Pessimists and optimists on the 2080's

The tenth grade begins the dystopian Kurt Vonnegut story "Harrison Bergeron" this week.

It's the year 2081, and thanks to the heavy-handed "Handicapper General," inequality has been done away with by applying handicaps to eliminate citizens' strengths. Strong people carry weights. Beautiful people wear hideous masks and have snaggle-tooth dentures. George, in the excerpt below, has above-average intelligence.

Handicapped dancers in "Harrison Bergeron"

It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn't think about it very
hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn't
think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his
intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his
ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a
government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would
send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair
advantage of their brains.

Sometimes I feel like my unruly classes affect my ability to think, like the periodic buzzing. I feel like a less intelligent, less creative version of myself when side-talking or disruptions from misbehaving students claim my attention and generate stress. I have new compassion for students who attend schools where the danger of being attacked, by soldiers through the doorway or by missiles from overhead, is a constant buzzing in their minds. 

The ability to focus, much less to create, in that environment is impressive to say the least. When at school in Freeport, in Troy and in Salt Lake, I had the luxury of intellectual exploration uninterrupted by "white noise" of looming threats or weighty responsibilities. 

Hourani's "Qalandia 2087"

A scenario like that Vonnegut illustrates is encouragingly hard to fathom. At the other end of the optimism-pessimism spectrum is the artwork of Wafa Hourani, a Ramallah-based artist whose work is part of the New Museum's current exhibit on Arab art. In her sculpture entitled "Qalandia 2087" Hourani reimages the refugee camp at Qalandia as a utopia (another theme in the tenth grade) with playgrounds, cafes, and landscaped courtyards. Perhaps my class will create a similar prototype of their idea of utopia...

Back in the present, some boys in Gaza are creating what utopia and optimism they can, instead of waiting for any possible future scenarios to turn up. I went to Jenin to see this film called "The Flying Boys of Gaza" last Sunday. Just watch the beginning and minutes 9-11 to see how these boys "escape" the present through their own performance art. A remarkable example of channelling pent up energy into peaceful activity.