Omelas? More like Online-as.

In class a few days ago, we discussed a short story called "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" by Ursula Le Guin. The story was about a utopia called Omelas in which everybody but one child lived a happy and amazing life. This one child lived, or really, experienced a horrible life where he was locked into a dark broom closet and left alone. He was barely fed and he was psychologically scared and incapable because of these experiences. The people knew about him and many had seen them with their own eyes and this left them with three options. They could ignore him and live a wonderful life, free him and risk ruining the lives of everyone else, or leave the city and never be seen again. 

Today, the internet and world wide web has an interesting power that gives people the ability to get their story or cause out into the world. On Youtube, one can regularly find ads urging people to quit smoking and informing people about the dangers of this activity. On news sites, interest groups stage events and thus get news coverage and articles published, allowing knowledge of a cause to spread across the web at breakneck speeds. The ALS Ice Bucket challenge spread like wildfire with the help of the internet and has helped raise funds and awareness of ALS and its effects in people. 

In a way, the internet is akin to a person being exposed to the kid locked in the broom closet. It gives us knowledge of an issue and it lets us form our own opinions. It lets information travel quickly. The question then becomes, what do you do? 

Do you move to support the issue and try to help the many tortured souls? 

Do you simply go on with your life like nothing happened? \

Or, do you walk away from Online-as, into the wilderness, and disappear because you can't live in this unjust society? 

The choice is yours.

"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" Accessed on 9/18/14