If you want to see a dystopia, look at North Korea. Then try to say that the US is a dystopia.
If you want to see a dystopia, look at North Korea. Then try to say that the US is a dystopia.
If you really want to discuss American society/culture/economics/politics it really only makes sense to compare it to other industrialized democracies. If our country is such hot **** then we don't need to compare it to crappy totalitarian slave states. Next to North Korea obviously we're not a dystopia. Next to, say, Finland, we are.
It's the opposite side of the same coin.
You suggest that North Korea is too restrictive, too controlling, etc.... and I suggest the US is has too much freedom, liberty, etc...
I suggest you look up the meaning of "dystopia" if you think either the United States or Finland even comes close to it. :roll:
How you got that Finland is a dystopia from my post completely eludes me.
Clearly you don't understand what a dystopia is if you think the United States is one. It's not defined as "a country with more social and/or economic problems than Finland." :roll:
Well, at least you got that I was saying we were a dystopia in comparison to Finland this time, rather than thinking I was claiming that Finland is a dystopia. Anyway, let's break out the ol Merriam Webster, shall we?
Ahem.
dys·to·pia
noun \(ˌ)dis-ˈtō-pē-ə\
1
: an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives in comparison to Finland.
2
: anti-utopia 2
Seriously, though, besides my little addition there that definition was real. If you look at the American legal system, with plea bargaining, the near omnipotent powers granted to the police in the drug war and the growing powers of the government in the War on Terror you stand a better odds with major surgery than with being caught up in the American legal system. Also, corporatism, pollution and corruption simply isn't the problem
So compared to Finland? We're definitely more dystopic.
Yeah, every country has problems. **** happens.
That doesn't make it a dystopia.
"Dystopia" has a specific meaning, and you don't normally characterize extreme words like that by comparing two examples which neither bear any resemblance to the word. That would be as silly as saying that Ghana is more of a utopia than Zimbabwe. :roll:
By the way, why don't you read up on the Finnish legal and penal system (here's a peek at the latter) and tell me that in comparison to this America's far reaching rights to search and arrest you, plea bargaining, and de facto state and society sanctioned prison rape (in addition to the fact that if you're ever incarcerated you're never allowed to vote ever again), that America's legal system isn't ****ing terrifying and thus deserving of comparatively dystopian status.
But no, you're right. North Korea is worse. So, you know, go us.
If dystopia is relative, we're certainly not a dystopia (things can certainly get much worse). With many Americans living in an air-conditioned house, not starving, with internet access and enough wealth to be considered a small fortune in dozens of countries, we're not exactly on the verge of becoming a dystopia .
Sure, our legal system could be considered ineffectual, we're heavily in debt, etc. but has the government:
a) broken down into anarchy and led to the collapse of the economy, wide-spread starvation, and the dominance of crime?
or
b) established an iron grip and maintained absolute control of our lives?
If we're being honest with ourselves, we're, by and large, living the high-life, with, compared to many countries and nearly every time period, a fairly decent balance of government control. I recall the typical "would you rather be a king in the middle ages or a middle class citizen in America, today" and the common answer: a long pregnant pause, and the admittance: "middle class citizen in America, today.'
When gauging how far I've come in my career, is it more informative to use a)other people in the same field I work in, or b)homeless people? Going by the former you can point to specific benchmarks I have and haven't achieved. Going by the latter, I'll always be a fantastic success, because hey, I'm not homeless.
Comparing myself to a homeless person is a great way to be thankful for what I have in life and for the tragedies I've avoided, but it doesn't provide for concrete ways to strive and improve myself. This is why I find comparing the United States to wartorn or completely despotic areas like North Korea pointless except as a means of helping us to avoid looking at ways we could improve. It also conveniently helps us to avoid comparing ourselves to countries that are clearly better in several areas.
Cardinal's Dictionary said:an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives
When gauging how far I've come in my career, is it more informative to use a)other people in the same field I work in, or b)homeless people? Going by the former you can point to specific benchmarks I have and haven't achieved. Going by the latter, I'll always be a fantastic success, because hey, I'm not homeless.
Comparing myself to a homeless person is a great way to be thankful for what I have in life and for the tragedies I've avoided, but it doesn't provide for concrete ways to strive and improve myself. This is why I find comparing the United States to wartorn or completely despotic areas like North Korea pointless except as a means of helping us to avoid looking at ways we could improve. It also conveniently helps us to avoid comparing ourselves to countries that are clearly better in several areas.