Dystopian Society (eBook)

Trends: Chapter 1

Signs that a Society is Dystopian

The U.S. now appears to be in a state of “unstable equilibrium” – a term originating in physics to describe a body whose slight displacement will cause other forces to move it even further away from its original position. Political analysts have applied the term to countries on the brink of civil war like Lebanon and Syria (Simon and Stevenson, 2022).

The following characteristics have been associated with dystopian societies:

1. Life and social structures in decline with citizens living in a dehumanized state of poverty, misery, and despair
2. Oppressive total social control over all dimensions of life exerted by totalitarian government, bureaucracy, corporation technology, or moral dictates
3. Perception that citizens are under constant surveillance
4. Propaganda
5. Restricted information
6. Citizens’ figurehead or concept adoration
7. Citizens living in fear of the outside world and “the other”
8. Distrust of the natural world
9. Mandated citizen conformity
10. Loss of individuality
11. Maintained illusion of dystopian conditions as a perfect world (Study Queries, n.d.)

To what extent does this list in part or total reflect the current state of American society? This is a question the work that follows hopes to answer in part or full. While the wage/wealth gap in the United States is of concern to those of us seeking a more equitable society, it is a stretch to describe the current U.S. population as generally living in abject poverty and misery. However, it can be argued that we are experiencing a prolonged and unhealthy distrust of social institutions and the lack of consensus on values unless in the abstract.

This trend can also signify movement toward social destabilization leading to dystopia. Evidence of this is examined in coming chapters.

To ancient Greeks “nothing in excess” was a maxim to live by. It connoted the danger of imbalance leading to instability. In the early 20th century, sociologist Emile Durkheim contended that societies without consensus on norms and values were anomic, adrift, and unstable. Today the term polarization (bifurcation of extremes) in national and international contexts is framed as an existential crisis.

Social norms are commonly accepted, group-shared expectations. They are temporally affected and culturally defined. “Like grammar, a system of norms specifies what is acceptable and what is not in a society or group (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, n.d.). Values are commonly accepted standards of behavior, “the principles that help you to decide what is right and wrong” (Cambridge Dictionary, n.d.). There is evidence presented in detail later that social norms and values in U.S. society have been lacking consensus in ways that have become destabilizing.

According to the Brookings Institute,

American society is fragmenting. Social solidarity is withering, as evidenced by the fading influence of mediating institutions like unions, churches, and social clubs. Dwindling participation in the community organizations that used to bridge social gaps means that Americans tend more and more to interact exclusively with people who are like themselves. This “silo effect” is widespread, but the social chasm has grown particularly large between the upper-middle class and everyone else” (Reeves, 2018).

The lack of a sense of community in contemporary America that had in the past been the basis for nominally accepted social norms was noted in sociologist Robert Putnam’s 2000 book Bowling Alone. A partial list of norms, political and social, identified in this research that have been ignored or discarded in recent years includes:

--political mandates, policies that consider whether a newly sitting president has majority popular support when elected

--separation of church and state

--separation of powers per branches of government

--civil political discourse

--respect for social institutions including law enforcement, the military, congress, and the courts—including the U.S. Supreme Court and the press.

--willingness to compromise with political opponents to move legislation and shape policy

--peaceful transfer of executive power

Any of these once generally accepted norms can be examined at length. Because of its connection to other norms and adherence to religious identity, the norm of separation of church and state merits notice. By Spring 2023, the state of Oklahoma considered legislation to approve the nation’s first religious charter school potentially setting-up a constitutional battle over whether taxpayer dollars can be used to fund religious schools. Historically, tens of thousands of parents paid private religious school tuition and supported public schools with their tax dollars. This historical norm is being tested by the Catholic archdiocese which includes Oklahoma City. “Some legal experts see charter schools as the next frontier, moving the question whether parents can use state money to pay for private religious schools of their choosing.” Americans United for Separation of Church and State is alarmed by the potential for Catholic schools participating in the evangelizing mission of the church (Mervosh and Graham, 2023). And then there is the newly elected (in a partisan vote) Speaker of the House, Michael Johnson’s comment shortly after his election in October 2023.

I am a Bible-believing Christian. Someone asked me today in the media, they said, … People are curious. What does Mike Johnson think about any issue under the sun? I said, well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it – that’s my worldview. That’s what I believe and so I make no apologies for it. (Pengelly, 2023).

In 1970, sociologist Robin Williams identified a set of values associated with American society. Williams identified these values based on endurance over time and reflection of intense feeling:

1. Individualism
2. Achievement and Success
3. Activity and Work
4. Efficiency and Practicality
5. Science and Technology
6. Progress
7. Material Comfort
8. Humanitarianism
9. Freedom 
10. Democracy
11. Equality
12. Racism and Group Superiority

(Williams, 1970)

Since negative the last of these values seems contradictory. Yet given the current context, it is hard to argue against their existence. If controversial, they nonetheless continue to be part of the American ethos and experience. Are Williams’ values just abstractions and buzz words conducive to political dissension? Your freedom to ignore public health mandates during a lethal pandemic endangers my health. Your freedom to enforce your religious beliefs on non-believers ignores others’ civil rights and an historical democratic norm, separation of church and state. Your governor’s and state legislature’s book-banning denies my offspring full knowledge of their country’s history from a variety of credible and authoritative perspectives.

Note that the list of dystopian characteristics includes loss of individuality. In a society historically valuing individuality to the point of resistance to public health epidemic mandates on social distancing and masks in public places, this value once seemed intractable. The slur of government as “big brother” and “nanny society” increasingly voiced from the right are associated with the purported socialistic tendency of the left. “The United States ranks number two (on individualism) on the same list that placed Israel as number one. It seems more obvious why this country has such a high individualistic ranking. Everyone seems to have the freedom to do whatever they want here, with some exceptions” (World Population Review, 2023). The evidence that follows suggests that this last statement is historically and currently naïve and problematic.

Political Scientist James Campbell (2018) notes that “It is widely agreed that the major political parties in the electorate are now highly polarized. There is also a consensus that party polarization in the electorate has increased and that the parties were not highly polarized from the 1940s to the 1980s.” According to Campbell, “Liberals and conservatives appear to be fundamentally divided over the extent, limits and uses of governmental power.”

Public intellectuals question the degree to which liberalism is worth saving. While the consensus appears to be “yes,” there are qualifications. Cornell West contends that the neo-fascist backlash questioning that assumption is deeply white supremacist, deeply male supremacist, and deeply xenophobic (Deneen et al., 2022).

University of Notre Dame’s Patrick Deneen (2022) refers to right-wing populism as driven by a sense of betrayal of democracy by elites, “a managerial class that sees itself as detached from and no longer bearing responsibilities to those who have not been successful – because it’s their fault. They did not work hard enough” (Deneen...