My first Lesson in Democracy

Several years ago when J was in elementary school, he had this Pokemon fever and was obsessed with collecting Pokemon cards. Often after his school, I found myself driving him around the town to try to find a store that had Pokemon cards for sell. It was one of those afternoons when we were on our card-hunting trip, J, sitting in the back of the car, started to talk about a book he had just finished reading.

“They have such a perfect world.” J was apparently amazed by the book. He leaned over the front seat in his safety belt to make sure I heard his voice. “It is so perfect that life in the community is always pleasant and predictable because everything is carefully planned and organized. People look the same, act the same, live in the same way, and talk in precisely chosen language so that they do not have to worry about something like competitions, differences, or choices. There are no such things as pain, fear, grief, war, or hatred.”

The traffic noise sometimes drowned out one or two of his words. I concentrated on my driving and strained my ears to listen to him as well. A perfect world, I pondered, isn’t that the ideal we were all taught to crave when I was an elementary kid in China?

“The boy, who is the main character of this book, receives his assignment when he becomes twelve — Everyone in the community must be assigned a field of profession, you know, as everyone’s life is planned by the Committee of Elders. Marriages are also assigned. Each couple are allowed to have exactly two children, one boy, one girl. — The boy’s profession is Receiver of Memories. A Receiver has access to all the memories of the community. So the boy gets to know all the good things and bad things happened in the past.”

“What is the Committee of Elders?” I interrupted, looking straight ahead as the car rattled toward a busy intersection.

“The Committee of Elders is responsible for making all of the decisions. It is like their government. The elders make sure the community stays in harmony and peacefulness. People who are different from others, who break rules, would be released. In the community, “release” means death. The community doesn’t even have seasons, animals, colors, or music since those can bring emotions and disturbances.” J raised his voice a bit and passionately resumed his narration, “OK, so now that the boy has been selected to be Receiver. He has received memories of humanity, going way back. The memories are from before their community was established, back when there were bright colors, extreme cold weathers, and warm sunshine. He then realizes he starts to have feelings, such as pleasure and loneliness. You know, feelings are not allowed in the community.”

“Oh mine. In a perfect world that has no grief, no hatred, there is of course no love, no pleasure.” I chimed in, “I haven’t realized that until right now.”

“The boy starts to have passion for people around him. But you know what?” J sounded extremely frustrated, “These people do not have the ability to love him back, because they do not have their own feelings!”

As time goes by, J grows up and becomes more interested in facts than in fictions. He is a little embarrassed whenever I mention his early Pokemon zeal and card collecting enthusiasm. But what I haven’t mentioned to him is how, in that one ordinary afternoon, he enlightened me with this unique story and his innocent perception — A perfect world would have no room for individual liberties and personal developments. I have realized since then that how much I appreciate this beautifully imperfect thing called life, and how much I appreciate my life in this gorgeously flawed society.