[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by karice67

@Triple_R

If I might make a couple of observations about Japanese society today in response.

I'm already well-aware that Japanese society is relatively more collectivist compared to the relatively more individualistic North America.

But there's a difference between a cultural "bottom-up" collectivism, and the sort of strictly enforced "top-down" collectivism we see here in Psycho-Pass. It's like the difference between everybody in a small town voluntarily pulling together to help each other out during a crisis (this including the wealthier members of the town giving material aid to poorer members of the town) vs. Stalin-style communism.

I respect the "social harmony" focus of Japan. In some ways, it has an edge over the more "individualism" focus of America. But Japan has managed that "social harmony" focus while still having a truly democratic form of government and some basic human rights for its people.

And the value of freedom of expression can be expressed in terms that any culture can understand. Freedom of expression is the most valuable of all freedoms because it is only through such freedom that meaningful, informed, social change can be effected which improves society. Freedom of expression basically means that every person is able to voice his or her concerns and grievances without fear of facing legal penalty for it. This means that society is more likely to find holes in the system, and situations that need to be fixed, as the voice of the people make clear where those holes are.

But in the world of Psycho-Pass, we see case after case after case of people falling through the cracks, with no real way of fixing the issue, because the system essentially disenfranchises them based on clearly questionable readings and enforced standards (like "authorized music").

And what happens when the Director discovers holes in the system? Does she instruct a group of scientists to see if they can tweak the system so that the next Makishima can be taken down by a Dominator, or does she simply do a cover-up and then "disappear" the problem away?

When I look at the Sibyl system in Psycho-Pass I see a system that is indeed horribly inflexible, and is not likely to ever improve due to how it disenfranchises people while putting people like the Director in charge.

This is the society, the audience, that Urobuchi is writing for. Compared to that uncertainty, the job and livelihood security offered by the Sibyl system may indeed be something that many people would find appealing. Furthermore, whilst the show focuses on the enforcement side, it has also demonstrated that some ordinary people are protected from potential harm such as stalking, and that other, less-than-appealing aspects of society (e.g. what many people would term 'grotesque' art) are also removed from the public view.

I've never been forced to look at 'grotesque' art. Allowing darker artwork to exist is not the same as creating a captive audience for it.

Is the system really so broken that it needs to be destroyed (which revealing the existence of outliers like Makishima may well do), or can the imperfections be 'fixed'?

But that's just it. I'm seeing no indication that the Director intends to try to truly fix this imperfection. In the Sybil system, I see a system that lacks any necessary catalyst or inertia to improve itself.

If we accept the premise that the system merely needs improvement (and I would argue that this is how the characters see it),

How does a system improve if its imperfections are covered up while the people who oversee that system simply make those imperfections "disappear"?

Here is one reason why I think the Sybil system may in fact be broken - It arguably lacks the necessary feedback and inertia to truly improve itself. If you have a society governed by an imperfect system that has become so unquestioned that it can never improve, then aren't you essentially stalling human progress? Combine this with the shortening human lifespan, and it paints a rather bleak long-term picture in my view.

From a Western perspective, it's very easy to say that the Sibyl system should simply be abolished.

It's not very easy just from a Western perspective. Do you have to be a "Westerner" to understand the rationale that I've laid out in this post against the Sibyl system?

Originally Posted by Qilin

Oh, wow. This is great. So it turns out that the actual purpose of having Inspectors and Enforcers in the police force is to preemptively discover any gaps in the Sybil system, then promptly cover them up before the public catches wind of it...

I can't exactly fault them for it either. Having this kind of flaw made public would destroy everything that the system stands for, and would result in mass panic, paranoia, and worst of all, darkening of Psycho-Pass hues. This is one case where belief is more important than truth.

No, it's not. The truth is just as important as belief. Because the truth will ultimately shape how well the Sybil system operates on a long-term basis (the imperfection doesn't truly disappear just because a cover-up makes it seem that way).

A society thrives on stability, and anything that could threaten that stability must be dealt with quickly.

Interesting idea... What would it have made of the Woman's Suffrage and Civil Rights movements, I wonder?

Stability has value, but it's not more important than any conceivable injustice.