Machine

A metaphor that fascists and communists seem equally fond of, or perhaps only their critics: Likening society to a machine, where everyone is but a small cog in the system. Whether you use it to promote or condemn collectivism, it's poorly thought out.

 

First, there's an awful lot of very different kinds of machines. But fair enough, since the machine is just a metaphor anyway, it doesn't play too much of a role. However: Have you ever taken a good look at a machine? Any kind of machine? It's almost certainly made of many different parts. Not just "cogs". So I don't know why some people think a machine of all things is a good allegory to condemn individuality in favor of the collective.

 

One could argue, the opposite is true. Of some components, there are many identical copies built into the machine. Of others fewer, and of some, only one. Often those are the most critical components, without which the whole apparatus would malfunction or come to a standstill. That's the part they usually don't mention.

Done