100% or Nothing

Vonnegut gave me a lot of things to think about for this blog post. The idea that seemed to stick with me the most though was the idea of having to be 100% one thing. What I mean by this is that you can’t be, or believe, two things. It’s 100% one way, or nothing. There are two examples of this I found in the book. The first was when the Mintons were talking about how once you accept a job from the government of a different country, your American citizenship is taken away. When I first read this I thought it was made up, because for me it seems ridiculous that you can’t be a part of both. To me it seems like a group of middle school girls who won’t let a friend sit with them unless they sit together every single day. The second example of this is when Jonah sees the sign in San Lorenzo that says “This is a Christian nation! All foot play will be punished by the hook.” Again, there is no diversity allowed, you’re only option is to be Christian and if you stray from this, you’ll be killed.

Being from Texas, I have seen some extreme nationalism. Some of it is great, the people truly love their country more than any other group of people I’ve ever met. However, it can sometimes become aggressive. The issue comes when this extreme feeling, of whatever it may be, patriotism, or religious sentiment, becomes blinded. People begin to believe so strongly in something, that anyone with a different opinion is wrong. Not only is it someone with a different opinion, but someone with a less strong opinion. They have to be an extremist, and 100% on the side of the “judger” in order to be deemed acceptable. This concept destroys all diversity and creates a monopoly for one idea. This could also cause a huge backfire, because everyone loves to do what they’re told not to. We see this when Mona is doing foot play and practicing Bokonoism. So it goes both ways, you’re either going to have a community where everyone agrees with one idea, or one where they begin to rebel.