For many reasons and for many people socialism is an ugly or
scary word. Especially for those of us who have grown up in the United States
of “It’s mine and it’s the biggest and best,” we find it difficult to conceive
of letting go of our control over purchase power and in a sense the liberty to
make our own decisions. People believe that if the government has too much
control and if they support us to much that we will lose the ability or the
right to make our own choices. For me and my own exposure to utopian literature
it seems that the “better place” always has some connection to a socialistic
structure or another form of nationalism or communism that is similar. Why then
does a “better place” rely on such foundations? In order for improvement there
must be an elimination of many injustices that exist in our own society today.
Many proponents of these forms of government believe that all citizens have a
right to health care, education, food, and shelter. Many people would argue
that these are the basic necessities of life and that no one should be in a
position where these aren’t granted. In most utopian works the founder or
author goes a step further and ensures that all people are employed, thus there
are no poor, and that because of their contribution to society they deserve
access to serve their basic needs. In Looking
Backward, Bellamy describes a place where “government has extended” and “the
social system no longer offers a premium on dishonesty” (33). In large contrast to how we run things today,
Bellamy explains that “when the nation assumed the responsibilities of capitol
those difficulties vanished” (33).
In
this fictitious place there are no political parties or politicians, every
decision and framework is made to serve the good of the people. The elimination
of politics has also eliminated corruption. It’s very interesting to step back
and really analyze which parts of this proposed place make us feel
uncomfortable. Or are we all on board with Bellamy’s view of utopia? And if so,
why are we? Is it that everyone is taken care of and that for the most part
everyone makes an “equal” effort to contribute?
I find it interesting to
compare the issues that we vote on today during elections to the issues that
were written about as a proposed utopia years in our past. How far have we
really come in creating a better world and what are we willing to give up to
make that world a reality? Dr. Leete replies to the narrator that their “people
value humanity over self-service.” How many of us can say that we truly
practice that today? And if we made a conscious effort to try do you think that
we would create our own small part of a better world?
Image # 1: http://rockrivertimes.com/wpapp/wp-content/uploads/socialism_elephant-W.jpg
Image #2: http://www.fastcodesign.com/multisite_files/codesign/imagecache/960/article_feature/pinocchio.jpeg
Image #3:http://thoughtsofaindianteenager.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/no-corruption.jpg
Image #4: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH9kk8KY1dfI74jGv4uBQp-pzJR9n1a0qPQP7JwfXO1WpUiyl1Vh7GLkIxYABE-8fF3k0mBTn7aL67_9YhuSmvplT7n3YmpujDTzkn5SP8qSox48yjwRopDHAoayGqn1p3biFPqf6p1gnR/s1600/a.aaa-Just-a-little-humanity.jpg
