Dystopia - Essay Example

Dystopian Society and the American Culture Today Dystopia refers to an idea where the society is seen to be in a repressive state in which it is under the control of the state. There are different kinds of social controls as well as various forms of active and passive controls and coercion that shape the dystopian society. Gordin, Tilley and ‎ Prakash say that such a society is taken to be like a police state whereby the police have control over all the members of the society (23). One of the characteristics of a dystopian society is the fact that the citizens and members of the society live in a dehumanized state. This, therefore, implies that the members of the society live in a state and conditions that cannot be said to be conducive for human existence because of how they are controlled. Some of the sources of control that make the citizens to live in a dehumanized state include religious, technological and corporate control (Gordin, Tilley and ‎ Prakash 56).The American society is controlled by bipartisan parties that are not focused on the actual societal needs.
There are several aspects of the American society today that show that the citizens are living in a dehumanized state. In the American society, there has been the collective loss of memory. Moreover the society has forgotten the history of mankind, how man came into existence and how man used to live long time ago. This has been caused by the bureaucratic religious and technological control in the society. In the current American society, mega corporations such as United Continental and Colgate Palmolive have continued to reduce and dwarf the power of the government and the citizens (Shteyngar 201). Due to this bureaucratic control, things like heath care and education have been privatized and the effect of this is disastrous.
The collective memory loss and the forgetting of history of mankind have made the citizens become easy to manipulate. Gordin, Tilley and ‎ Prakash continue to say that the American society is easy to manipulate psychologically (32). The result of this is that the society has lived in a dehumanized state.
The control that the society experiences from the bureaucratic, religious and corporate aspects of their lives has facilitated the psychological control; hence, making the state of living to be one that can be said to be a dehumanized one. Shteyngart say that the American society is so much concerned about their well wellbeing and they strive hard to be able to improve their lives (112). They have continued to be controlled by their jobs and personal needs. In the process, they have forgotten the most important aspects of societal life. Such trends have made the society to live in a dehumanized state where every person strives to achieve his or her own personal goals rather than the collective societal goals.
Technology has also contributed to the dehumanized state of the society in America. Americans have relied on technology in various aspects of their lives. According to Shteyngart, the American society is dominated by social media, fashion, status and celebrity lifestyle (67). Technology has been used to advertise a person’s status, desirability, income and even health statistics. This has made the society veer off from its actual needs and standards.
Work Cited
Gordin, ‎Michael, Tilley, Hellen and ‎ Prakash, Gyan. Utopia/Dystopia: Conditions of Historical Possibility. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010.Print.
Shteyngart, Gary. Super Sad True Love Story. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2011.Print. Read More