This is the world that we live in

As defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, a ‘dystopia’ is “An imaginary place or condition in which everything is as bad as possible” (Dystopia, def. 1), which is exactly where Shteyngart has set his novel.  Lenny lives in a not-to-distant United States where the government is at war with another country and is constantly monitoring its citizens.  In this world, everyone is judged by their Credit score and the dollar is virtually worthless.  In this world Shteyngart paints, everyone is judged and everyone is a suspect, a place where one can’t even trust one’s friends.

“CRISISNET: DOLLAR LOSES OVER 3% IN LONDON TRADING TO FINISH AT HISTORIC LOW OF 1 EURO = $8.64 IN ADVANCE OF CHINESE CENTRAL BANKER ARRIVAL U.S; LIBOR RATE FALLS 57 BASIS POINTS; DOLLAR LOWER BY 2.3% AGAINST YUAN AT 1 YUAN = $4.90” (81).  

The most striking detail about this piece is that the information about the dollar is under, ‘CrisisNet’, producing an aura that the following information is the difference between life and death.  It is done in a quick, matter-of-fact, no nonsense way, leaving out all logical punctuation, allowing the idea of ‘crisis’ to really hit the reader and in this case, Lenny.   If the dollar is falling, the United States economy is falling as well.  To tie it in with the definition, this would a ‘condition in which everything is as bad as possible’.

“IT IS FORBIDDEN TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE EXISTENCE OF THIS CHECKPOINT (‘THE OBJECT’).  BY READING THIS SIGN YOU HAVE DENIED EXISTENCE OF THE OBJECT AND IMPLIED CONSENT.” (82)

Not only is this phrase ironic, it also speaks volumes on how much the government has come to control the population.  Everyone has to be literate to have an apparati, where the information is presented in print.  Reading a passing sign is almost habit.  In making a sign in uppercase letters, it immediately draws a passenger’s attention.  It is obvious that the following procedures the government is going to take are against Constitutional rights, thus people having to ‘give their consent to deny anything that happens at the checkpoint’.  It is a visual contract with the public over what they are and aren’t allowed to talk about in the ‘privacy’ of their own homes.  The phrase is ironic because Lenny reports about it anyways, showing that there is definitely a way around denying the existence/activities of the checkpoints.  When the government probes and prods people for the sake of ‘national security’, and then asks people to ‘consent and deny’, there is a serious distrust built between the government and its people. 

“ ‘I think Noah may be ARA,’ ” he whispered.  ‘What?’ ‘I think he’s working for the Bipartisans.’…
‘You watch, if the Chinese take over, Noah will be sucking up to them’”(96).

Lenny is told here by another friend that he cannot trust Noah, his college buddy. This illustrates a time when people aren’t only distrustful of the government, but are also distrustful of their friends and family members, much like the ‘black list’ in the 1950s, where people were marked for being communist by family members, friends, and neighbors who themselves didn’t want to be in trouble with the government.  In this futuristic world, however, ‘being communist’ is equated with ‘being bipartisan’, infringing on people’s freedom of speech and their right to choose which ever political party they agree most with. 

All these passages pull strongly on events happening now, raising the question of whether or not the United States as a whole is turning into a dystopian cesspool.