Utopia
The concept of Utopia is first given daylight by the
Athenian philosopher Plato in his book “Republic” written in or around 380
B.C.E . Though there is little doubt that the concept itself is much older.
Pythagoras is mentioned by one source as establishing a Utopian community
“Homakoeion” in Southern Italy in the 6th Century B.C.E. The term or idea itself, is meant to define a society,
community or culture of perfection or a perfect place in which to live. Its’
literal opposite is dystopia with the prefix “dys” having the same negative as
it does in “dysfunction”. Utopia as a
concept is literally wide open to interpretation, for example: My idea of
Utopia which would be unlimited access to unlimited books and ideas, e.g.
University, is almost certainly my
semi-literate brother’s idea of Hell. Conversely his idea of Utopia which is a
bottomless supply of VB and uninterrupted viewing of AFL would very quickly
have me scratching my eyes out in sheer boredom.
The concept of Utopia has gained a lot of traction in the
minds of political theorists and theologians. A search of “Utopian Communities”
in Google produced a veritable ecosystem of Utopian Communities which range
from Socialist to Christian to ecological to economic to scientific to feminist
in orientation. Marx and Engels envisioned their political theories as a step
towards the creation of a Utopian society which addressed inequalities of
wealth, occupation and education. Perhaps the most extreme expression of socialist
Utopianism in recent history would be Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. Indeed it
can be argued that Christianity itself is Utopian in nature with Heaven itself
as the Utopian destination of Christianity. There is also an argument to be
made that not only is Christianity Utopian in nature, in its simplest
expression, it is also inherently socialist, this however is an argument for
another time and essay. It could be argued that even the Taliban seek to create
a Utopian society based on their interpretation of Islamic teachings. Even the much disparaged Hippie movement which
was founded in the 1960’s is Utopian in its ideals with the concepts of
universal peace, equality and free love being its commonly understood
philosophical pillars.
A Utopia is meant
to address what are seen as social, political, religious and economic wrongs.
This explains why both religion and politics are so enamoured of the concept.
The most atheistic of communists have the same goal as the most observant
Christian or Muslim . They seek to create a world where the many imperfections
and what they consider distractions from the true goal of humanity and society
are removed and the goal of pure universal happiness is achieved. Whether this
is achievable or even desirable, is open to question. The reason why after over
2000 years of effort in trying to create Utopia’s and an emphatic lack of
success could well be it is impossible to build a perfect place from imperfect
materials.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippie#Spirituality_and_religion
