The story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" brought around an age-old ultimatum between the common good of society that comes at a highly unethical cost. Omelas is a utopian town of peace and happiness, the ideal place for any person, where the people are educated, sophisticated, and refined. However this profound happiness is not free by any means, and comes at a costly price that may not seem very noticeable or grotesque, but can also be viewed as obscene and disturbing. The fact that a child has to be sacrificed to a life of torture and sadness is pitiful, and shows that Omelas truly isn't filled with the best people in the world. Yes, its an easy decision to say that one life isn't as valuable as one million, but something that makes a society prosper is nationalism, or a sense of unity. People need to see the nation they're a part of as a family, where each they've never met is part of their collective family.
This is something that I think makes our country great. Forget the numbers, economic charts, and military statistics; a society's strength and well-being is measured by the unity of their citizens. Which is why i think if the USA were like Omelas, I honestly believe a vast majority would "walk away". As seen through the recent tragedies such as the Boston Marathon incident, it is shown that people are willing to risk their safety for people they don't even know, instead of just living their life safely. The fact that it seemed like there was an even amount of people running into the rubble to save people as there was running away in fear, shows the integrity and bravery our country holds. That's why I still believe that our country is the greatest, despite economic recessions and relapses. 'Merica.
Its a hard decision that would be made. Whether to live life peacefully and be happy, or to make a stand to the inhumane actions that occur. I feel like I would be able to say no to Omelas and travel into the unknown, but it is much easier said than done. I just wanted to talk about how I thought that at the end of the day Omelas is not a Utopia, due to their acceptance and cooperation with such tragic consequences. I would like to think under the circumstances, our society would protest and leave as well, but who really knows.
Using the recently Boston attack was a great way to show how you felt about the idea of nationalism in our country. I like that when you talked about America being the greatest country despite the economic recession and relapses. I do however think that you are looking at America and Omelas in the wrong viewpoint hen it comes to Utopia. Everyday we are blissfully ignoring the few that suffer greatly in our country yet we don't away and even try not to think about it just like the community of Omelas.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that using the tragedy that occurred at the marathon was a good way to describe this story and the pride that people have. I liked how you said that if a child has to be tortured, than the Omelas aren't actually really good people at all.
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