Imperfect States of America
The Imperfect States of America
Is there such thing as "Utopia"? Or will it always end up being a "Dystopia"? Growing up, I read a lot of dystopian novels like The Giver and the Hunger Games trilogy. Those books really helped me understand the ideas of "utopia" and "dystopia". What I took away from them is in a utopian society, "ignorance is bliss". A "utopia" becomes a dystopia when that ignorance is taken away. What those books have in common is that people are blissfully unaware of the things that are happening is wrong until they are faced with the fact. After that, they either try to escape it or try to fight back. You could argue that is the case for the US. How can America become a "utopia" when it can't acknowledge its wrongdoings?
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America can't erase its past, but in some schools, the history is being rewritten. In an NPR article, it talks about how some textbooks are trying to downplay the events of slavery and not to mention the extent of the Jim Crow laws. We even still celebrate Columbus Day despite the history, as seen in this article done by The Atlantic. of Columbus and what he did to the Natives. By doing this, it is molding the thoughts of those reading the textbook into ignoring the plights of others still affected by it. History is bound to repeat itself if it's not told correctly. How most utopias end up dystopias is that they cut corners to aim for perfection. Instead of covering up its ugly past, The US should acknowledge it and implement change on how we are taught it.
Our healthcare system is not any better. We live in a country where in some places, hospitals are forced to dismiss you after a surgery even when you have insurance because the insurance plan does not cover it, which I recently witnessed. One reason stated by the National Institutes of Health is basic health checkups are ignored is due to the fact that medical bills are expensive and not having health insurance. I could go on with different examples like today 4/20 is being celebrated, but there are people in jail due to possession, a majority of those are people of color, as seen in this report using information from the National Registry of Exonerations. "Justice for all", but the playing field is not the same. In most dystopias, only a couple of people are benefiting from the system put in place. The rest are suffering and wishing for change.In this current world, there can be no perfect state, but that doesn't mean there should not be an effort to try and strive for equity amongst people.
What I see as ignorance is the "All Lives Matter" comeback to the BLM movement. In it, as you state above, the speakers tend to ignore the injustices happening against minority communities and want to gloss it over. So, perhaps, do we live in a country where people think they're in a Utopia if the situation is good for them? The question becomes, how do we get them to take their blinders off to others' suffering? Or is this one of those things that make America what it is--we cannot get others to acknowledge the suffering of those different from them--just see what's happening with the teacher strikes in Arkansas, for example, or with those men arrested at Starbucks--and how those experiences represent a very dystopian America.
ReplyDeleteI was actually just thinking about that this morning. There are countless books and movies selling about "Utopias." None of them however are about a perfect world with everyone living perfect lives. In every book and movie, one (or more characters) notices a Dystopian undertone and lashes out. It is that exact reason that America (and the rest of the world) will never be a Utopia. No one can agree on what is right. Find a way to make everyone agree? Then you'll have a Utopia on your hands. Just a little reminder, though, history shows that disagreeing people die... a lot.
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