuals make that can impede their
sleep. Commonly we see
people consume products (fast
food, caffeine, etc.) and use technological devices (phone use late at night) that
will harm their sleep schedule.
Was it ever really normal for kids in school to have only a few hours of
sleep until recently? Of course not, but the use of addictive substances and devices recently has allowed this to happen. The result of sleep deprivation from these products on a mass scale is that
people are much more susceptible to deviate from societal norms because they lack the agency to maintain them. With people lacking the willpower to maintain societal norms, this serves as an excellent opportunity for regimes. Regimes
will then craft narratives for the weak-willed people, and these people
will naturally incorporate these ideas within their moral framework.
