The Monsters We Made: Taking Responsibility for Our Own Creations

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was never just a horror story. It was a warning—a prophetic vision of what happens when we create without accountability. Victor Frankenstein’s great sin wasn’t his ambition to create life; it was his failure to take responsibility for what he had made. In his abandonment, the creature became the monster.

This is where we are today. We have built towering systems—technologies, ideologies, economies, and power structures—that have taken on lives of their own. But instead of guiding them, we have turned away, unwilling to face the consequences. And now, we live in a world shaped by our own neglected creations.

The Monsters We’ve Made

We didn’t wake up one day to find ourselves in a society consumed by political extremism, corporate greed, misinformation, and unchecked technological power. These things were built over time, piece by piece, by human hands. They are the result of collective choices, apathy, and willful ignorance.

• Social Media & AI – Designed to connect us, they have instead fragmented reality, rewarding outrage over reason, manipulation over truth.
• Education & Miseducation – Instead of fostering critical thinking, we have allowed systems that prioritize standardized testing, passive learning, and intellectual laziness.
• Politics & Power – We created a culture where deception is rewarded and accountability is feared, leading to leaders who thrive on division rather than unity.

These forces didn’t rise out of nowhere. Like Frankenstein’s creature, they were shaped by their environment—by us. And like Victor Frankenstein, we recoil in horror at what we’ve made, pretending we had nothing to do with it.

The Consequences of Abandonment

Victor’s refusal to guide or nurture his creation led to destruction. Likewise, our neglect of the systems we’ve built has led to a world spiraling out of control. Misinformation spreads unchecked, political discourse turns into warfare, and our own inventions—both technological and ideological—threaten to consume us.

But here’s the hard truth: these monsters were never inherently evil. They became monstrous because they were left to their own devices. And they continue to grow because we refuse to claim them.

Reclaiming Responsibility

If we want to change the course, we must stop acting like helpless bystanders. We must take responsibility for what we’ve made. That means:

• Engaging with technology mindfully – Instead of being passive consumers, we must demand ethical development and accountability from tech companies.
• Reviving critical thinking – Education must prioritize questioning, debate, and the ability to discern truth from manipulation.
• Holding power accountable – From government to corporations, we must demand transparency and integrity, refusing to accept deception as the norm.

It Takes a Village to Tame a Monster

No single person can fix the world’s problems. But just as we collectively created these issues, we can collectively reshape them.

Shelley’s novel leaves us with an unsettling lesson: when we abandon what we create, it destroys us. But she also leaves an unspoken alternative—one we still have the chance to pursue.

We can choose to take responsibility. We can reclaim what we’ve built. We can stop being afraid of our own power and instead use it wisely.

It’s not too late to rewrite the story.