Personally, I do not think that the dystopian society that is presented in We is very relevant or frightening to a country like the United States. I can’t really make an accurate judgment as to whether or not Zamyatin was using a mathematical base as an example of one way a society could be structured, or if that was his actual vision. In the case of the latter, I do not believe that the United States is at any risk of such. However, in the case of the former, I do believe that Zamyatin’s warning does ring true. I personally believe that the United States is in a good position, one of the best in the world actually, regarding a relationship between a government and its people. However, I also believe that there is always room for more control, and it takes a skeptical, vigilant and politically active populace to prevent something like what is described in We.
The hope, or alternative that is given by Zamyatin is a society that is not controlled mathematically, in which individuals determine their own lives and are not under the oppressive thumb of a totalitarian regime disguised as happiness. He presents a alternative that focuses very much on humanity as a concept, separated from the restrictions of predetermined life. Zamyatin makes the point that a society without complete control is going to have crime, poverty and conflict, but he also argues that these elements are naturally part of a society in which the populace has individual freedoms.
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