The United States: A Modern Dystopia

2742 Words6 Pages

Content I. Introduction: 1. The two dystopias 2. Why the United States is a mix of both II. Body: 1. Announcing the War 2. Synthesizing Unity 3. Silencing Opposition 4. Dehumanizing the Enemy III. Conclusion: 1. The Hypocrisy of Modern Society In English literature, two versions of dystopia exist. The first is the one George Orwell presented in his famous novel 1984.1 It is a dystopia in which the government engages in misinformation of its citizens, where the dictator is idealized and almost worshipped. It is a state that is in a constant state of war, suffering from historical amnesia and not realizing what its past really is. It is one where books are banned, and pain is inflicted to silence opposition. The second dystopia is that presented by Aldous Huxley in his novel Brave New World.2 In that dystopia, no one really cares about anything. It is just citizens getting entertained all the time. The government doesn’t even need to engage in misinformation, because no one even reads, and thus people have the same historical amnesia of the Orwellian world. It is a world driven by entertainment and desire. Inflicting pleasure is the way to oppress in that world. It can be argued that what the United State is in now is a mix of both. This paper will attempt to present how the synthesis of war occurs in a way that builds on inflicting both pleasure and pain. The United States in undoubtedly a war-prone nation. Since its inception, no year has passed where it was not at a state of war with one nation or another. Over the last two hundred years, it has had ten major wars, as well as continuous military interventions in several countries. It started, of course, with the murder of thousands of Indians and the enslavement o... ... middle of paper ... ... Apr. 2014]. 18: Jefferson, T., 2014. Declaration of Independence - Text Transcript. [online] Archives.gov. Available at: [Accessed 22 Apr. 2014]. 19: Hedges, C., 2002. War is a force that gives us meaning. 1st ed. New York: PublicAffairs. 20: Younge, G., 2014. Congresswoman Barbara Lee: once the lone voice against the Afghanistan war. The Guardian. [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 Apr. 2014]. 21: Chomsky, N. and Vltchek, A., n.d. On western terrorism. 1st ed. 22: Zimbardo, P., 2007. The Lucifer effect. 1st ed. New York: Random House. 23: PBS NewsHour, 2014. Condoleezza Rice | PBS NewsHour. [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 Apr. 2014].

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