Are We Living In A Dystopian Reality?
Let me preface this thought by stating that I am American, so these thoughts are geared towards American society and not necessarily the rest of the world. I don't plan on documenting thoughts regarding other countries anytime soon, so you can rest assure that I'm only focusing on my country here. And no, this will not be focused on Donald Trump and/or his administration. Without further ado, here is a debate that I've been internally discussing with myself for a few months now:
I graduated from high school at the beginning of this month and along with it, a course on literature within the dystopian genre. While in the course, I finished four books from trash like Aldous Huxley's
Brave New World to classics such as
1984 penned by George Orwell. We also watched the adaption of
The Hunger Games, which viewed as a dystopian story and not as a teenage drama romance,
is actually pretty good in my opinion. Of all the novels to hit me the hardest, however, was
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury which follows the plot of a society willingly deciding to outlaw knowledge (by burning books) in replacement of distractions in the form of technology (most presented in the novel was television, but it was written before the time of home computers and smartphones). In the novel, characters have shallow relationships, are immune to common acts of violence, and care little for others, especially those that are "different". Sound familiar?
The thought really hadn't crossed my mind until I was walking home from my last final exam while listening to Allister's album
Life Behind Machines that Americans (and perhaps other countries as well) may willingly be living in a dystopian reality. Although we haven't exactly begun burning books, I don't think it's unfair to say that people haven't at least begun to become addicted to technology which has more or less served as a distraction. I'm not speaking for everyone, of course, but I know that I definitely resort to music, YouTube, and cat pictures whenever I'm feeling anxious or overwhelmed instead of paying to (and solving) whatever problem is plaguing me. Based on some of the posts that I've seen online, I wonder if there are others do the same and I would not be surprised in the slightest if there were. For the record, I don't think that these distractions are negative nor do I ever plan on condemning technology as my online friends cared more for me than my own parents did, but I wonder if technology is beginning to overrun conversation. I don't see a problem with texting and messaging my friends, but I do admit that it feels odd to have friends over my house and for all of us to have our heads in our phones instead of acknowledging one another, but again, this may just be an experience of my own.
Moving away from experiences of my own, however, I do find through observation that people have become increasingly unconcerned with acts of violence. It took less than twenty-four hours of the Manchester bombing to see posts about Ariana Grande's show apparently "being the bomb" and "very explosive" to appear. It's only been four years and Sandy Hook has nearly been forgotten about (save for the conspiracists and, of course, those affected by the tragedy). Christina Grimmie, a former YouTube singer and someone that I was subscribed to many years ago, was shot and killed last year with people taking to the internet with debates about gun control instead of acknowledging the murder of an innocent individual who was only a few years older than myself. In the example of the Orlando Night Club shooting, there was an argument of whether or not the shooter was a terrorist or simply a "troubled individual" instead of paying attention to the forty-nine people that were just killed. I myself have struggled to find empathy towards these situations due to how much violence and crime I've witnessed both on television and in my own life. When did society become so desensitized? When did I become so desensitized? I only have to wonder.
Loathe as I may to admit for such a pile of trash there are points made by Aldous Huxley in
Brave New World that could ring true for American society as well. With the rise of "smart TVs" being able to listen to conversations while turned off, the rise of fake news, and alteration of language as a mean to control - hang on here! I'm getting too close to politics! Let it be known that I'm not pointing fingers at any one individual and/or party since quite a few people are guilty of this. Whew. Carry on. Anyway, with all of the previously mentioned examples in mind, it seems that an "Orwellian nightmare" may already be according, but not nearly to the extent of the grey world seen by Winston Smith. Perhaps Suzanne Collins may also had a few points to make as she also touches upon desensitization for others in
The Hunger Games as well as the absurdity of reality television. I also observed
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, but I would be hard pressed to ever make any argument regarding the validity of that cringy novel.
And those are only some of my thoughts. I could rant on regarding my thoughts on this topic for hours, but I don't think that anyone would be interested in reading that. Or this for that matter, but at the moment, I just really felt like placing this somewhere. Maybe it could serve as a discussion, thoughts for a Roleplay, or simply a way to improve my writing in the slightest bit. Either way, if you actually read this - I commend you and I want to know, if there's anyone out there that actually read this - what are your thoughts? I'd love to hear them.
Until next time, The Artist Formerly Known As Cynder is out.
