Author, Lecturer, Ethicist

Living the Dystopian Life

August 31, 2020  /  Kurt F. Stone

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In the world of medicine, a substance or drug used to induce vomiting is called an emetic. Historically, the go-to emetic was an agent called syrup of ipecac; it is no longer the standard of care in either human or veterinary medicine, due to its cardiotoxic (having an adverse effect on the heart) potential. Today, the safest over-the-counter emetic is likely activated charcoal. Then too, there are so-called “cathartics” like Sorbitol, an artificial sweetener which is frequently used to speed up the emptying of the gastrointestinal tract [GIT].

These and other emetics are generally used to rid the GIT of poisons - caused by ingesting rancid foodstuffs, imbibing too much alcohol or a sequela (a condition which is the consequence of a previous disease or injury).  Regardless of the cause or emetic used, emesis (the medical term for barfing or upchucking) can indeed provide much-needed relief.  But what about the kind of extreme nausea which has nothing to do with ingesting or imbibing, but rather with overindulgence in the kind of dystopian politics many of us witnessed during last week’s Republican National Convention . . . aka publice coronum regalem Donald Trump (Latin for The coronation of Donald Trump)?  

I am sorry to report that I have been engaging in quite a bit of self-inflicted stupidity these past several weeks: reading - and in some cases rereading some of the most ghastly, hit-the-nail-on-the-head dystopian novels of all time.  For those who can define “utopian,” but become tongue-tied when it comes to “dystopian,” the former (“utopia”) was coined by Sir Thomas More in his 1516 book Utopia, which was about an ideal society on a fictional island. The latter, when applied to literature (as in “Dystopian literature”), refers to essays and novels which explore the dangerous effects of political and social structures on humanity’s future.  Generally speaking, dystopian novels break down into various types:

  • Nuclear disaster

  • Government control

  • Religious control

  • Technical control

  • Survival

  • Loss of individualism.

Included on my “Best Dystopian Novels of All Time” list are:

Without question, my three favorite novels culled from the above list are Jack London’s largely unknown The Iron Heel, Sinclair Lewis’ chilling It Can’t Happen Here, and my all-time favorite, George Orwell’s 1984, which was without a doubt the worst thing anyone could have been reading during last week’s RNC.  I know, because I was engaged in rereading that novel in the hours leading up to ‘45’s seemingly endless speech on the grounds immediately outside White House.

The number of mask-less mega-donors crowded together like sardines in a well-oiled tin approximated the number of people who expired due to COVID19 on the very day of  Trump’s coronum regalem.  And what got their digestive juices flowing in ever greater volume was the portrait of an America Trump warned against should the Biden/Harris ticket manage to win the election.  Fascinatingly - and may we say, ridiculously - the very apocalypse POTUS was sternly warning against should Democrats take back the White House (not to mention the U.S. Senate), is the very America that ‘45 and his cronies are currently overseeing during their time in office; in other words, they are essentially warning against themselves.   If this carries so much as a scintilla of logic or reality about it, then those of us who tend to support Biden/Harris and the Democrats are likely long in the throes of bilious political nausea, searching for a potent emetic.  Like Winston Smith and the proles of Oceania in Orwell’s 1984, Trump’s “maskless marvels”
live under the thumb of “Big Brother” and his henchmen who have proclaimed that in “Newspeak” “War is Peace,” Freedom is Slavery,“ and “Ignorance is strength.”  In Trump’s America,  though the slogans may be different, the message is largely the same: “Media is made up of liars,” “Autocrats are small-D democrats,” and “Scholars and intellectuals are ultra-liberal enemies of the state.”

During his acceptance speech, POTUS made a series of promises defying what he and his party have engaged in during the past 3 1/2 years:

  • “We will ensure equal justice for citizens of every race, religion, color, and creed.”

  • “We will uphold your religious liberty” (as if it is in danger).

  • “We will protect Medicare and Social Security.”

  • “We will always, and very strongly, protect patients with pre-existing conditions, and that is a pledge from the entire Republican Party.”

Then too, in that same speech, Trump engaged in a liefest to beat the band, loudly proclaiming that:

  • “The Democrat [sic] Party supports the extreme late-term abortion of defenseless babies right up to the moment of BIRTH.”

  • “If the left gains power, they will demolish the suburbs, confiscate your guns, and appoint justices who will wipe away your Second Amendment and other Constitutional freedoms.”

  • “Biden will defund police and bring violence to America’s cities . . .No one will be safe in Biden’s America.”

  • If  the Democrat [sic] Party wants to stand with anarchists, agitators, rioters, looters, and flag-burners, that is up to them.” 

The difference between the Republican and Democratic Partys’ political strategy for the 2020 election is as dissimilar as negative is from positive or zebras are from Croatian Coldbloods.  The Republicans (who did not see fit to publish a party platform) have largely based their electoral strategy on fear; the fear of left-wing Socialism, anarchy, Fascism (they can’t all go together!), endless taxes, governmental corruption, and the outlawing of “That Old Time Religion.”  Democrats, on the other hand, are pushing hope; the hope of better days if only we work together; the hope that grows when ceaseless lies are replaced with the telling of truth and taking responsibility for the mistakes we make.  Republicans, like Big Brother in 1984, communicate via Newspeak, which turns lies into truth, vigilantism into heroism and loyalty to the Supreme Leader into presidential pardons.  It is enough to make many a former Republican grab for an over-the-counter emetic. 

In Donald Trump’s dystopian world the POTUS has consolidated a circle of extremist advisers; hardline restrictions on immigration which include separating and caging children away from their parents; eliminating many Wall Street and environmental restrictions enacted by the previous administration and made it next to impossible for ordinary Americans to agree on simple truths, let alone politics. He has actually convinced a sizable minority of the American public that despite suffering more than 180,000 deaths from COVID19, he is absolutely correct in ignoring the advice of galaxy-class physicians and scientists and that despite more than 1 million people applying for unemployment insurance every weak for the past 3 months, the economy is booming. And perhaps the worst, he has sold his minions on the fact that voting by mail is the biggest con since Charles Ponzi. If all this isn’t dystopian, I don’t know what is.

(BTW: Since beginning this essay, POTUS has retweeted a conspiracy theory falsely claiming that only about 9,000 people had “actually” died from corona virus, instead of more than 180,000.  Twitter later removed the tweet, written by a user named “Mel Q,” who is also a believer of the QAnon conspiracy theory, saying it violated its rules.  In yet another series of tweets early this morning, Trump also embraced a call to imprison New York  Governor Andrew Cuomo; threatened to send federal forces against demonstrators outside the White House; attacked CNN and NPR; embraced a supporter charged with  murder; and repeatedly assailed the mayor of Portland, even posting the mayor’s office telephone number so that supporters could call demanding his resignation.  Vice President Biden put on his “big boy pants” and responded in kind: “What does President Trump think will happen when he continues to insist on fanning the flames of hate and division in our society and using the politics of fear to whip up his supporters?  He  is recklessly  encouraging violence. He may believe tweeting about law and order makes him strong - but his failure  to call on his  supporters to stop seeking conflict shows just how weak he  is.”)

So what is the sole emetic to be taken for extreme political nausea? 

Simple:

Voting+campaigning+making financial contributions

It may not bring Sir Thomas More’s Utopia back to life . . . but what have we to lose?

There are 63 days until November 3, 2020

Copyright©2020 Kurt F. Stone

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