Discover profound social criticism inspired by the Swedish series STHLM Requiem. Grounded in the philosophy of author Stig Dagerman, this article explores how industrialization, Henry Ford, and rigid social norms dominate our daily lives. Delve into the history of Gnosticism and the Cathars to understand how institutional power shifted and why modern humanity ultimately became the system.

Picture: Boeken en schrijvers nieuws en recensies

Last night I was sitting on my couch after watching television watching a Swedish series called STHLM REQUIEM, the series in question is about a plane that is hijacked on a flight from Stockholm to New York. I will spare you the details about the further content of this series, so that you can also watch this particularly exciting series for yourself. What I want to talk to you about is a certain statement that one of the actors in the series made, and which was once put on paper by Stig Dagerman, a Swedish poet, writer and journalist (October 5, 1923 – Degerhamn November 5, 1954). The man committed suicide in 1954. His real name was "Stig Halvard Jansson". Stig committed suicide in 1954. Stig Dagerman's statement that was recalled by the actor in question in the series was: "Man's natural enemy is the system, because it gives him power, which he can use against others for a while, but in the end that power is directed against himself."

Stig Dagerman's statement that was recalled

I thought: Did Stig Dagerman mean the system in which we all live every day? Does this poet, writer and journalist think the same as we all know from The Matrix, and all those other warnings that reach us again and again via radio and television, but actually do not reach us at all, or the majority of humanity does very little with it in my opinion, and seen through my eyes. 1954. My frame of reference starts because I was born in 1961 around 1965, and I think that's quite early now in 2026, of course, as you may know by now, I have also read a lot of history books, because I find the history of mankind, and the development of faith, very interesting. But when I read these books, I do come across many serious crimes against humanity, but especially when I read books about the past, I read few statements or texts like Stig's. It seems as if they are there, and come into the limelight repeatedly, but humanity in general does little with them.

Meaningless Violence and Self-Destruction: Why We Get Stuck in Destructive Systems

"Man's natural enemy is the system, because it gives him power, which he can use against others for a while, but in the end that power is directed against himself."

Boom, this statement hit home. Think of all those men and women at work, or all those civil servants who still qualify themselves as very important and behave that way on a daily basis. Why do they adapt themselves to these destructive systems? Why do they believe that these systems are reality? Do they need these systems so badly to survive at all? Do they realize enough that the reality as the Gnostics and the Cathars once wanted to tell us, and convey it, is completely dwarfed by this?

Gnosticism and the Cathars: Lost Spiritual Wisdom versus Church Power

The message of love, togetherness and simplicity, is it now completely lost? Do we as humans no longer know our own origins? Have we been played so far apart by the early Christians and the later Catholics that we as people really see each other as enemies, and have come to see less? Has the center that the Cathars and the Gnostics considered sacred completely disappeared? Has the System by which we were indoctrinated between 1800 and 1900 really become the victor over our lives?

The Industrial Revolution and Henry Ford: How Humans Became Part of the Machine

Just think before that time there were people who worked in a certain organized way, and perhaps also in a certain system, but also kept their freedom, and listened to nature. They were still asleep when they were asleep and did not consciously work with targets and systems.

Then came Henry Ford and his friends, who made us believe in industrialization. They let us work on the assembly line, and at set times, in a system. Everything was adjusted accordingly, our sleeping habits, our mealtimes, our rest times and so on. Man became part of the system and started to believe in it more.

Living in the Matrix: Social Norms and the Fear of Falling Outside the System

We have become the system. Yes, we believe in the system, and in many cases, we are the system ourselves, be careful not to fall outside it! We eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, and usually sleep at fixed times. We drive at a predetermined place on the road. We have to comply with preconceived norms and behaviors, and we must be careful that we keep moving those norms and values, because otherwise something will swing or we will be banned from the system. The world and our circle of friends remain quite large if we move within the system but be careful not to fall outside "the system".