“We tend to default to complacency. Stick to the easy option,” Ben Fogle once said. This leads us to the question, “Do technologies like television and cell phones make us more complacent as a society?” Technology does make society more complacent because it tends to make society lazy and unaware of the dangers surrounding us.

Music artist Nathan Feurstien once said, “Handouts create lazy people.” With the internet, it’s become easier for students to cheat and become content with their grades. There’s no need for them to try to get good grades if they can cheat their way through class. With the government handing out unemployment and stimulus checks due to Covid, people and businesses are taking advantage of that and not working because they can get “free” money from the government instead. People are becoming complacent and rely on handouts instead of working hard and trying to get better. 

Not only this but, with society becoming lazy, technology and social media has caused people to adopt an “everyone else agrees so I will too” mentality. Not many people take the time or energy to form their own opinions, and this can be dangerous. The government can use propaganda and mind games to make sure everyone is compliant, as we see in “Harrison Bergeron.” Everyone in the short story’s society believes it’s normal to have handicaps because they are shown this illusion of being equal. They don’t question anything because nobody else does, just like many of the people in today’s society. We have become complacent with the idea of simply going with the flow and never questioning anything, and that could cause the government to become tyrannical. 

“We don’t want to turn the safety net into a hammock that lulls able-bodied people into complacency and dependence.” – Paul Ryan. Some may say that technology does not make society complacent, however this statement is not true because technology tends to make society lazy and unaware of dangers we may face. Technology leads to a “follower” mindset and gives potential for the government to become corrupt. Take a step back from the screen and think about what is really going on in the world and form your own opinions; be a leader, not a follower.