Several years ago I finally became
aware of a piece of fiction written by the legendary Ursula K. Le
Guin that greatly moved me. The story, entitled The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas can't really be classified easily. The best
description for me is to call it philosophical/science
fiction/fantasy in that it creates a situation that could never
happen in reality but nevertheless opens up a huge can of ethical and
moral worms that does bleed over to our world.
In short, Omelas is a utopian city of
total happiness and plenty inhabited by a sophisticated citizenry who
have no need of kings, soldiers, priests, or slaves. Omelas is such a
cool place that Le Guin goes as far to strongly suggest that booze,
drugs, and orgies are a standard practice for the citizens. The one
huge wrinkle in this charmed existence is that to ensure the
continuity of Omelas' success is that one unfortunate child must be
kept in filth, darkness, and misery for its entire life. Making
matters worse, this sacrificial lamb has no idea why it is being
treated this way and pleads to be released.
How this arrangement came to be is
never explained by the author, that's why I add the word “fantasy”
in my personal description. In fact, The Ones Who Walk Away From
Omelas is an incredibly short
story given the complexity Le Guin is able to build.
For the lucky kids of Omelas, once the
elders feel that they have reached a certain maturity, they are
brought down to to the place the tortured child is kept and explained
that its suffering is the reason for their peace and plenty. While
initially disgusted with the conditions the tormented child must
live, these new citizens eventually acquiesce to that single
injustice. That is except for a tiny few of those young folks and
those older who can no longer live with the knowledge that their
happiness being conditioned on the suffering of a single human being.
These dissidents leave Omelas never to be seen again.
Now you might be wondering how such a
piece of fantasy could possibly disturb my philosophical foundations.
Well because dear folks, much of the glorious American lifestyle is
built upon the sufferings of millions of poor folks around the world
and here at home.
American revel in plenty on display at
your average grocery store. Shelves stocked with cheap food to the
point we're dropping dead of obesity on a regular basis. This food is
very often picked and prepared by migrant workers who labor in
conditions most Americans would call cruel and unusual punishment.
And yes, the pay and living conditions for these people are almost
certainly crap. For the most part we're oblivious to what those folks
have to do to just survive.
The technological gadgets we base our
lives on now and the clothe we wear are also produced by people in
factories dealing with conditions that would cause Americans to riot.
The best example is the factories where our nifty smart phones are
produced. While exception may exist, hundreds of stories over the
years have leaked out of near slave conditions the workers are forced
to endure. So you'll have to excuse me for my sentiment, I get
uncomfortable when someone suffers at my expense.
The killer for me is that unlike those
few exceptions who leave Omelas, I can't leave for various reasons.
Yes, that makes me a hypocrite but I continue to cling to my weary
conscious and not pretend the shit is wrong.
I didn't think another story could
affect me as strongly but I found another just yesterday that again
rocked my philosophical foundations. It is called The Ones Who
Stay and Fight by the brilliant author N. K. Jemisin.
Jemisin's story takes place in another
city that at first read seems a lot like Omelas given how plenty and
happiness seem to abound. But her fictional city, named Um-Helat
isn't really a utopia and there aren't any fantastical elements like
the tortured child who keep everyone fat and happy with its
suffering. Um-Helat uses what I would call realistic technology to
make everyone's life better.
The author also gives us details about
the nature of Um-Helat's citizens. There are many different ethnic
groups who speak varying languages. We never learn anything about the
nature of Omelas citizens other than their propensity for getting
high and group sex. In Um-Helat everyone lives for as long as fate,
choice, and medicine allow. The kids have opportunity to advance in
life while parents don't have to give up theirs.
Breaking with Omelas, the city of
Um-Helat is not a true utopia. The economy of the city appears to be
built on a form of benevolent capitalism with slightly more white
folks doing the executive stuff and with slightly more colored folks
doing blue collar jobs. We are quickly informed though that active
efforts are underway to remedy that small injustice.
The author also tells us that while
everyone has access to an apartment, some are indeed homeless with
the city offering up padded benches for sleeping and maintenance of
the space under bridges to keep them clean for occupancy. For those
suffering from mental illness, the city keeps them away from weapons
or places they might harm themselves. If these homeless folks become
ill or cannot take care of themselves the city comes in and takes
them to a facility to be cared for. The philosophy of Um-Helat is to
care for its inhabitants, not to generate money. The author makes the
point to say that Um-Helat is not “barbaric America” nor Le
Guin's Omelas which she described as “a tick of a city, fat and
happy with its head buried in a tortured child.”
No, Um-Helat appears to be something as
close to utopia as humans can achieve, but this is where things go
slightly sideways. The technology of Um-Helat allows them to listen
and view communications from parallel Earths in other universes where
society hasn't advanced as much as them. Since the citizens of
Um-Helat have no worries about safety, war, food, healthcare, and the
other basics of life, they often seek knowledge of these other, less
developed realms. But the knowledge of places where hate and fear
rule is viewed as dangerous by the leaders of Um-Helat.
In the past the ancestors of the
people of Um-Helat knew greed, hate, and war. The remnants of that
age dot the land in the form of ruined cities and implements of war.
Knowledge of these previous eras is passed to the young citizens
carefully and is a shock given the world they were raised. These
young people simply do not have any concept of a society where only
certain humans were respected and cared for while others were
excluded on the basis of physical characteristics or behavior.
This is why knowledge of other Earths
and their bizarre societies is considered dangerous. Since Um-Helat
is a polyglot city made up of many different ethnic groups with
multiple languages spoken in the streets, the spread of ideology that
sets some above others cannot be tolerated. While the vast majority
of the people in Um-Helat who listen in on these alternate Earths
react in total horror to the brutality they hear and see, the idea of
those evils and the rationalization for their existence remains.
Through word of mouth these deceitful ideas spread and because
Um-Helat shares a similar past with these backward, barbaric places
the Social Workers of the city must act to contain the contagion.
As the story concludes three Social
Workers stand over a body of a man they have just killed. He had
broken the law by listening in to the alternate Earths and his
punishment was swift. Next to the dead man is his young daughter,
distraught over what the Social Workers have done to her father. The
daughter through tears warns them that she will get revenge over what
she sees is the murder of her father.
The Social Workers look at each other
in concern over the girls words. They now understand that the dead
man had shared the poisoned knowledge of the other Earths with his
daughter. To an uncontaminated citizen of Um-Helat it would be
incomprehensible to spread such beliefs. But because the daughter has
been contaminated she has already decided that the Social Workers are
less important than her dead father.
The duty of the Social Workers is
clear, the girl will be quarantine away from the public. Over the
next several days they will attempt to reach the girl and explain why
her father had to die. If the girl can be reached and made to
understand, she will ultimately become one of the Social Workers.
Because all the Social Workers have been exposed to the notion that
some people matter above others they have dedicated their lives to
defeat that idea.
I came away from the story shaken
because of something said at the end, that everyone, the poor, lazy,
even those considered undesirable can matter. That the idea of this
provokes utter rage in those who have been taught to believe some
people are more important than others. The narrator called this rage
the infection defending itself.
I like to think of myself as
“enlightened.” That I am above the petty prejudices that do
define our society. But this story forced me to realize that I'm just
as stuck in the mire of fear and hate like all the others I look down
upon. It's incredibly hard to look past my own enmity but I think I
understand at least one point of the story. That when you start
making distinctions about the worthiness of people you devalue your
own existence. I can't honestly say I will keep this understanding at
the forefront of my thoughts. We're in the middle of a shit storm of
hate and misunderstanding in this country and as the story suggests,
the infection uses rage to defend itself.
The other point I think I now
understand is that The Ones Who Stay and Fight is
a response to Le Guin's story of people walking away from the
tortured child kept in Omelas. That injustice and oppression has to
be fought no matter the cost. My final takeaway from this story is
that while I welcome this revelation, I'm just not that smart enough
to know where to begin to fight.
The story: The Ones Who
Stay and Fight can be found in the short story collection entitled How Long 'til Black Future Month on Amazon. I highly recommend it!
