An Ode to America as Utopian Dystopia

MICHAEL F. BIRD
MAY 19, 2023

The other day I read an article by a Christian theologian, Kevin

Hargaden, who lives in Ireland, saying that he would never consider
moving to America, largely because of the gun violence.

I’ve lived most of my life in Australia, but I’ve also lived for periods in
the UK, and I visit America once or twice a year to conference, lecture,
and teach.
I’ve often faced the question of whether I’d move myself and my family
to America for a possible job opportunity. To be honest, I’ve been offered
several jobs in the USA, but never one that I thought was worth moving
for, despite the attractions.
Don’t get me wrong. I love America and American people.
America saved Australia’s asses in World War II from the Japanese. I
love Chik-Fil-A, Fish Tacos, and American BBQ. Americans are such
generous people too. My favourite cities are San Diego, Raleigh, and
Grand Rapids. I have so many colleagues, friends and fans in America -
most of the readers to this substack! The country actually takes religion
seriously, being a biblical scholar means something over there, unlike in
Australia where I’m treated like a circus freak who has monetized his
freakiness.
But here’s the thing. America has for me both a sense of seduction and
revulsion, somewhere I want to be, and somewhere I fear to be.
America has the lure of being the centre of the world - politically,
commercially, creatively - it is the “room where it happens.” Because of
America’s demographics and history, being a biblical scholar is a noble
profession, there are big churches, major seminaries, and universities
with religion departments. If you want to change the world, you need to
set up shop in America at some point.

The thing is that America is a Dystopian Utopia.

The American paradox is that it is the paradise of the middle class and
purgatory for the poor and powerless. America is the place where beauty
and chaos intersect, where fantasy meets fear, where opportunity
touches terror, and villainy masquerades in virtue. For, under the thin
veneer of civil society are subterranean demons constantly digging
towards the surface, and sometimes they break through.

America can feel like heaven, until it’s not, when it is breached by horror.
Whether by gun violence, by a medical diagnosis, or by an act of political
betrayal. America is like a drug at a dance party, it dulls your senses,
allays your fears, you love every minute of it, until it kills you.
I keep thinking of America as a Dystopian Utopia.

America has the best of everything, but the best is always somehow
tainted by the worst of something. It feels like paradise on earth, even
when you know it’s somehow lost to its inequalities, pig-headed-ness,
prejudices, and republican fratricide. It’s like walking down a street with
Antifa on one side and the Proud Boys on another side.

Could I see myself moving to America, yeah, maybe, one day, but it’d
have to be for a special job, something that I felt called to do. I like to
think my own country and my own college needs me. We have our own
problems here, especially in Victoria, which is so progressive that it
makes California look like Alabama. Part of me wants to stay and fight
for a pluralistic democracy, but America would be a great refuge for
someone tired of being treated like an enemy of the state.
What do my American friends think?