le blog post no.4 michael hernandez

part 1, question numero 3:

Well, it seems theres only one Omelas article to read, so i guess ill have to choose it.
The articles author points out that Le Guin's " is about a society's use of a scapegoat, a pharmakos, to keep the rest of the society happy". Basically, this story is a parallel of America and other first world countries who live in prosperity, while the rest of the world gets trampled underfoot. Those fortunate enough to live in privileged countries know that the "child"- the poor and dejected countries-exist, and somehow accept their status as necessary and acceptable to maintain a status quot. 

An intriguing point in the article brought out that  "failing to enable the reader "to perceive the terrible justice of reality," suggests a similar failure of Western capitalist theodicy" . indeed, we are never given a true reason for the citizen's acceptance of the child's condition. This mirrors American's mindset when considering the third world.Omela's citizens reasoned, change from the child's current state would not help it because its long-standing conditions are too familiar to it, and it would fail to gain true happiness. We as well somehow see the status quot as familiar and acceptable simply because that's the way its always been.




part 2, question numero 6:

Both the communities in  "The Lottery" and "Omelas" clearly exhibit a marxist mentality that each citizen has seemingly embraced. The resulting dystopian societies are full of people who seemingly value their community's welfare above that of their family members or even themselves. I say seemingly because, as in any dystopia, the "human" element causes problems and dissent that is more or less suppressed/hidden. 
Because of fear or unwillingness to give up their system, the citizens have pushed human emotion away and force themselves to accept the sacrifices made for the good of the majority. 

Fear and a despising of the sacrifices can clearly be seen in some of the characters in The Lottery( more so in the movie); While love and a desire for self preservation arise near the end of  life for oneself or a family member, the calloused conditioning of a Marxist mindset allows them to proceed with the stoning. The child in Omelas is allowed to suffer, and the blissful community above lives on despite the anger and sadness that most undergo upon seeing the child. These slight interferences of  thought/emotion do little to change society, but it can be seen that relations in both stories are not those of a true Marxist utopia. greater good is the idea presented and generally carried out, but not entirely embraced in either story.