After some of our discussion in class today, I can't seem to get a certain story out of my head. I'm not sure exactly where I heard this (possibly it was referred to in another work?), or what book it refers to, but I remember hearing a summary of a dystopian novel which relates to the idea of "usefulness." The summary, as I remember it, dealt with a society which had recently undergone some sort of natural disaster, and so had limited natural resources and food supplies. Not all of the survivors of the natural disaster would be able to subsist on the resources left, so the quandry presented is the decision over what types of people would be more of use to the new society. Lawyers or professional football players? Doctors or electricians? This moral dilemma certainly lends itself to being applied to Piercy's poem. What exactly is work? Who exactly is of use? Any other thoughts on this?
-Tara Burns
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
That storyline appears in lots of places. It reminds me of the movie, 2012, in which the government claims to pick the people with the best genetics possible in order to create the most ideal population after the world ends. In the movie, The Knowing, the aliens pick the kids to live in the other world, leaving the parents behind, because kids will create the next generation. In 2012, though, the people with the most money, not the best chromosomes, ends up being the ones who can afford to pay millions to reserve a spot on the ships. Usefulness, as with so many other things, changes in terms of its context.
ReplyDelete-- tori
I think history shows us that usefulness changes in terms of context as well. The types of jobs around and their importance has changed over time. New jobs are invented as new technology and needs come along. Other jobs fall out of usefulness until they no longer exist. I think what is considered useful reflects heavily on the society being discussed.
ReplyDelete~elizabeth
I agree with Elizabeth that the idea of what is useful is dynamic and largely depends upon the time period. For example, in the 18th century the sole purpose of college in the United States was to educate ministers. However, now our priorities have greatly change and our perception of usefulness has changed along with them.
ReplyDelete-Bryce Cody