It should be common knowledge by now that the three pillars of the French Revolution – “liberté, égalité, fraternité” – contain one, if not two, inherent contradictions. Specifically, liberty and equality are fundamentally incompatible, and, as for the notion of enforced fraternity, that too, of course, was a joke quickly drenched in rivers of blood.
In his debut novel, 2075: When Beauty Became a Crime, Rainer Zitelmann explores the extent to which equality and freedom are incompatible, crafting a captivating, often humorous, and absurdly extreme dystopian narrative.
In this future society, political activists have long since recognized that “envy” of more successful, more beautiful high-flyers serves as a potent catalyst for mobilizing voters. Incidentally, this phenomenon extends beyond the Darwinian beauty bazaar into the economic sphere, giving rise to the provocative slogan, “Shoot the rich to the moon – and leave them there.” In this, it is hard not to recognize the long-standing agenda of the left, originally born in the revolutionary blood orgy of the Jacobins. And yes, Zitelmann deftly and systematically exposes the utter inhumanity of this day and age’s DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) hogwash.
The central character of Zitelmann’s novel is Alexa, a flesh-and-blood heroine, who is pretty to boot. Her attractiveness means she is classified as “undeservedly privileged,” which is a thorn in the side of Lena, Alexa’s far plainer co-student. Lena joins the “MOJ” campaign, the “Movement for Optical Justice,” which, as the story progresses, radicalizes to the point of kidnapping beautiful women and subjecting them to surgical procedures to diminish their beauty.
The obsession with equality gives birth to monsters! Alexa’s boyfriend, ten years older and a successful entrepreneur, invites her on an extravagant vacation to Luna-1, a hotel on the Moon. With a regular shuttle service, Luna-1 has become, so to speak, the Majorca of space travelers, while Mars has evolved into an exclusive haven for libertarians with fat bank balances. As a planet with its own set of laws, Mars serves as the perfect utopian refuge for anyone who wants or needs to get away from planet Earth in this wonderfully comical social grotesque.
While fictional, Lena’s campus protests seem strangely familiar. For example, during one seminar on “Social Inequality in Central Asian Countries,” the activist rages: “But we can’t find a single specialist article or video on beauty privileges on the literature list. That’s not science, it’s indoctrination.” Could there be a better way to (over)dramatize left-wing insanity?
At this point, an unexpected comrade-in-arms appears at Alexa’s side, the journalist Riven, who has collected highly explosive material about the political hierarchy. The elite has mandated that all “privileged beauties” (PBs) undergo a surgical beauty-reducing procedure (dubbed “Optical Optimization Therapy”) in the name of equality. Ironically, these bigoted class warriors are taking liberties because what applies to the masses does not apply to themselves, analogous to our limousine-driving environmentalists: They are prepared to make exceptions for beauty queens who have affairs with them.
And so much mischief develops, evoking comparisons with Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous Love Island and its upscale clientele. With his explosive revelations, which also involve a South Korean chip mogul and his family, Riven finds himself in the crosshairs of the ruling clique and their secret service, targeted for elimination through a drone strike.
Riven is seriously injured and loses his sight. Undeterred, however, he perseveres in his research and helps to construct a trap to catch the masterminds behind the attack. The story unfolds, and the suspense builds in an arc that would by no means be out of place in a blockbuster movie. The complexities of a love triangle involving Alexa are woven throughout, and an older professor proves to be a less-than-ideal partner. In addition, there is a great deal of anxious concern for Alexa’s beautiful younger sister, who needs to be saved from the clutches of the corrupt system.
The narrative is as action-packed and filled with tension as any of Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible films. Yes, it’s an easy stretch to imagine Zitelmann’s smart thriller on the silver screen, if only to witness the remarkable feats of a young African figure-skating prodigy performing her twelve-fold Ritterberger loop jump. And that’s by no means the only surprise the world of 2075 has in store for us.
In conclusion, it is fair to say that the absurd demands for equality from an envy-driven left have rarely been so gleefully and barnstormingly dissected. Zitelmann exposes the underlying terrorist nature of this so-called ideal: the leveling down to enforced mediocrity for all and the total erosion of civil liberties, which invariably also include any form of personal development. In other words, the end of the Judeo-Christian image of humanity.
