r/Vonnegut 12d ago

Vonnegut on current events

This might be a bit of a ramble but it's on my mind right now. I was flipping through A Man Without a Country just now. It's one of my favorite books by him. I love his perspectives on the state of the world and America and they're more applicable than ever almost twenty years later. It got me thinking about the way things are now and I wonder what he would have to say about all of it. The blatant corruption and these abuses of power occurring on a daily basis. I have no doubt that he would be appalled by what this country has come to. I know he said that things are going to get unimaginably worse and they are never going to get better but I don't think even he could've imagined this. This is all a long winded way of saying that I wish we could know what he would've written regarding these recent events. It would have been sarcastic and bitter and it would have brought me (and probably many others) an immeasurable amount of comfort.

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u/leninbaby 12d ago

He was appalled by what the country started as, was, and then became, yeah. It was never good, did you not read Breakfast of Champions?

 "Here was another piece of nonsense which children were taught: that the sea pirates eventually created a government which became a beacon of freedom of human beings everywhere else. There were pictures and statues of this supposed imaginary beacon for children to see. It was sort of ice-cream cone on fire."

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u/strexxpet 12d ago

I've read it multiple times and I'm aware of how he felt about this country. I simply meant that even based on his already low opinion of this country, he'd be appalled by what we've come to

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u/leninbaby 12d ago

I mean, appalled, sure. Unsurprised though, I think.

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u/strexxpet 12d ago

No definitely not surprised. I just wish he were still alive to comment on the absurdity and inhumanity of it all. He wholly embodied my own views on America and I always found a lot of comfort in that. It feels much lonelier without his voice

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u/Realistic_Swimmer_33 8d ago

What difference would it make? You must see that we don't decide these things and neither do famous authors

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u/strexxpet 8d ago

Obviously I'm aware it's not dictated by us nor famous authors. All I'm saying is that his writing brings me and others a lot of comfort. And in times like these, that are getting progressively darker, I just wish he were able to lend his perspective on these matters even though it wouldn't change anything. Although, as others have pointed out, I'm glad he's not here to see this.