I’ve come to the conclusion that all political movements are utopian, whether they think they are or not. It was a strange thought, but the more I chewed on it, the more right it seemed.
I used to associate utopianism with Marxism or hippies living in the woods. But now I realize I’ve had my own versions of utopianism, with varying degrees of commitment. I’m in between at the moment, but I’ve had at least three.
Combustible Edison – Utopia
Damien Walter, a very interesting sci fi critic, got me thinking along these lines when he stated “Space Opera is the mythos of liberal democracy.” It surprised me, but I can’t really argue. It applies to most space operas I can think of: Star Wars, Peter Hamilton’s Commonwealth series.
He published a video essay about science fiction writer Ursula K. LeGuin’s vision, which is clearly utopian from a left-leaning direction. I avoided her books when I was young, because I suspected as much.
He made a similar essay about Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series is about pursuit of utopia. Asimov, my childhood hero, promoter of reason and science. I never would’ve thought of him that way. But you don’t make an empire, real or imaginary, without giving it a vision.
Without realizing it, I developed two related versions of utopianism as a young man: liberal (science reason and Enlightenment values will get us there) and libertarian (science, industry and bold men will get us there).
Both of those competed for space with the utopian visions I got from my religion, all of which amounted to Jesus comes back, gets rid of evil and fixes everything. Heaven on earth or heaven in heaven. I could go either way.
America and Utopia
America was settled by a wide variety of utopian movements, most of them religious or quasi-religious. “Yay! A blank slate where we can establish God’s kingdom on earth away from all those corrupt kings and queens and popes.” (Blank slate except for natives, of course) .
Nationalist visions like the American Dream and Manifest Destiny kept those cats in something like a herd for a while. The problem is, they depended on the frontier.
Now that the frontier is gone there’s no place to run when someone else’s utopian vision threatens to eliminate yours. Now no one can agree on what the hell America even is, least of all us Americans.
The Eagles – The Last Resort. I know we’re supposed to hate the fucking Eagles because of The Dude, but this song and in fact the entire album Hotel California is a great study of the disillusionment people are beginning to feel after “manifesting destiny” only to realize paradise never arrived.
What’s wrong with utopianism?
I’m not utopian anymore, or maybe it’s a matter of degree – I still come across ideas that make me feel hopeful and others that make me feel less so. I want to believe in a better world, but I’m not so quick to attach my identity to any of them. I’m not about cults or gurus.
What do I think about utopianism in general? There’s a positive side. They’re great at motivating people. Everyone wants to be part of something larger than themselves. They can give us multigenerational projects like pyramids and cathedrals and potentially, saving humanity from itself.
Utopianism’s power also makes it dangerous. That’s kind of the story of the 20th century isn’t it? Nations and empires trying to impose their utopian visions on the world. The suffering was immense.
The main problem with utopian projects is they depend on getting rid of people – or at the least, disempowering them. People are in the way and people who aren’t invited. Because you can’t make a utopia for everyone, when resources are limited.
How’s your world gonna be perfect if you let everybody in? Make your utopia small enough and you can almost pull it off. Versailles was a utopia for the people inside it – until it wasn’t.
That’s what dystopia is: being on the losing end of someone else’s utopia.
There will always be people getting in the way. Get rid of the so-called bad guys in big batches or one at a time, but sooner or later you’ll be the one in utopia’s way.
Why we need utopian thinkers
Changing the status quo involves risk. But we still need the passion that comes from those idealistic visions. There are too many problems for any of those already-failed ideas to fix without at least integrating some fresh ones.
If everyone becomes a doomer and decides to just take what he can get till the world blows up, the world will blow up. Maybe the human race can find some better stories to tell about itself, ones that will make us work together for a change.
Late Boomer's Den 