We Live in a Utopia

We live and work for tall structures that yearn for the sky. We belong to the glorious overlords in the top floors.

We build and sell their goods and services, and in exchange, we allow them to continue their destruction of our bodies and world. It’s a necessary trade off.

We labor our days away in their name. We separate our lives from our work until there is little life to spare.

We keep our money in the pockets of our glorious higher ups. This is merely an investment; we’ll be on their level soon.

We are permitted to make love only on their terms. If we can’t meet the cash requirement, we are expected to wear a chastity belt to shield us from a dark future. Sex is a gift from our higher ups for those who can afford it.

When we’re sick and our lives need saving, we empty our life savings and start anew. There is no other way our utopia could help us.

We base our lives in tradition and find comfort in the status quo. Those who break it are outcasts undeserving of our utopia.

We write off any issue that we do not personally face because it is insignificant. We live in a utopia, why distract oneself with suffering that you will never face?

We learn to avoid the killers who protect us. They are a necessary evil and you’ll be alright as long as you fall in line. Our utopia is safe because of them.

When we disobey our higher ups, they give us a place to live, eat, and labor without pay until we can learn to appreciate the utopia they’ve built for us.

We close off our utopia to outsiders who are undeserving of our paradise and spread our ways to the dystopias that plague the world. If they can’t be like us, we make a few sacrifices and disregard their uncivilized culture.

Our glorious higher ups look out for us. They tear the pages out of the history books that paint us in a negative light. They keep the sins of our Utopia hidden to preserve our sense of pride. We thank them.

We live in a Utopia.

To question that would be taking your freedoms for granted.

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Justin Sangermano is an emerging writer with a passion for fantastical narratives that challenge our perception of the world and our place within it. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, his literary contributions have found a home in esteemed journals including WayWords, Short Vine, and the East Fork Journal of the Arts.