Utopias Are Dangerous
The whole genre of dystopian fiction exists—in
my mind—to warn us of the dangers of seeking to create a utopia. Fictional dystopias
never come from an effort to make a society worse for its members, but rather from
an effort to make it better. In Brave New
World, the World State is created to maintain peace and eliminate poverty
and hunger. However, the society created in a (successful) attempt to follow
through on these ambitious utopian goals stifles individuality and free will to
an extent that it could only be described as a dystopia. The (stated) goal of
the people responsible for establishing and perpetuating the social order in
the Handmaid’s Tale is to make the
world a safer place for women, not to oppress them and deny them any rights,
yet it is the latter that they accomplish leading to a society that is unarguably
to the American society past and present. The dystopian societies in both books
are the result of an attempt to create a utopia, and both serve as cautionary
tales reminding us that when utopia is sought, dystopia is found.
We do not have to look far to find real
world examples examples of this trope of a quest for utopia resulting in a dystopia.
The first example that comes to mind is that of Marx’s vision of a utopia and
the 50 to 150 million very real people who died as a result of attempts to make
this vision a reality. It is clear that Marx did not set out to contribute to
the rise of mass murders and repressive, dystopian states by sharing his ideas.
Marx genuinely thought global communism was achievable and envisioned a communist
utopia without poverty or inequality. He thought that socialist governments
would be better to live under than those of his time and would be effective stepping
stones to his global communist utopia and shared his ideas to make his dream a
reality. Attempts by others to realize Marx’s utopia have invariably led to
death and repression on scales never before seen. In seeking to create a utopia,
Marx and his followers have created dystopia after dystopia, not because that
was their goal, but because utopias as they are often conceived are impossible
to make real—especially on a time span measured in units smaller than centuries—and
attempts to do so at a large enough scale will lead to dystopias.
I am not suggesting that we should not
seek to make our society better or that progress is impossible. I think that
the world has been consistently improving and will continue to do so, just so
long as we do not ignore the warnings contained in dystopian literature, acting
to hastily to create a utopia and in doing so create a dystopia the likes of
which the world has never seen.
-Alex
Very interesting to think about. I also think it is very instructive that all of the dystopias we read about are attempts to create a utopia. I think another thing to think about when considering the idea of a utopia is how different people want different things. I think a combination of the haste in which these attempts at utopia were set up and the fact that they ignored what large portions of society would want create the dystopia.
ReplyDeleteI never really thought about utopias in this light. I think that the reason why these dystopias are created is because the people reforming society only care about their ideology and nothing else. Dystopias are created only when people blatantly ignore other people's criticisms and concerns and instead serve their own vision. This is why we need to learn from one another in order to bring us closer to a true utopia.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said. We shouldn't try to make a utopia abruptly, but doing it gradually over time is the way to go. Society, although it has its hiccups, will become better eventually.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting viewpoint. While reading dystopian novels, I think it's very easy for readers to immediately villainize the people in power that created the dystopian society. I often think of them as evil people that are just seeking out for their own good, not caring about anyone else. In some cases, this is true, however, I do believe that there are also cases in which the creator of a dystopian society hoped to make things better, but in the process, they gave up a lot more than they gained. They didn't weigh the pros and cons before enforcing the vision they had for society.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct. “Utopias” are poisoners. When idealogy comes into play, bad things happen. Simply because of human nature, it is impossible to create. Leaders with a utopian ideology usually end up creating a system that no one can follow. This results in death. And more death than usual seems to be the definition of a Utopia.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with your statement on the purpose of dystopian literature. It is important to weigh our options when trying to move forward as a society, and dystopian literature is an awesome avenue to check potentially dangerous societal shifts. Changing society drastically in short periods of time can and have caused dystopian things to happen in the world, since there is simply so much to consider when making these societal shifts. As the Commander said, to make an omelette we need to break some eggs, and dystopian literature helps us to focus on just exactly what we are breaking when changing society with a utopian vision.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the points that you make, a society that is best for everyone can't be created instantly. Modern day societies that have a somewhat high level of happiness, took generations of turmoil to come about. It goes the same for the future, if we're aiming for a utopia we need to take it one step at a time instead of trying to do everything at once.
ReplyDeleteI think the issue with most utopias is the idea of attaining perfection. People aren’t perfect and expecting all the members of a society to fit into rigid expectations of ideal behavior has consequences. In BNW everyone needs to be unemotional but also happy which results in a rather bland lifestyle which coincides more with dystopia than a utopia. Pushing everyone to be a specific way means going against human nature and individuality. Consequently, utopias become more like dystopia as they suppress who people really are.
ReplyDeleteI think creating a perfect society is impossible because we run up against two issues that are polar opposites of one another. If inequality makes people angry, we should aspire for total equality. However, if we have total equality, we lose meaning in our lives and become discontent. It's almost impossible to have both of these at the same time. That is why utopias often fail.
ReplyDeleteYou hit on a very important point. I often think about this in politics when balancing radicalism and danger. For example the constitution is very old and flawed in my opinion. A utopian goal might be to throw it out and start over but that runs the risk of creating something more dystopian to me. So in society we certainly have to balance the utopian goal with realism. But i also want us to always keep striving!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your idea, and have also observed that utopias are generally the source of dystopias in both reality and fiction. It is especially interesting to consider that the most ambitious utopias often culminate in the most oppressive dystopias, whereas smaller scale utopias can result in a society that doesn't reach the desired level of perfection, but still undergoes improvement. The determination and sense of scope that are required to perfect society align exactly with the qualities of a dystopian ruler.
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