I was struck by one overlap between the two articles we read for class, “Grounds for Hope” by Rebecca Solnit and “The Limits of Utopia” by China Miéville. There are three quotes that are involved directly in this overlap, and they are below. The first quote is from “Grounds for Hope,” and the second two quotes are from “The Limits of Utopia.”
- “Dystopias infect official reports.”
- “It’s important to say what hope is not: it is not the belief that everything was, is, or will be fine.”
- “Your opponents would love you to believe that it’s hopeless, that you have no power.”
The first quote expresses how society is lacking positive and truthful reports. Even our “official reports” are biased and tainted by media, film, and fiction, and this leads to the second quote. These biased reports leave readers with an false idea of hope: the idea that everything will be fine—global warming is not as pressing as it may seem, Donald Trump isn’t taking enormous strides backwards in the progress of equity for our country.
The people that write these “official reports” have the power to control what our communities hear and read. They can twist, dramatize, or deflate the news in order to illicit any desired response, and use this to sway politics and perceived truth. They thrive and are successful off of readers feeling comforted enough to keep reading the news, yet hopeless enough to not take action, which is where the third quote comes in. If action were taken, rebellions and protests would be sparked. These “opponents” balance a delicate definition of hope which they present to their readers, one that leads people to feel hope yet does not truly empower people with hope.
