So by now everyone is familiar with the notion of the dystopian future. We've had the Biblical take on it from the book of Revelations. We've seen the Zombie Apocalypse (one of my favorites). We have The Road, Children of Men, and Soylent Green. We've had killer robots, from Terminators to Transformers. We've seen everything from War Games to the Hunger Games. The thought of society at large taking a huge swan dive of destruction is constantly in the forefront of our imaginations. (check out the wikipedia page of films: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dystopian_films)
Every once in a while, we have a view of a sparkling and wonderful future, full of promise and adventure. We apparently have no problem envisioning what those worlds would look like as well. However, it seems like it makes more compelling drama if we are looking at the dystopian as opposed to the utopian futures.
Contemplating each of these brings about actual bonuses in "real life" as well. Star Trek TOS let us imagine a future where races were equal and brought us the first interracial onscreen kiss. And the recent love affair with zombies has actually got people to think about communicable diseases to the point that they are actually reading the CDC website (which decided that zombie apocalypse could help people avoid other types of ACTUAL threats: http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2011/05/preparedness-101-zombie-apocalypse/).
Right now I am thinking about the book The Stand by Stephen King. Basically if you haven't read it, there is some type of virus that sweeps the nation, killing most of the population. Those who are left are pulled inexorably toward either Vegas or Denver, depending on their valence of good or evil (though I think I'd like to see good people get to go to Vegas some times:P ) The problem is, good people are often vary passive, while evil is very active as far as taking good down in any way possible.
It's not that I think Dark Helmet was right when he said, "Evil will always triumph because Good is dumb." It's just that I think Good is more likely to rest on its laurels and bask in how good it is. Evil is active and very, very committed. For instance, compare the "willing to give your life for your cause" quotient. There are all sorts of religious groups that may or may not be nutters who say they are willing to risk their lives for a cause. What they really mean is that if pushed, they are willing to end your life and if it happens to get them killed in the process, so be it.
When I think of the people who were willing to risk their lives for peaceful social change, the list is short, and many of them died at the hands of others. Let's take roll call: Jesus, Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., Lincoln... I think maybe Buddha got out unscathed, but maybe that just goes down to the statement, "It's good to be king."
So if you want to be a force for Good, and you don't want to join one of the cults that tells you in order to spread light you gotta drink the Kool-Aid or mass-procreate soldiers in Gods Army ("What does God need with a starship?") what should you do?
I liked how in Terminator II Sarah Connors character actually acted as one might if one TRULY believed the end was coming. She prepared. She had a stockpile, she learned all about weapons, she became what other people would call nuts, but that was ok because she knew the truth. You can't really doubt it after you've been chased by a killing machine.
But this is the "what would you do" scenario for the dystopian future. If you felt like the utopian future was real, or that you were willing to put your chips in on the fact that the human race can pull its collective head out, what sort of things would you DO (think action verbs) to make sure that sort of thing happened and you were part of that process?
We are energetically facing something of this type right now as you are reading this blog. There are lots of places on earth where bad things happen. And here in America, we have this very subtle but deadly entropic cynicism creeping in and a paralysis that comes with feeling helpless, which is a lie, but a very compelling lie nonetheless. And we also have a lot of people who are good and shiny people, but they are not as active or committed as the possible forces of darkness.
I think many of us who are good people don't know where to start in the actions of being Good. Maybe you aren't cut out to be in a soup kitchen or working with the handicapped. I know I don't feel called to do that. We feel like we don't really trust our politicians, so instead of voting or running ourselves, we throw up our hands and say we don't believe in change through politics, so why try. We don't educate ourselves on what's really going on in the world, we just trust Fox News to package something for us that isn't anywhere near actual news. We are ok being good as long as it doesn't inconvenience us.
I am guilty of this. I stew in my writerly goody-two-shoes juices and wish for the world to be better. But I've been trying to figure out where I take my stand for things in the world. I have to start little, because I'm stunted from not exercising this particular muscle. I try to be nicer and practice compassion to my fellow men. I offer service to the people I love to make their lives better (hopefully). And I try to write things where either I am highlighting the perils of our current behavior so people could have that awakening moment and change, or conversely, to write things which help people imagine what a better world might look like.
I guess what I'm saying is if you can increase your actions in the service of Good, you're at least doing something. And don't stop doing things because you feel like if you really cared you'd shave your head and become a monk, go on a hunger strike, or quit your job and go volunteer in Africa. I don't think we're at that point yet. Perhaps you might consider that you were created with specific desires and strengths that are uniquely suited to a specific course of action that can make the world a happier place (and therefore more likely to be saved).
Do you make art? Music? Do you build incredible structures? Do you raise fabulous children? Do you grow healthy vegetables to feed people? It doesn't have to be saving the world. I think the world gets saved one small action at a time. It starts by doing what is in front of you that you know is the kind and right thing to do.
I just want us to be more active, because I know what can happen if we all get complacent and negativity wins. And I don't want that. First of all, because I don't want to have to go to Denver if that scenario goes down. And second... well, as much as I enjoy the notion of the zombie apocalypse, I really enjoy modern comforts and not being eaten by flesh eating monsters. Maybe I just would rather see the world look like Star Trek than I would The Road.
So that's it. Let's all just be more like Sarah Connor and prepare/create the future we want to see as if it's going to be REAL. Because technically, it is.
