There is an idea online of our postmodern capitalist society being a ‘boring dystopia’ —that is, a world like that of a dystopian post-apocalyptic world, without any of the exciting sci-fi dressing. This week as I made my way around campus, I could not help but think of this idea in relation to the life I will be living for the next several months, and really for the foreseeable future. There is this overwhelming feeling of helplessness; you can either not cooperate and face public scorn, potential academic repercussions, plus the safety of yourself and your community, or you can cooperate and continue to watch the world burn and your campus life degenerate while nothing really improves to any measurable degree. Remember 14 days to stop the spread, when we all stopped going out? Nothing I did then has helped my situation now, where I am still stuck in a mask trying to avoid people on the campus I used to spend my time on. The unfortunate truth about this semester is most people will be uncomfortable and unproductive.

For me, the boring dystopia came to mind as I attempted to take a class in one of the “Zoom Dine and Study Pods.” What a nightmare. A massive tent filled with tubes and pipes and machinery evoking the semblance of an industrial asbestos removal zone converted to office cubicles. I swept away the faint spiderwebs that began to develop on the top of my pod, then realized how low the AC unit was—and spent the next hour with my nose uncomfortably close to my zoom screen attempting to hear my professor. That is what makes this dystopia so boring—we get everything that makes those worlds terrible, but without working technology. Even in Orwell’s “1984” the video chat worked. “Blade Runner” had the same alienation in a faceless crowd, but at least they had a cool cyberpunk aesthetic with robots.

All that we get is an overwhelming wave of anxiety and fear—fear that I am doing something wrong, or fear that someone else is and leaving us all in jeopardy. Fear of worsening conditions across the state and the world. Fear of unfamiliar crowds, of checkpoints and checkups and a looming disaster with no end in sight. And there truly is no end in sight—a light at the end of the tunnel right now will do you no good. If you want to avert future disappointment, you really should hunker down for this awful semester.

The dystopia is still in the development phase, so here are some things to expect as we move forward. Our community will be further atomized and isolated. As much as the official line will be about how we are in this together, isolation can only deepen. The upcoming weeks will have a post-Labor Day surge in COVID cases, a presidential election, flu season and frustration as all our plans fall apart. Worst will be the feeling of powerlessness as all the lies and wishful thinking fade away. Set your expectations low and maybe you will get pleasantly surprised. But prepare for the worst. Do not let yourself get the same whiplash as over Spring Break if we do end up getting sent home, because this is a very real possibility. You do not have control right now; you do not have the power to change anything; you are at the mercy of fate. The best thing to do is go with the flow. Do not fight it but embrace it. Things will never be the same, so stop clinging to the past.