Masks of Promise

by Lillian Carncross, Class of 2025

Godzilla was created in Japan, a nation that chose to accept history. Godzilla doesn't make sense in America, a nation relatively unscathed by World War II. Sort of.

Scene: Japan, 1945

Subject: Operation Meetinghouse

Under the command of General Curtis LeMay, American B-29s raided 67 Japanese cities. On the first night, Tokyo, a wooden city, was torched, killing about 100,000 people. Captain Robert McNamara, a titan of the 20th century, said it was to weaken the adversary.

What is America’s monster?

America, a land promising freedom and rights that could never be taken away, is not the same tempting oasis Hollywood promises. The greed of politicians and large businesses have created a monster with dark smog characteristics. As America continues to develop and create more businesses and elect more corrupt officials, the dreary smog spreads more over America, further ruining the dreams of the lower class. The smog suffocates these people, making sure that they have a near impossible route to dig themselves out of poverty, all while ignoring the so-called angelic politicians that are going to help the civilians. The politicians grow in 1% soil where it’s instinctive to ignore the poor. They can’t see them through the smog they’ve created.

This Treadmill of Production is America’s monster, a system swayed by the wave of dollar bricks.