We live in a society which is democratic, secular and most importantly an open society which means we are conferred the freedom to do anything we like. But we tend to take this freedom for granted and don’t realize its importance or its profound impact which tends to shape our thought which in turn shapes our action and life in a broader perspective.
Imagine yourself in a situation where you are being watched, your every move is being watched, your every word is being listened to and you’re every thought being discerned. Watched by a force so immense which is beyond the realm of your imagination, watched by an authority so powerful that although you cannot see it
but you can feel its presence everywhere. Confused??? Same was the state of mind
of protagonist Winston Smith described in the book ‘1984’, authored by a British intellectual George Orwell, this book gives an account of an ideal dystopian society
(‘ideal’ because it’s the standard against which you can measure all the other dystopian societies). Orwell describes a society where every individual is watched by a ‘Big Brother’ as he being the head of so called ‘Party’ which ruled the society.
Party had its own principles and expected every individual to follow them without showing signs of any discontent.
If an individual gets caught mandating some anti-Party ideology he/she were led into an oblivion where they get brain-washed and then shot dead. Brainwash prior to death
since Party prioritized its principles before life.
Reading 1984 gives an account of perfect dystopian society and one wonders how horrible the life would be. But in contemporary world such societies does exist!
Take North Korea for instance a country ruled by a person who has a taste for Hollywood movies but imposes harsh punishment on anyone who tends to show an inclination towards western ideology. Last week a top official was executed just because his so called short term economic policies failed. Such society is closest to a dystopian mentioned in ‘1984’.
I consider myself lucky to be born in an open society where ideologies of individuals are not only heard but analysed and best among the proposed few are adopted. But this does not mean we are an utopian society in fact we are not even close to it, there are many factions who have vested interest in capsizing this open society to a barbaric and isolated one. So what ideology do these people resort to???
The answer is Extremism, though it is not the only factor which can lead to a dystopian society nevertheless it is one of the leading traits of dystopian society.
The only way to face extremism is by adopting a liberal approach towards everything, to be broad minded. There are many instances where our society has
practised liberalism but while dealing with some we have resorted to extremist ideals.
That’s why I said that we are far away from being a utopian society and it is only a matter of an individual’s self introspection on which basis he/she can decide what ideology to follow.
That’s why the title “Utopian or Dystopian, You decide”.
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