7-Opinion

L

ast year, former Supreme 
Court Justice Ruth Bader 
Ginsburg died, and the 

Democrats’ 
nightmare 
ensued. 

A month later, former President 
Donald Trump nominated Justice 
Amy Coney Barrett — an anti-
abortion advocate — to replace 
Ginsburg, a liberal and feminist icon. 
The Republican-controlled Senate 
confirmed this nomination.

Ginsburg refrained from retiring 

during former President Barack 
Obama’s second term, which allowed 
Trump to appoint her successor. As 
the oldest current member of the 
Supreme Court, Associate Justice 
Stephen Breyer should learn from 
Ginsburg’s mistake. He should retire 
now to guarantee that he will be 
replaced by a liberal justice. 

While 
Democrats 
currently 

control Congress and the presidency, it 
is possible that the midterm elections 
next year could hand the Senate to 
Republicans, giving them the upper 
hand on all votes, including those to 
confirm Supreme Court nominees. 
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has 
already confirmed it would be “highly 
unlikely” that Republicans would 
vote to confirm a Biden Supreme 
Court nominee should they take 
back the Senate. While Breyer does 
not appear to have significant health 
issues, he is 83 years old. Ginsburg 
died when she was 87, four years after 
Obama’s presidency ended. 

The question of Breyer’s retirement 

is on the minds of liberals, including 
Breyer himself. In response to calls 
for him to step down, Breyer has said 
that he will retire on his own terms. 
He has offered explanations for his 
refusal to provide a clear timeline, 

including worries that it will increase 
polarization, a consistent theme from 
him. Breyer argued that “if the public 
sees judges as politicians in robes, its 
confidence in the courts, and in the 
rule of law itself, can only diminish, 
diminishing the court’s power.”

While it is honorable that Breyer 

cares about preserving the integrity 
of the Supreme Court and American 
institutions, this strategy doesn’t 
work when the other side refuses to 
reciprocate. 

On election night in 2000, the 

Wall Street Journal reported that 
then-Justice Sandra Day O’Connor 
“would be reluctant to retire if a 
Democrat were in the White House 
and would choose her replacement.” 
O’Connor retired in 2005, with 
former President George W. Bush 
selecting her replacement. Former 
Justice Anthony Kennedy chose to 
retire in 2018 after Trump developed 
a relationship with Kennedy to 
ensure that he trusted Trump to 
choose the right person to replace 
him. Both O’Connor and Kennedy 
are still alive today.

Liberal justices have illustrated 

how retiring honorably, or on one’s 
own terms, allows conservative 
justices to remake the Supreme 
Court. Ginsburg’s death last year, and 
the aftermath illustrated the damage 
these decisions can cause. In 1991, 
former Justice Thurgood Marshall 
chose to retire during the George 
H.W. Bush administration for reasons 
related to his health. Bush replaced 
him with Justice Clarence Thomas, 
who is still on the bench today and 
is one of the most conservative 
justices on the Supreme Court. It 
is understandable why Marshall 
retired when he did, and he certainly 
deserved that retirement. But, it 
is undeniable that his retirement 
dramatically changed the makeup of 

the Supreme Court for at least the past 
30 years, and likely more. 

While the Supreme Court should, 

in theory, avoid party politics and 
focus on delivering decisions that 
follow the law and the Constitution, 
it has become clear in recent years 
that the Supreme Court, along with 
the entire American judicial system, 
has become much more politicized. 
Ending the filibuster on all judicial 
nominations and McConnell’s lack 
of action to replace former Justice 
Antonin Scalia in 2016 has made the 
Supreme Court a political branch 
of both parties. Breyer should 
understand that his refusal to retire 
is not a principled stance against the 
polarization of this country. Rather, it 
is an idealistic mistake that could give 
conservatives an even stronger hold 
on the Supreme Court, enabling the 
Court to make decisions that harm 
Americans. 

The current Supreme Court 

has already shown its ability to 
make consequential decisions that 
dramatically harm people’s lives. Its 
lack of action on the Texas abortion 
law illustrates why we need liberal 
justices on the Supreme Court. 
Besides this decision, the Supreme 
Court’s upcoming term includes 
cases that challenge Roe v. Wade, 
gun laws and the role of religion in 
schools. These are all issues that 
could change American life, and 
more significant decisions are sure to 
be heard in the coming years. 

The 
Supreme 
Court’s 
6-3 

conservative majority means that the 
loss of another liberal justice would 
lead to conservative domination for 
years to come. The only way to ensure 
that Breyer will be replaced by a 
liberal justice is for him to step down 
before the 2022 midterm elections 
and allow Biden and the Democratic 
Senate to choose his replacement. 

R

iding the “Korean Wave,” 
the survival, dystopian 
K-drama “Squid Game” 

has risen to No.1 on Netflix 
in the United States. It’s no 
surprise that this has happened. 
Korean pop culture has not only 
overtaken the US, but the globe. 
The success of BTS and fervent 
Twitter threads between K-Pop 
stans evinces this. But there 
is a deeper reason why “Squid 
Game” has gained popularity 
in such little time. Gen Z — 
the generation born roughly 
between 1996 and 2010 — 
has an affinity for dystopian 
fiction. This is the generation 
that was raised on “The Hunger 
Games,” 
“Divergent” 
and 

“Maze Runner” in their tween 
years. 
Anti-utopian 
fiction 

is as integral as Disney in 
Generation Z childhood media. 

Unsurprisingly, a generation 

raised 
on 
dystopianism 
is 

going to have fired-up political 
motives. The United States has 
become more like Panem, the 
fictional nation at the center 
of “The Hunger Games,” with 
power and wealth ever more 
consolidating in the hands of 
the few. This has culminated in 
a politically active, extremely 
vocal generation. Being digital 
natives has only propelled this 
further. We, as Gen Z, need to 
harness this political energy to 
make impactful changes to our 
politics at all levels. 

The world in which Gen Z has 

been thrust into is alarming. 
The climate crisis is upon us 
with its effects becoming more 
apparent. 
Temperatures 
are 

rising. Natural disasters are 
becoming more extreme. Food 
and water insecurity is and 
will be dire. Socially, wealth 
disparity is increasing. The 
consolidation of wealth in the 

US is returning to 1920s levels. 
The richest Americans’ wealth 
increased dramatically during 
2020 while the rest of the 
country faced a recession. Are 
these descriptions of Panem or 
of the United States? The line 
is eerily blurred. The premises 
of our childhood dystopian 
fiction mirror the social strife 
in the United States. We aren’t 
an apocalyptic state yet, but 
the signs don’t bode well for 
the future. The inequalities in 
the real world that formed the 
basis of early 2010s dystopian 
media have become exacerbated 
and do not seem to be abating in 
the near future unless systemic 
change fueled by public outcry 
takes place.

The teens and young adults 

of the globe do not back down 
in the political arena. The 
political strategies employed 
by this group resemble much 
of the rebellious efforts of 
our 
dystopian 
protagonists, 

albeit less physically violent 
in execution. Gen Z is highly 
supportive of political protest 
with a recent Politico poll 
reporting 
that 
63% 
of 
the 

generation supports protesting, 
much of which is in regard to the 
2020 protests in the name of the 
Black Lives Matter movement. 
What’s even more interesting 
is that Gen Z views protesting 
as more effective than voting to 
influence politics. This portion 
of the electorate is disenchanted 
with the political status quo. The 
protests against the military 
coup in Myanmar saw protesters 
use the iconic “Hunger Games” 
three-finger salute. A related 
political action that highlights 
Gen Z’s digital aptitude was 
when K-pop stans rallied online 
to troll former President Donald 
Trump by registering for his 
rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma despite 
never intending to attend. This 
prompted Trump to tout his 
popularity and then look quite 

foolish. There is a global feeling 
that the politics of the time are 
veering toward crisis and people 
are acting out in accordance.

Our generation has a certain 

je ne sais quoi. We have a fire 
under our asses lit by the 
need to fix the socio-political 
problems 
that 
are 
pushing 

our country to the precipice. 
And it’s no shocker to me that 
our political strategies show 
continuity with those modeled 
for us by the dystopian novels 
and films of our youth. We 
need to funnel this energy 
into intense political activism. 
Let us not be tempered in our 
political 
outrage. 
We 
have 

mass communication platforms 
at our disposal to unify and 
mobilize. We are one of the 
first generations to be able to 
usurp traditional information 
networks in order to make an 
impact on politics. To bed with 
only working within the system 
to change the system. If there 
is anything that our dystopian 
media has taught us, it’s that 
protest and working outside of 
the system can be an impactful 
form of political engagement. 

Gen Z clings to themes of 

dystopianism because we can 
easily relate them to our own 
experiences. 
The 
rich 
are 

getting richer at the expense 
of the lower class. The climate 
is being destroyed by the few 
to the detriment of all. These 
aren’t plot points in a fantasy 
novel. As we start to burgeon 
into the political scene, we 
need to utilize this intense 
zeal that we have to enact 
social 
change. 
The 
world 

seems to be crumbling, but 
we have the tools to fix it. I’m 
glad to have been raised on 
dystopianism. It’s imbued me 
with a responsibility to engage 
in political activism. I implore 
that more of Gen Z leans into 
this cultural current. It’s one of 
our greatest strengths.

M

ark 
Zuckerberg 

wants 
Facebook 
to 

become a “metaverse 

company.” In August, Facebook 
launched Horizon Workrooms, 
an application where users can 
strap on Facebook’s Oculus VR 
headset and attend 3D virtual 
meetings as their personalized 
avatar. Although Zuckerberg’s first 
foray into immersive tech might 
be clunky right now, his belief in 
the future of the metaverse is not 
as far-fetched as it might sound. 
Other Big Tech leaders such as 
Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney and 
Microsoft are talking about the 
metaverse as a very real possibility 
in the near future. 

So, what is the metaverse? 

Nobody knows exactly, but there 
is a lengthy body of work on 
the subject written by venture 
capitalist Matthew Ball. For 
those unwilling to dig through 
Ball’s website, works of science-
fiction, like Ernest Cline’s “Ready 
Player One” or the “San Junipero” 
episode from Netflix’s Black 
Mirror present captivating ideas 
of how the metaverse might turn 
out to mesh with our day-to-day 
lives. Imagine finishing a meeting 
on Workrooms at 3 p.m. on a 
Wednesday and then instantly 
transporting yourself to a virtual 
shopping mall, where you spend 
hours looking for a pair of cute 
new bell-bottoms. The metaverse 
is the overarching structure that 
binds each space together into a 
cohesive, navigable whole. It is no 
surprise that Zuckerberg wants 
an early stake in the metaverse. 
The earlier Facebook can build 
the most popular platform on 
the metaverse, the more profit 

they can rake in from advertisers. 
If the amount of personal data 
Facebook collects now is cause for 
alarm, imagine the possibilities 
for marketing firms once they 
have access to every word we say, 
every gesture we make and every 
place we visit in the virtual world. 

At this point, the metaverse 

should sound like the worst 
dystopia imaginable. In essence, it 
is a digital universe designed and 
controlled by Mark Zuckerberg, 
in which advertisers can exploit 
the field of neuroscience for even 
greater profits than they already 
are. Why are we not turning 
our backs and running away 
screaming?

We love social media, and at 

the same time recognize how 
detrimental it is to our mental 
health. It seems impossible to 
extricate ourselves from our 
online social networks, from 
fear of being left out and falling 
behind. Once someone comes up 
with a successful social platform 
on the metaverse, a similar 
network effect will occur, driving 
greater numbers of people to 
spend time on the newest fad 
provided by the market. 

Assuming, 
then, 
that 
the 

metaverse (with all its attendant 
problems) 
is 
inevitable, 
the 

question becomes how should we 
respond? Already, there are voices 
in the tech industry thinking 
of innovative ways to deal with 
the potential ethical dilemmas 
brought up in deciding how to 
write algorithms. Should our 
technology filter how we view the 
real world? Will the metaverse 
give 
computer 
engineers 
an 

unbearable burden of decision-
making? How will living in a 
manufactured 
world 
impact 

how we expose our children to 
the world? It is good to know 

that current professionals are 
seriously considering the social 
implications of their work, but it 
is not enough. 

Here at the University of 

Michigan, 
we 
have 
a 
rich 

tradition 
of 
excellence 
in 

technological innovation. Our 
computer science, engineering 
and various other technology-
oriented departments produce 
successful, 
industry-leading 

graduates 
that 
go 
on 
to 

accomplish great feats in their 
respective careers. Larry Page 
is perhaps the most notable 
example, but he is certainly 
not alone. Back in the 1980s, 
U-M 
Professor 
Emeritus 

Doug Van Houweling led a 
project to rebuild a National 
Science 
Foundation 
network 

of 
computers 
that 
arguably 

invented the internet. We truly 
are the Leaders and Best.

Now, if we are to live up to 

our school’s reputation, then we 
ought to direct our professional 
efforts toward leading the path 
forward 
for 
the 
metaverse. 

Computer 
science 
graduates 

should think in great detail 
about the impacts caused by the 
code they write and advocate for 
positive, helpful developments 
in 
our 
technology. 
Business 

students should invest in and 
found metaverse companies that 
aim to improve the social welfare 
of their consumers, even if that 
cuts into their profits. Political 
science students should advocate 
for changes in government tech 
policy that best reflect their 
values and work towards the 
future they wish to live in. We 
have an opportunity to build 
the metaverse into something 
beautiful, and a responsibility 
to make it as beneficial for the 
public good as we can.

Opinion

BRITTANY BOWMAN

Managing Editor

Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building

420 Maynard St. 

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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I

t all happened so quickly. Since 
April 1, 2021, when I finally 
committed to my university 

of choice, every time I was asked 
about my plans after high school, I 
followed proudly with, “I’m going to 
the University of Michigan.” Even 
though I must have repeated that 
response a million times, it doesn’t 
feel real to be here in Ann Arbor. It 
was more of an automatic reply, but 
now I walk through the Law Quad, 
the Diag and down Main Street and 
it feels like I’ve been transported to a 
new life. A common phrase circling 
the internet (and campus) right now 
among first-year students describes 
the stunning realization “when you 
commit to a top university and it’s 
actually hard.” It is no longer just 
a response or something to put in 
your Instagram bio. It never felt 
like the moment was ever going to 
come. Time felt extended 100 times 
due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We 
anxiously sat and waited for over a 
year for the change and excitement 
that comes with being on campus. 
Thinking forward to life in college 
was a form of coping with social 
isolation and depression.

The Wall Street Journal recently 

ranked the University of Michigan 
as the No. 1 public university in the 
United States and No. 24 overall 
among public and private universities. 
According to the National Center 
for Education Statistics, their most 
recent data from 2018-2019 indicates 
that there are 2,828 four-year colleges 
in the U.S. 24th out of 2,828 is a mind-
boggling statistic to think about. This 
data illustrates that you are the cream 
of the crop as a student at U-M when 
it comes to higher education. 

The Wall Street Journal analyzes 

and creates these rankings based 
on several factors. While rankings 
from different sources vary due to 
utilizing different resources and 
criteria, the Wall Street Journal 
adequately analyzed and included 
all the characteristics I investigated 
while researching universities for my 
college applications. 

According to the Journal, “The 

WSJ/THE rankings are based on 15 
factors across four main categories: 
Forty percent of each school’s overall 
score comes from student outcomes, 
including graduates’ salaries and 
debt; 30% comes from academic 
resources, including how much the 

college spends on teaching; 20% 
from student engagement, including 
whether students feel prepared to use 
their education in the real world, and 
10% from the learning environment, 
including the diversity of the student 
body and academic staff.” While 
the standards the University sets as 
the top public school in the nation 
are impressive, they can also create 
an intimidating environment for 
students.

As we power through midterm 

season and calendars begin to fill 
with club meetings, deadlines, office 
hours and appointments, it is really 
easy to feel overwhelmed as a student 
at a university with such a rigorous 
curriculum. One after the other, 
new tasks pop up on the to-do list; 
it’s like running on a hamster wheel. 
Even though you feel you are pushing 
yourself above and beyond, so is 
everyone else. Every day I leave my 
residence hall at 9 a.m. and return at 5 
p.m., only to head out once again and 
finally end my day after midnight. 
Yet, it still never feels like enough. 
Everyone around you appears to 
be doing twice as much and having 
twice as much fun during their free 
time. Maybe prior to college, you may 
have been the one who took the most 
challenging 
classes, 
participated 

actively in every club and held 
a leadership position in every 
organization. It never felt like an 
option to be an average member. But 
now, you are constantly surrounded 
by students who are the exact same. It 
is easy to feel the pressure to perform 
at 100% all the time and live up to this 
standard. Now, who rises to the top? 

The Harvard Business Review 

defines 
imposter 
syndrome 

as “a collection of feelings of 
inadequacy that persist despite 
evident success.” The concept of 
imposter syndrome is ingrained 
in our brains at this University. 
There are modules on Canvas 
before arriving on campus, as well 
as countless resources for support. 
The University acknowledges how 
mentally draining the environment 
can become if you lack confidence 
in your knowledge and ability. But 
are they doing enough? Despite 
their efforts, this feeling still stops 
students from performing at their 
best. 70% of people experience 
imposter syndrome at some point 
in their career. There is a constant 
fear of failure as a student at 
Michigan. According to an article 
by our School of Public Health, 
Michigan’s annual Healthy Minds 

Study reported that “among the 
respondents, 47% screened positive 
for clinically significant symptoms 
of depression and/or anxiety.” 
In addition, many studies have 
uncovered anxiety as a comorbid 
condition with imposter syndrome 
and that high school students who 
experienced imposter syndrome 
feelings “correlated significantly 
with a history of prior suicidal 
ideation 
and 
attempts 
and 

depression.”

The University needs to break the 

silence and let its students know that 
there is nothing wrong with feeling 
inadequate. Feeling uncomfortable in 
an unfamiliar situation is ultimately a 
positive experience. It illustrates that 
you are stepping out of your comfort 
zone. Professors need to work to 
promote a comfortable classroom 
environment 
that 
facilitates 

discussion and encourages getting 
answers wrong to develop further 
understanding of the material. By 
bringing in successful alumni to 
speak about their own struggles with 
the fear of failure, it could help prove 
that even those who look like they 
have it all together, feel the same way. 
As a community, we need to become 
more transparent about how we 
are doing. There is no need to hide 
behind the perfect persona of the 
perfect student. Based on the data, 
we likely are all dealing with similar 
issues, so we need to support one 
another to not feel alone. 

While being at this type of 

university may be overwhelming 
and 
daunting 
now, 
graduating 

with a degree from the No. 1 public 
university will set you apart from 
other applicants in the professional 
world. 
The 
expansive 
alumni 

network connects you across the 
globe. While the plethora of courses 
and 
organizations 
may 
seem 

daunting now, these opportunities 
are precisely what makes you thrive 
post-graduation due to the abundance 
of experience and knowledge gained. 
No other university can replace 
the spirit that booms through the 
Big House on a fall Saturday or the 
drive that exists in every student 
here. Rather than doubting yourself 
and letting the pressure sink in, take 
full advantage of every opportunity 
and every second at this amazing 
university. Through the staff and 
ambiance of this place, we have the 
tools to thrive and become the best 
version of ourselves. That is why the 
Wall Street Journal ranked us as the 
No. 1 public university. 

How to live with imposter syndrome

You should be worried about the metaverse

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
6 — Wednesday, October 27, 2021 

Retire, Justice Breyer

LYDIA STORELLA
Opinion Columnist

ALEX YEE

Opinion Columnist

Squid Game is just the latest in Gen 

Z’s love of dystopian media

GABBY RIVAS

Opinion Columnist

BEN DAVIS

Opinion Columnist

