Utopia: A Step in the Wrong Direction

Utopia: A Step in the Wrong Direction 

            At the start of this course, I believed that a Utopia was an attainable world where all people lived without conflict.  I thought that while it would be difficult, a Utopia could be created in very unusual circumstances.  As the course progressed, my definition of a Utopia did not alter greatly; however, my opinion did. 

            As we started this course, I held the idea of a Utopia high in my mind.  I pictured a world with no conflict as perfect and almost picturesque.  In my mind, there were absolutely no downfalls to these ideal communities.  As the course progressed, we learned about countless attempts at Utopias.  I couldn’t help but to notice that all of these attempts seemed to share a common downfall.  In most cases, the intentional communities that we studied did not collapse due conflicts, but rather collapsed because of the lack thereof.  Without any competition or conflicts, the communities lacked motivation and became frustrated.  This interesting observation caused me to look deeper into the idea of a Utopia and whether or not it was really all that great.

            From this point on I became more skeptical of Utopias.  My main point of skepticism came from the notion that a world without conflict is a world without progress.  I realized that in a Utopia, there is no conflict, thus no motivation to progress further.  After this point I became doubtful that a Utopia was really a world that we should strive towards.  Then, my skepticism grew to distaste after reading Berlin’s essay about the flaws of a utopia.  I realized that in order to create a world of perfect order, some dictating force must be acting upon all of the people.  In this scenario a real perfect world isn’t created, it is simply a world of fear and submission.  For some time after this I was very against the idea of a Utopia.

            Eventually my view of the Utopias settled somewhere in between dislike and like.  I don’t believe that Utopias are good as they create a lack of incentive and motivation.  Yet at the same time I don’t think that they are bad, as having the goal of a perfect world to work towards is always beneficial.  At the end of the course I have reached an interesting conclusion.  I believe that the human race should not strive for a perfect world without conflict; but rather we should take baby steps and focus on making the world a better place one step at a time. 

Utopia: An Unintelligent Expectation

Utopia: An Unintelligent Expectation

            From the dawn of mankind, one thing has separated us from being just another species of animals, our intelligence.  Our intelligence as a species has allowed us to progress much more quickly and efficiently than any other species has ever done.  We are able to complete tasks that require extreme amounts of strength by simply thinking our way around the obstacles.  There is no question that intelligence is in fact the greatest attribute of the human race.  However, in some cases intelligence has become such a powerful asset that it has actually hindered our ability to live harmoniously and progress as a species.

            When any other species of animals on the earth is evaluated, it is interesting to note that most of their conflicts revolve mostly around personal disputes of territory, and hardly ever spread over large groups.  However, in the human race, most conflicts take place on a global scale, and unfortunately this means that the resulting damage from these conflicts can be catastrophic.  The interesting tendency of humans to group together and seek support from other large groups fundamentally can be traced back to their intelligence.  As creatures of high intelligence, we are able to communicate well with one another, causing us to associate with people of similar beliefs and tendencies.  These large groups often feel the obligation to assert their “right-ness” or spread their beliefs upon other groups.  This tendency to assert beliefs upon others, as seen throughout history, in many cases leads to catastrophic conflicts blown far out of proportion. In many cases wars have been fought over simple differences in beliefs, leading to the loss of thousands of lives which brings to question: is it really worth it?  The resounding answer is no.    

It can thus be concluded that indirectly, it is our intelligence that prevents us from harmonizing with one another.  In species of lower intelligence, animals often are content living undisturbed by others and simply living to survive.  As humans, we are not content with simply living like animals.  We do not want to only live to procreate and consume, we want to find meaning in life.  As intellectual beings we assign and search for meaning in all things in life.  Unfortunately, the result of our constant search for meaning is that we lose sight of reality.  It could be argued that as a species we have become detached from reality and that we live in a world of ideas.  As we noted before it is these very ideas that prevent us from living harmoniously, and creating a Utopia.

While it is definite that it is our inherent intellectuality that prevents us from creating a Utopia, one must weigh the positives and negatives of our powerful gift.  In my opinion, the benefits of our supreme intellectual prowess far outweigh the disadvantages.  Our ability to reason have helped us overcome countless obstacles and thus become unquestionable the most powerful species on earth.  Our powerful minds have helped us eradicate diseases, elongate human life, as well as raise the standard of living for all humans across the world.  I believe that if the inability to live in a Utopia is the price we pay for our intellectuality, then it is worth it.  

The Importance of Happiness

The utopia intensive has taught me a large amount about the importance of self-sufficiency and happiness. I have learned that in order to have a flourishing community at all times, the community must be completely self-sustainable. This meaning that the society must create all goods and produce within their land. Sustainability is the most important factor when creating a utopia because it is the difference between short term and long term success. Sustainability is the difference between a society with multiple locations and a society with only one. Sustainability is the difference between life and death. Sustainability means being able to grow your own food and butcher your own livestock. It means having a community of people willing to do work. It means having a well-rounded and organized group of citizens. It means being able to get the job done no matter the circumstances

                Without happiness, communities would not be able to gain sustainability and eventual success. Happiness is the emotion that motivates people to do the work that is not necessarily pleasing or rewarding. Happiness is achieved by gaining many experiences that give the feeling of appreciation and enjoyment. Many communities failed due to its inability to make its youth happy. For example, the Zoarites failed because the youth were not happy with the bare minimum that they were living with. They understood what they were missing because they had a railroad that allowed them to understand what the world outside of the community was like.

                As we can see, happiness leads to sustainability which, in turn, leads to success within a society. Without happiness there would be no intentional communities. Happiness is the primary factor that leads a community down the path of success and away from the path of failure.

Reflection

Coming into this intensive, my definition of a utopia was “an intentional society that has attempted to create a society with perfect qualities and ideals.” That is the exact definition I gave in class when we were prompted on what a utopia is and what the criteria is for it to be successful. At the commencement of the intensive I did believe that utopias were not strictly fictional parts of the imagination, but I had trouble giving examples of how to create a utopia, or if there had been any true utopias before.

                Throughout this intensive my beliefs have greatly changed. By visiting so-called utopian societies and seeing how they lived and why they failed, I have come to the conclusion that utopias are not only a figment of the imagination but also actually a dystopia. I have come to this realization by further understanding the downfalls of these claimed utopias. Many of them failed because they could not support themselves in an ever changing and evolving society, both economically and agriculturally. Another reason why many of these societies failed was due to their attempt to welcome anybody into the society with open arms. Many people, even today, are fighting for the right to be equal, and many of these societies attempted to create a fair community. Without a touch of exclusion and criteria that must be met, a society will fail because of the unbalanced dynamic.

                In sum, my previous thought that utopias were an attainable goal was naïve due to my lack of knowledge in the subject and I know have a more educated opinion. This opinion is that utopias are unachievable and strictly a figment of the creators imagination.

The Use of Utopia

                What is a utopia? The question can still be asked even after these three weeks. At the start of the intensive I thought of a definition for a utopia, a good place where people are virtuous and happy. After three weeks, I can still provide that answer, but it does not explain what our utopia is. Our utopia is much more complicated. What does it mean to be happy, what does it mean to be virtuous; these are still questions I cannot completely answer.

                If I have to say what I’ve learned, I’ve learned the role for a question for question without an answer. In attempting to give an answer we become more and more refined. There may not exist one solution to all problems, but there are individual solutions that can be used for other fields. If we don’t create a utopia, we are at least improving the world we live in. Instead creating a perfect world, we improve the hue of our own.

                That is why we can look at so many different examples of utopia that contradict each other and still use them. Each one offers a puzzle piece, and building outwards the puzzle becomes bigger and bigger the image becomes more and more defined. I cannot say what utopia is, but I can say that a utopia is an indispensable tool to improve our world.

Indoctrination

                Indoctrination is a word with a heavy stigma in that it implies a form of education where the pupil is not to question the idea presented to them. In books like 1984, people are brainwashed into thinking a certain way. It is a very real fear for some people. Therefore, it might make sense to promote a society in which the members have the right to question everything. However this is a mistake. Education, even in some ways indoctrination, is necessary to prevent a self-destructive society.

                It stems from the fact that humans are fundamentally flawed. Human nature instigates us to seek our own benefit, but not even all of the time. If we only looked out for our own self-interests we could live and let live. There would be no need for human rights or a United Nations. Our nature compels us to swing back and forth between selfishness and selflessness. Contradicting characteristics such as these are incompatible with an orderly society because they create too much spontaneity to be contained within mere social pressure or legislature. There will be someone who behaves in a way that cannot be accounted for and therefore threatens the structure of society.

                The role of indoctrination is to fix the people into behaving within a system. It may seem wrong from an outside perspective, but the society does not suffer from it. Ignorance is not in of itself evil. It is, after all, something that will follow mankind to the end of time. The only difference between our ignorance and the ignorance of those who have been indoctrinated is our ignorance gives us nothing.

Definition of Utopia

Going into this intensive my opinion of a utopia was a place that would not give an individual person any advantages over another: a place without money, without hunger, without political issues, and where everyone lives in equally in peace. In addition, my original thought was that a utopia could not exist because human nature and personal interest and other human characteristics would get in the way.     

            After three weeks my views of a utopia have not changed overall but instead included had new. I now have evidence and examples to back up my opinion. In my original idea of what a utopia was I made claims about certain aspects of such a society. Now with experiences like the Amish trip and different readings we did in class I saw my idea come to life. One constant I mentioned in every blog post was that of human nature. The idea that self-interest, competition, and other human characteristics are a part of a utopia is not a question. It is important to understand that a utopia is very similar to a dystopia; the only difference is that a utopia has not yet been influenced by human nature.

As time went on during this intensive I learned that themes like religion came up often. In real life we did not visit a single community at which there was no association with religion, this is done to keep everyone in order using a higher power. All in all, I have not altered my view of a utopia but have only added evidence to back up my original definition.