Utopia/Dystopia

Today I’d like to talk about the post-utopia theme found in The Time Machine. In that novel, the Time Traveller hypothesizes that the future to which he’s travelled must be some sort of post-utopian era. He believes this because the people he encounters in the future, the Eloi, are simple-minded, happy-go-lucky beings, who frolick all day long.

He therefore theorizes that man must have reached a utopian existence at some point during the timeline, but that this utopian state then deteriorated. After all, if everything is perfect all the time, then there’s simply nothing left to do.

This idea really left an impression on me because it’s not often that we think about what would happen after we’ve achieved a utopian society, if indeed such an achievement is possible. And when we do think about a potentially perfect society, we imagine consequences similar to those described in The Time Machine or much more dire. So I’d like to explore this theme and ask whether a utopia is even possible in real life and what is needed to create one.

Sci-Fi Theme: Utopia

First, let’s look at some popular science fiction examples to see if there are any commonalities that will help us answer our question:

The Time Machine: As mentioned, the guess is that every human problem and need had been solved. Yay! The drawback: Serious intelligence deterioration.

The Giver: In The Giver, society is kind of like the Borg. Everything and everyone is the same, and it all seems perfect on the outside. The drawback: Nobody has any emotions.

Brave New World: In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley describes a society in which everyone has everything they need and seems happy. The drawback: Social conditioning and mind control.

Divergent Series: In Divergent, the protagonist, Triss, lives in a seemingly perfect society in which everyone is placed into a faction based on their personality and characteristics. The idea is that everyone lives the kind of life they are best suited for and happiest in. The drawback: Not fitting in somewhere makes you a social outcast.

How to Create the Perfect Society

I think we have a pattern here. It seems that something must be given up in order for a perfect society to succeed. Something important.

There are many more examples of course, but they have this in common: the creation and success of a utopia necessitates a sacrifice. Something must be given up in order for everything to be just dandy. And that thing is usually a freedom.

Okay, that’s fine? That’s how we live now. We’ve given up some freedoms that are immoral and bad in order to live together in harmony. For example, I can’t just walk into your house and take whatever I want even if that thing would be good for me.

But as we can see in the examples above, the demand is for more.

Notice how in fiction (and reality), the state, or controlling entity, tries to deal with the human variables of emotion and free will: by resorting to mind control or social conditioning. Not exactly the utopia we all had in mind.

Okay, so if we have to give up a fundamental freedom or our free will, then a utopia doesn’t really seem worth it, does it? I’m okay with not committing crimes so that I don’t jeopardize my fellow man, but ridding me of my emotions and thoughts? That’s not cool. Further, by giving up that aspect of life, we necessarily create a dystopia: perfect on the outside, insidious on the inside. And let’s not forget another important element of these wannabe utopias: force.

Ay, there’s the rub.

The Answer: By Our Own Free Will

So a forced “utopia” is possible. We’ve seen it in real life as well in regimes such as communism, but such a forced condition necessarily creates a dystopia; exactly the opposite of what we were seeking. And we can see this in many a science fiction example.

We’ve learned that a utopia cannot last, and if it does, it’s only because it’s really a dystopia. If the creation of a perfect society necessitates a forced fundamental sacrifice, then it’s not perfect. The ingredients preclude the thing itself. Either we end up like the Eloi, or we are not free in some important, fundamental way. We are not human.

The only answer seems to be that a utopia must occur by the free will of the people, otherwise it is doomed to failure, simply because nobody likes being told what to do.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for treating everyone with kindness and respect and spreading good will. And if we really got our act together, I do believe humanity could achieve a kind of utopia, one in which we all worked together rather than tearing each other apart. But that kind of utopia, as we’ve discovered, will never be the product of a forced regime. It must be by our own free will.

Final Questions

Just as a last aside, I really enjoy the idea that human beings need to work and do things in order to maintain our intellect and reason. I don’t think Wells was wrong when he wrote in The Time Machine that our reward for dealing with problems, danger, and conundrums is our mental versatility and reasoning.

Anyways, these ideas bring up many more interesting questions:

• Is an unforced utopia possible?
• Are we living in a dystopia right now? We know that governments actively spy on their own citizens in the name of security. Is it worth it?
• Which freedoms are worth giving up in order to live in a nice society and get along with everyone for the mutual benefit of all?
• Which ones cross the line?
• Is such a utopia as Wells describes even possible, in which humans have simply run out of things to do? Or is it in our own nature to never “be done”?

Leave your comments below to discuss!