Hmmm... points on which to ponder here people!

I just finished watching South Park on SBS. Now, this silly bit of dross usually amuses me with it's schlocky satire, stuns me with its audacity and titillates me with its crudeness...

It's not supposed to depress me!

See, the plot was some odd parody of celebrity culture and M Night Shymalan movies, in which a mostly-decapitated Britney Spears is ritualistically driven to self-destruction by an American populace in need of a sacrifice. This disturbing tale, being relatively sedate by SP standards, really got to me... and reminded me of a short story by Ursula K Le Guin.

Those Who Walk Away From Omelas. I believe it's public domain and online, seek it out.

It poses an intriguing question; could you live in a Utopian society with the knowledge that it was only Utopian due to one person who had to spend their life in utter misery and suffering?

In my eyes it questions utilitarianism and morality, how people can cope with the knowledge of lower classes, slavery, racial segregation and so on and so forth. I think I'd go the path of the objector, and leave the society; a good test of one's character would be in their response to such a situation.

See? Thanks South Park! *sarcasm*