McDermott Today's N.I.C.E.

 In That Hideous Strength, the mega scientific organization N.I.C.E. closely resembles a lot of  “evil” organizations in today’s world that priorize efficiency and reason over the wellbeing of anyone else, like greedy corporations and the government.

One key similarity is the use of propaganda and mob mentality to win people to their sides. For N.I.C.E., it’s obvious how they do this, from hiring Mark to write propaganda for them to literally naming themselves something they aren’t (nice). Yet, many people like Mark are entranced by it and subject themselves to the organization without much restraint because of a couple flattering words.


Similarly, corporations parade around proclaiming that the wellbeing of the people is their number one priority, and yet continue to exploit their workers at any chance they get, raise their prices, and get try to shut down any backlash they receive. For a very recent example, a significant part of the public thinks that the recent assassination of that healthcare CEO is a good thing, so the CEOs of other megacorporations are doing their best to appear like they’re on the public’s side (like reinstating old menu items) when in reality, they just don’t want to get shot too.


This is a really important thing to note and places a huge emphasis on stepping back and thinking critically about different situations rather than evaluating them at the surface level, and is one of the many lessons Lewis tries to teach us in That Hideous Strength.

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