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| A version of Utopia from last century-Robert McCall 1983 Mural, The Prologue and the Promise |
So what is it? Why are some of these talked about in total disgust and some looked forward to? The desire for equality seems benevolent enough, but upon execution history proves it to be impossible. It's been suggested that Karl Marx's vision for communism has never really existed. Playing off of that, would a Utopian society even be possible today? Would it make people happy? Or would it inevitably turn into a Dystopia? Ok Jason, have at it.
Image credit : A version of Utopia from last century-Robert McCall 1983 Mural, The Prologue and the Promise http://www.jomec.co.uk/intercardiff/food-culture/searching-for-utopia
Really insightful post here. I agree that those three examples of utopia share the same structure and have thought a lot about why people shudder so heavily at all such notions of a better way. I think people cannot get over the past and how certain ideals were implemented which leads to them shunning anything resembling something like the Soviet Union, for example. People are so stained against the idea of collectivism by this poor implementation, but look at religion for example. Many so called Christians tortured and killed people because of their traditions and beliefs, but does that mean what Christ Himself preached should be shunned? In my opinion, no. Utopia shouldn't be a controversy, just some people's implementation or idea of it might be.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the biggest reason why a "utopia" will not exist until the millennium is because we are imperfect people. The problem with giving the government absolute control is that it is far too easy to get corrupted. Are there ideas put forth by Marx that would help society and improve our lives? Probably, but history has stained communism and it is difficult to keep an objective view on a topic that has destroyed millions of lives.
ReplyDeleteI love how you brought "Jason" into this!
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of thoughts you might want to consider. First off, while the concept of utopia is similar in the sense that they are perfect societies, the reality is, there is a very big difference between Marxism, and the Millennium. I really need to do more reading into Marxism so bear with me. As far as I understand, it is based on equal outcome for all. Everyone will have enough to live and no one will be above another. However, in the Millennium everyone will be given equal opportunity but will be rewarded an outcome based on virtue not just existence. Maybe Marxism is trying to "give to each his need" but who decides what we need? The argument is that Communism in Mao's China and Soviet Russia wasn't true Marxism. But how many millions of people need to die for the sake of "equality" before we decide that artificially enforcing equality is actually genocidal?