The Dystopian Times
"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."
School is a dystopia
They're always so demanding
Why are they always so sour?
They're pretty much commanding
All this homework
It's always school first
Don't you know we have work?
Let me get some water, I'm dying of thirst
It seems teachers hate us all
Except for the good ones
They like seeing our grades fall
The teachers have terrible puns
School is boring
It's got me snoring.
The Dystopian Society is Here
In recent years there has been a trend of teenagers who enjoy reading novels and watching movies on dystopian societies. For example “The Hunger Games” trilogy by Suzanne Collins is about a girl who’s sent into a game with 23 other participants to fight for their survival. The whole game is meant to be a reminder of what happened when the citizens tried to rebel against the Capitol/government. The recent trend of dystopian literature has become so popular because it relates to what’s going on right now. My definition of a dystopian society is when the government starts to dictate everything that promotes democracy, freedom, and privacy. Our privacy has already been taken in a way, with the NSA. The NSA’s main objective is to prevent terrorism in the U.S through technology. Some of the methods they use to prevent terrorism are through listening through phone calls, tracking your internet searches, and tracking your emails. Though this maybe an effective way of preventing terrorism, it invades our privacy. If we allow the NSA to keep going through all of our information online it allows open doors to other agencies to follow suit. This will eventually lead to a dystopian society. The whole "Big Brother is Watching You" quote in the book 1984 by George Orwell is connected to the NSA as they're collecting information on whatever you do online. You could also argue that President Obama's new gun control laws, that he's been trying to establish, could lead to a dystopian society. If they take away our guns what would we have to defend ourselves if the government wanted to take control. Some may call this paranoia but they can't deny that if this were to happen, the government taking away our guns, it would lead to us with our pants down and nothing to fight back with. John F. Kennedy once said
"... Although it is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny which gave rise to the Second Amendment will ever be a major danger to our nation, the Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships, in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his county. For that reason, I believe the Second amendment will always be important."(Volokh, "Other Materials").
If you look at what's going on in Detroit you'll notice it is in shambles, almost post-apocalyptic. The writer for AlterNet, Juan Cole the mayor of Detroit wanted families in the west side of the city to move into the center where everyone else is so they can get taken care of. Like the writer for AlterNet, Juan Cole said, what you'll notice is that the rich and the poor separate themselves in a dystopian society. You'll see the rich in their fancy luxurious houses as the poor are out on the streets barely making their way around things. Sound familiar? The 'lower class' are moving into the inner cities, look at Atlanta, Detroit and Chicago. While the upper class are moving out to the suburban areas away from all the city lights. We live in a dystopian society. It may not be as obvious as in the book 1984 where they're constantly watched, but we are definitely on the verge of it.
Dystopian Trend
Sports are a dystopian trend wheatear you agree with it or not. It all starts with hating on another person solely because they support another team. Also, fans hate on other fans because of the color they wear. For example, a Michigan fan would hate the colors Red due to their rivalry with Ohio State. The fans create the dystopia. They all show up to the stadium wearing the same colors and if you didn’t you might be looked down upon. In the Georgia Black Out game in 2008 every Georgia fan came out wearing black as well as the players, all to support their team winning. Sports are a dystopia in a way because people will hate on each other on the fact that they support another team. It’s disappointing because people will hate each other on a game that’s meant to be fun and a time waster for everyone.
Radioactive
The song “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons reminds me of a 1984 in many aspects. The whole song is about the lead singer (Dan Reynolds) trying to overcome depression and anxiety, but I see it a little different. When he says “I’m waking up to ash and dust” it pretty much means he’s been asleep for a long time. Now this could mean he’s been literally sleeping for a long time or he’s been blind to the obvious. Now in 1984 Winston has been throughout the whole part of part 1 trying to grasp a hold of trying to notice the different things going on in society. He “wakes up” when he realizes he starts writing “Down with Big Brother” in his diary. He starts to think from then on out that he’s different from everyone else who have been going with everyone else. Also in the song it goes “I’m waking up, I feel it in my bones” showing he’s waking up again. When it goes “this is it, the apocalypse, woah” this is him fighting back, everything ending. In the book the apocalypse happens for Winston when he gets caught because that’s pretty much it. Also in the song when it goes “it’s a revolution I suppose” it reminds me of the Brotherhood trying to start a revolution to overthrow the Party. This song relates perfectly to 1984 because they have so many similarities like the post-apocalyptic setting of radioactive and dystopia in 1984. The song and book are similar to me.
Radioactive
I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust,
I'm breathing in, the chemicals.
I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus.
This is it, the apocalypse, whoa.
I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones.
Enough to make my systems blow.
Welcome to the new age, to the new age.
Welcome to the new age, to the new age.
Whoa, whoa, radioactive, radioactive.
Whoa, whoa, radioactive, radioactive.
I raise my flags, don my clothes,
It's a revolution I suppose.
We'll paint it red, to fit right in, whoa.
I'm breaking in, shaping up, checking out on the prison bus.
This is it, the apocalypse, whoa.
I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones.
Enough to make my systems blow.
Welcome to the new age, to the new age.
Welcome to the new age, to the new age.
Whoa, whoa, radioactive, radioactive.
Whoa, whoa, radioactive, radioactive.
All systems go, sun hasn't died.
Deep in my bones, straight from inside.
I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones.
Enough to make my systems blow.
Welcome to the new age, to the new age.
Welcome to the new age, to the new age.
Whoa, whoa, radioactive, radioactive.
Whoa, whoa, radioactive, radioactive.
The Dystopia Ends Here
Wednesday, Dec 25, 2013, 07:30 PM
Suwanee, GA, United States
Works Cited
"Detroit's Collapse Reveals the Awful Dystopia That the United States Is Becoming." Alternet. N.p., 19 July 2013. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.
Volokh, Eugene. "Sources on the Second Amendment and Rights to Keep and BearArms in State Constitutions." Sources on the Second Amendment and Rights to Keep and BearArms in State Constitutions. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
Orwell, George. 1984: A Novel. New York, NY: Published by Signet Classic, 1977. Print.
Reynolds, Dan. Radioactive. Imagine Dragons. KIDinaKORNER, 2012. MP3.