Looking Forward: The City on a Hill Revisited

      So this is it. We've reached the end of the semester, and aside from feeling totally burnt out, I think I've learned quite a bit about utopias over the past fifteen-odd weeks. We've seen shining republics (with pastries), spiritual cities, theocracies, classical utopias, weird martian utopias, modern dystopias, and lots of explosions in an utopian/dystopian(?) Michael Bay film.

Leftovers again?!

      At the beginning of the semester, most of us agreed that an utopia is not a perfect place; rather, it is better than the one we currently occupy. Similarly, we will probably never be able to achieve a perfect world, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

      I think I may have realized something this semester. What if the definition of utopia is wrong? What if, in our real-world sense, the closest we ever get to an utopia is by helping each other and trying to make the world a better place?

      In that case, our “City on a Hill” is already here. When we help others, we come the closest to an utopia that we ever will. As the saying goes, “It's not the end result of the quest that matters; it's the getting there that counts.”

      What if an utopia is the process by which we try to make the world a better place?

(Michael Bay meme taken from www.joblo.com. Comparative photo of The Island and Transformers 3 taken from www.reddit.com. Image of the City on a Hill taken from insidetheshrink-dailygrace.blogspot.com.)

City on a Hill

     With all the strife, pain, and suffering in the world, we often find ourselves asking what we can do to make the world a better place.

     I'm not proposing something radical, like unifying the world under a single government; rather, my plan involves people doing something very, very small: daily random acts of kindness.

     Throughout our history, we have often wanted to build a better community: the “City on a Hill.” (Notice that I said “better,” not “perfect”). Doing random and meaningful acts of kindness will build that city, brick by brick.

     But how would we achieve something so radical and fundamentally in contrast to the greed that permeates the heart and soul of every human being? Well, we can't force people to be kind; that just takes all of the meaning out of the act. We also can't give incentives to people for being kind; not only do we not have enough money to do that (hello, deficit), but that's also meaningless. (*Cough cough* tax deductions).

     I think the most effective route would be if a group of like-minded individuals gathered together and began doing such acts of kindness. Through their example, others might be inspired to participate, which would lead to a domino effect of exponential kindness. A similar method (without such a focus on kindness) can be seen in the development of the organization/zeitgeist Anonymous.

For those of you not familiar with Anonymous, you may want to check this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_%28group%29 (Yeah, it's Wikipedia, but I've managed to corroborate almost all of the information in that article. Simply put, it's true. I am also willing to provide external corroborating links upon request).

     These people had a dream, they came together, and they acted on it. Now, as the Wikipedia page states, “In 2012, Time named Anonymous as one of the most influential groups in the world.” If something so powerful can come out of a meme on 4chan, imagine what a large group of technologically linked people (minus the hacking, please) with a shared commitment to kindness can accomplish. If we actually join together, then a movement of charity could occur very easily.

     Why should we try something like this? Because people need help, regardless of who they are, that's why. (Notice I didn't say “deserve”). Helping someone at his or her moment of need is one of the best ways of making a lasting impact on someone, especially a good one. And perhaps that person will feel motivated to help another person later, which will help to make the world even better.

“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

                                       - 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NKJV)

"O stand, stand at the window
As the tears scald and start;
You shall love your crooked neighbor
With your crooked heart."
                  - W. H. Auden, "One Evening"

(Headless photo taken from above Wikipedia link about Anonymous. Unity photo from farazairoz.blogspot.com)