The idea of Utopia is ignored

It’s very simple, a utopia in our society is just virtually and theoretically impossible. A utopia seems to only be possible within our minds. People can come together and try to come up with solution after solution to the world’s biggest problems, but it is inevitable. One solution will lead to another problem. A world without problems? People will always be stubborn, people will always be lazy, people will always want something that they don’t have. Our society is corrupt, people always try to think of a world that is perfect. The idea of ignoring problems is the society I live in. Instead of people facing their problems and taking action, we kick all of it under the rug like it never happened. More or less, we live in a dystopia and only dream of a Utopia.

Many authors and writers tried explaining the idea of a utopia. The one word that sticks in my head when I see these writers and their works is “generalization”. These writers are generalizing the idea of a Utopia and trying to make the puzzle piece fit where it’s not supposed to. I must give credit to Johnathan Goldstein for stirring up an idea that really surprised me. He wrote a spinoff of the biblical story of “Noah and the Ark”. The story goes on to tell the life of an old man named Noah and his family. Noah (in my perspective) is the hard-working individual. His lazy and creative sons are the new generation that Noah is not used to. As the story goes on and the term Utopia appears and is used to describe the new generation of people. Noah does not see the new generation as a utopia. He thinks that the new generation is wasting their time and that they will never be hard workers. “He had lived long enough to see craftsmanship was going down the toilet and vowed never to become one of the “dancing dummies””. Fast forward to the end of the novel, Only Noah(the hard worker) and his family are on the Ark, plus dozens of animals. So why keep the generation that was a “Utopia” out of the Ark and let them die? I believe that this is symbolic to the idea that a greater power such as god or the government keeping this idea of Utopia at bay. In a perfect world, the utopic generation thrives and continues to lead by example and continues the Utopia. But in this case, once the idea of Utopia comes up, it gets eliminated. It gets thrown under the rug.

Imagine this, a world where everyone is financially stable, happy, no one is greedy, government is fair, education is free or low cost, world hunger isn’t a thing, and the earth is not polluted and environment is clean and healthy (“the exact opposite of our society cough cough”). I could go for days, but my point is that we can only “imagine” and “dream” of it. It’s a world that’s only visited by our thoughts and never physically or by our actions. If people want to live in a world that’s “perfect” to them, then they need to take action and point out the flaws. But in today’s society, anyone that speaks out of turn gets shut down. No one can win because ideas will always be different and no one will ever see eye to eye. Each individual on this planet is unique. The snowflake theory takes its place. We all have different wants in life. Every person I have ever met in life has had a different view of their future and their “perfect life”.

Citations

Goldstein, Jonathan. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible!" Goodreads.Web. 5 Mar. 2017.

-Peter C (625 words)

Utopia

Many people believe that a utopian society includes being financially stable, happiness, and equality. When people think of utopia they may imagine a wonderful place that may only be idealistic and is not achievable in today’s world. I believe the only way we can go to a utopian place is in our dreams whether it is when we sleep at night or zone out in the middle of class or at work. Maybe the only way a utopia might exist is when a person is able to envision their utopia, but is not be able to stay there for a long duration. People daydream about their utopias to escape from the problems in their realities and to go to a better place where everything is going great. In their utopia, they might imagine equality, peace, happiness, and stability.

In Utopia by Wislawa Szyborska, throughout the reading she explains a utopia that is on an island. Syzborska explains when people are on the island they have knowledge about everything, but humans are not allowed to stay in this utopia. “As if all you can do here is leave and plunge, never to return, into the depths. Into unfathomable life” (Syzborska). Personally, I believe a utopian society can happen when people are only allowed to leave and never return. As humans, we love to destroy things whether we take notice or not for our actions. In our dreams, we are only there for a short duration of time and usually do not return to that same exact dream. Our utopian societies cannot be destroyed if humans cannot stay nor return to our vision of utopia.

In Virginia, the Twin Oaks community is considered to be a utopian society. In Twin Oaks people are open-minded and everyone participates in the community. The citizens do not believe in gender roles and considers everyone equal. People who do not live in Twin Oaks are allowed to visit and take tours in Twin Oaks on the weekends, but they are not allowed to stay in Twin Oaks. The residents of Twin Oaks can leave anytime they do not desire to wish in the community anymore. I believe Twin Oaks is able to be considered a utopian society since all the residents are equal and people are not forced to only live in Twin Oaks. Also, I suppose utopias can only work in small towns or sections and not internationally. There are not as many things humans can destroy in a small town rather than a whole country.

Maybe Twin Oaks was one man’s dream a while ago becoming a reality. He envisioned that everyone must be involved in the community to be able to make the community a utopia. “The average stay of a Twin Oaks resident is about eight years” (Robertson). People change overtime and maybe utopian societies do not become a reality for most people because we constantly change our opinions and ideas overtime. We are not the person we are last year, today. Within a year we gain more knowledge and experience life in different ways that may influence our thoughts and actions differently.

Located in Lewis County, Tennessee, The Farm is a utopian society that was established in 1971. The Farm is a place for people to have peace and to be nonviolent. The residents at The Farm realize that their community is not perfect and most likely will never be. Although, the community has a remarkable ability to evolve and change. They adapt and survive through the good times and the bad, making this a realistic model for a utopia. The individuals in the community have a single purpose which is to make a positive difference in the world for future generations.

There are a few communities in the world that are considered to be a utopian society. Maybe those communities were created because someone wanted their dream of a utopia to become a reality where others can be a part of. People may always dream about their utopia, but they might be too frightened to make it a reality or do not know how to make it a reality.

Works Cited:

"Utopia" by Wislawa Szyborska
"A Cultivated Community" by Gary Robertson
The Farm Community Website

Briana L.

Word Count: 689