The promise to save or
create a ‘perfect’ humanity is an excuse for the urge to
rule humanity.
Not long after the arrival of the printing press, Sir Thomas
More (1477 - 1535) wrote the first formal version of Utopia.
Thomas More imagined a complex, self-contained world set on
an island. On this island, people shared one culture, one way of life. There was no need for tolerance because
everyone would be the same. Philosopher Plato also envisioned something
similar.
I grew up believing that Utopia was a sort of heaven.
Perfectionism.
But then wisdom and experience taught me otherwise.
We are born unique. Science has discovered none of us have
the same DNA. Some of us are born with gifts, special talents, and the majority
of us are born with a brain that can process and reason. Nature has given us
the ability to think for ourselves, and so far, it is the one thing that can’t
be controlled however, it can be greatly influenced using consistent messaging
through popular culture, news, media, etc.
Utopianism is intolerant of diversity and uniqueness. Utopianism’s
purpose requires a singular focus – sameness.
But really, who would want to be the same as the next
person? We thrive on striving to be seen as unique individuals. Look at the way
we dress, the products we buy.
And the thing with “Utopia” is that everyone is treated the
same, except, of course, for those who
make the rules for the perfect society.
Let me tell you about my friend Sally.
Sally is a college student. She loves to party. She was telling me about the ‘perfect’
society in which everyone would be treated the same.
“No more mansions. We’d all have to live in the same size
house,” she told me.
“Who would pick up the trash?” I asked.
“We would all rotate in and out of jobs. One day we’d pick
up trash. The next day cook. The next day do dishes. No one would have one specific job.”
“So one day the guy who empties the garbage would then
operate on a brain the next day?” I asked.
“Oh My God,” she rolled her eyes. “Of course not. You could
only be a doctor if you were smart.”
“Wait, I thought everyone was treated the same?”
“Well they are. No one has a better car or better house or
better clothes.”
“What would you do?” I asked.
“I’d be a teacher,” she told me.
“What if everyone wanted to be a teacher?” I asked.
“Then there would be a test to decide who would be the best
teacher.”
“But if everyone is the ‘same’ who decides what best is?”
“The people in charge!” She said.
“But in this perfect world, you said no one would be treated
better…yet the people in charge ARE better.”
“Well, it sounds good,” she told muttered something about me
being stupid.
“It sounds good unless you stop to actually think about it,”
I said.
I understood where
she was coming from because I had once thought the same thing too.
The people most often suggesting ‘sharing’ and ‘fairness’
are people who live in gianormous homes who complain about global warming while
they jet around the world and have 10 cars, 4 of which are SUV’s. The same people
who want to ban guns, except of course, guns are allowed for their body guards.
The pursuit of equality only causes more conflict, as
Aristotle had predicted in his book
Politics. Equality
should mean equal OPPORTUNITY. Somehow, in translation, equal opportunity
became “give special favors” which requires more
government interference and control to maintain ‘perfect’ order.
What kind of power
both attracts a free people and destroys them…the heart of the problem is, in
fact, utopianism. – Mark Levin
People say they want diversity, yet, they want everyone to
be treated the same; well, which is it? It’s
a trap, a contradiction.
In a “fair” world (utopia) there can be no different voices/ ideas.
Our natural drive is to search for our own individual
accomplishment based on choice, on our ability to meet challenges. Human nature thrives on displaying our
uniqueness – heck, look at all the different hairstyles and hair colors and
jewelry in the world. In a world of
fairness; what happens if a person is born stronger or prettier? Are they made
ugly or weakened so as not to make
anyone else envious?
In a “fair” world there would be no winners.
No World Series or World Cup or Super Bowl.
No Oscars. No Emmys.
No marathon races.
No Pulitzer Prize (really, that’s become a joke anymore
anyway).
Everyone would live in the same house. Drive the same car.
Wear the same clothes.
Because the only way to obtain true “utopia” which is sold
to us as pure happiness, ‘ecstasy’ , is by removing envy, removing
“individuality.” By ignoring the talents we were born with.
The selling of Utopianism relies on deceit, illusion
marketing, conditioning, dependency, and fear.
Winston Churchill:
Perfectionism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, the gospel
of envy. Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.
The idea of a ‘perfect’
world finds a willing audience among the
disenchanted, directionless, disappointed, and disillusioned. These Shallow
Sallys and Hollow Harrys were taught to reject responsibility for their actions
and to blame their environment, their family, friends, and their circumstances.
The fastest way to power for an
exploiter is by promising ‘salvation’ or ‘payback’ to the disenchanted and then by disparaging
and diminishing the successful and accomplished in order to stir up further
resentment. .
Exploiters whisper to the disenchanted,
“No one should be better than you, regardless of the value of his talents or
hard work.”
Talk about confusing – it
sounds good unless you are like most of us and you’ve worked at a job where you
worked your butt off but the slacker makes as much money as you and
gets the same benefits! If everyone gets paid 10.00 an hour regardless of how
hard they work, what is the incentive to work hard?
Edmund Burke on idea of a perfect word:
A perfect equality will indeed be produced—that is to say equal
wretchedness, equal beggary, and on the part of participants a woeful, helpless
and desperate disappointment. Such is the event of all compulsory
equalizations. They pull down what is above; they never raise what is below;
they depress high & low together, beneath the level of what was originally
the lowest.
It wasn’t until I started doing
some research on the word Utopia that I discovered the word actually means
“nowhere” and if you think about it – living in a world where everyone is the
same (except, of course, the leaders) would be boring, tedious, and lead to
nowhere.
