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Or it could be the ones who walk away are unwilling to upset the others. This might be because that would make an actual story with characters and a plot, rather than what Omelas actually is (a kind of Aphorism) and Le Guin didn’t want to write that book. The most obvious criticism is that the ones who “walk away” do just that – walk away. Even Star Trek has done multiple episodes on the problems of utilitarianism. This story is interesting but doesn’t break new ground except in its unique execution. It’s an old story of the scapegoat and whipping boy. Lots of us wear clothes made by kids in foreign countries. The truth is, many modern people already do this calculus, just not at this extreme and with such obvious immorality. Le Guin uses it to punch you in the face. This isn’t an endorsement of child abuse – the Utopia is a dystopia, of kinds.
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The real question at the end, of course, is whether happiness is possible at all when you are aware of the pain it costs another person, or if you can live in a state of cognitive dissonance. Presented in the extreme – unlimited pleasure and extreme pain localized into one individual – the question is whether most people will tolerate it, or not. This is a moral tale about the limits of Bentham’s Hedonistic Calculus. Some people walk away – the unreliable narrator wonders why, since the narrator is on the side of the people who stay Post-hoc rationalizations are given – the child can’t really be saved because of its condition, its a necessity, the overall happiness is greater, etc.ħ. Most people in Omelas end up accepting this, despite not liking it.Ħ. She creates a negative condition that magically eliminates the downsides: constant neglect and abuse of a single innocent child.ĥ. This Utopia will have all those pleasures (including sinful ones) with NO DOWNSIDES.Ĥ.
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Le Guin asks YOU to imagine a Utopia with whatever in it YOU think would make people happyĢ.