Utopianism

Last updated on March 6th, 2011.

The idea of "utopianism" has been through a lot of revision. From when I was in high school, and to this day, the idea has been refined. It has gone from a self-serving "secret club house" to some basic guidelines and standards for life that anyone can meet. In this article, you will learn what a utopian is. Before we begin, take note of something. This is an ideal belief. Something you strive for. Think of utopianism as a check list - a set of traits you fit into, rather than a gold star next to your name designating you as utopian. This means utopianism is not "black and white" - someone could definitely be "more utopian" than someone else, simply by having more traits in common with the belief than the other person. You should not be competing with anyone, however, on your way to utopianism.

The Model Utopian

The core of the belief is in the realization of one's potential. Mankind is a sentient species, and as such, our potential in any aspect is remarkable. The ambition to improve yourself is a requirement for utopianism. Ambition comes in many forms: exercising to keep yourself healthy, learning new things, and generally making good decision. Intelligence is a hallmark - a symptom - of utopianism. The model utopian, due to their continous learning, will hold above-average intelligence for their age. Utopianism is not some draconian, exclusive view; anyone can attain the state of utopian. With the availability of the Internet came the dissolution of any reason for ignorance. Yet most people still, when holding a belief, only research the side of the issue that they want to believe in. Most people are happy dwindling away their potentially productive hours asleep, or on excessive consumption of entertainment. Utopianism doesn't require someone to be a super-productive cybernetic husk of a human. Rather, utopianism simply requires an individual to be ambitious in life.

Another utopian trait is the manner of a person - as long as it's positive. In short, the utopian should be as positive an influence on their surroundings as possible. While some of that may be left up to interpretation, it should be clear that a villainous person with utopian ambition is not a candidate for utopianism. We are not to have a negative influence on the world. Manner is also in regard to your manners - when the time comes to voice your thoughts, the utopian will know how to present their idea accurately, concisely, and hopefully well-mannered. This attitude will ensure that you are a pleasure to exchange ideas with.

Instinct

Instinct is a tendency to act in a certain way based on the biology of the subject's species. It provides pre-defined protocols that allow the subject to have an intrinsic understanding of the world around it. Animals, unable to reason on a higher level, run wholly on instinct. It is clear that self-aware creatures are unlike the other animals on the planet, and thus we humans can disobey our instincts via superior cognitive decision. It would seem, then, that perhaps instinct should be discouraged for the utopian. After all, if we're attempting to be as self-aware as possible, we should strip away anything that makes us appear carnal. However, though instinct can at times prove troublesome, it is every part of being sentient as it isn't!

Instinct only becomes troublesome when people cannot use their sentience to their advantage: the humanity that lets them say no to their instinctive desires. It is such these days, with fast food business models and "sex sells" advertising, that the battle vs. succumbing to instinct is not exactly in our favor. However, that is no excuse to succumb. The biggest challenge to our utopianism is hedonism - the love of pleasure. With so many high-quality diversions to distract us from productive work, it is not unbelievable to see a generation full of people who are addicted in some way to something. Be it movies, games, sexual habits, recreational drugs, or even other people, these are all distractions that many find themselves succumbing to.

There's nothing wrong with doing what you enjoy, until it begins to actually degrade your life in the name of pleasure. There are some habits that are more harmful to your health and finances, such as recreational drug use, and those are comparatively much worse than an addiction to television or gaming. I once overheard some teenagers trying to make it through a week without smoking marijuana. This one act is such a chronic habit for some, that they'll declare a whole week off with their friends as a sort of challenge. "Naw, dude, I can't do that!" he smiles and declines the challenge, because he knows it: he couldn't do it. He relies on this herb as anchor to keep him mentally balanced.

"Those who restrain desire do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained." would quip William Blake, and it's important to note this. Blake's quote is so interesting because you'd think, for one moment, that perhaps these victims of hedonism were victims due to a third-party; something they can't control. Thankfully, there is one organ in our wonderful bodies that can defeat addiction each time it arises: the brain, in partnership with the sentience that makes us human. Human enough to restrain ourselves, because if we don't, our desire will fall into a pattern. Every time we enforce the pattern, it will grow stronger, along with our dependency on it. The more you enforce a pattern, the stronger it will be. Victims of depression ruminate upon negativity to the point where they're forced into a vicious circle.

Ideally, you will want to enter a habit of good patterns. Exercise is an example of something everyone should have a habit of, but since it's not generally considered pleasurable, it isn't easy to fall into the habit. Getting up in the morning and looking at your body's improved physique in the mirror, though, will be motivation enough!

Ability To Reason

You will come to a point in your life (unless you're dreadfully boring) in which you will be presented with multiple choices for a decision, one of which will be the most "moral" choice, but the other the more "logical" choice. In robot fiction, the machines will usually talk about how logical they are, while the silly humans are full of impulses and chemical reactions that sway us to make the lesser of decisions. The Vulcan, a race from the Star Trek universe, have inhibited emotional responses, and throughout the universe are considered a "logical" race. They would not, for example, be flustered by an insult, but would instead think of a counter-point to the criticism, and if they could not offer one, would work on developing themselves to correct their perceived faults. Utopians should strive towards being like this. The Vulcan are a great example of a utopian life form, and what's great is that we are not a fictional race, as we are human, and we can actually emulate Vulcan traits while still fully embracing our impulses and chemical reactions.

A real-world example is as follows: choosing a vegetarian diet. Some of the people who make the decision to abstain from meat and (perhaps) other animal products are not choosing it for the most logical reasons. It is not uncommon to engage a vegetarian in discussion about their decision, only to find that they are not doing it for holistic purposes, but instead cite their reason as "protecting the animals". They are limiting their diet, and the reason they will first bring up is because they feel bad for eating animals. In lieu of mentioning potential health risks of meat products, they'll talk about the worst slaughterhouse video they could find on YouTube. Utopians shouldn't base their decisions on such trivial matters: if they like meat, and find its properties to be relevant to their health, they will continue to eat it. Utopians can be vegetarian, of course, and holistically it does have its own benefits; but they will not cite kindness to animals as a reason to become vegetarian.

It is not expected of every utopian to out-right deny a more "moral" choice for a more "logical" one - that would potentially prevent them from being a positive force of influence in the world. The utopian should use their best judgment. Humanity would thrive if we were 1/10th our size, but that would but that would mean eliminating 90% of the species. The utopian should adhere to their conscience for decisions that fall into such a category.

Accountability

The word blame has a very negative connotation, and for good reason: people will commonly blame others for something that is actually their fault, because they don't want to feel at fault. Accountability is a 5-star word that means, "Something has happened. Someone needs to take care of this, and we need to prevent this from happening again". A utopian should begin their search of whom is accountable in ever-increasing circles - starting with themself. If you are holding yourself accountable for whatever has happened, then you can know for sure what must be done to prevent such a thing from happening again. If you do not start with yourself, but rather being by blaming a third-party, it is possible that you will skip yourself entirely and you would fall into the situation again.

That being said, it's important to not blame yourself excessively for circumstances that aren't under your control. It's unhealthy, and a sign of low self-esteem and other bad things.

A Better World

In its infancy as an idea, utopianism used to be about bettering the world first, and then bettering yourself. It was practically an activist group, talking about picking up trash in public and recruiting members at book stores. Utopianism does not mean to disregard the world, but the belief doesn't require activism. Yes, it is a requirement to be as positive as possible - and through this, you could be even more positive by picking up trash - but an active involvement is not required. A large factor in this is that people have different (undebatable) views on how to "better" the world, and frankly we can't all agree.

Hitler may have thought he was bettering the world by actively clearing out all the "filth", and at the end of his campaign humanity was left with some mad science done on humans, and the deaths of 11,000,000 "filthy" people - Jews, gays, Romanis, gypsies, various others. Hitler may really have believed what he did was good for the world, but most of the world disagrees. It is this fact that discourages utopianism from giving a solid statement on how one could "better" the world. You may want to pick up trash for your community, or volunteer your hours for the meek. That's great, and utopianism definitely encourages you to do so, but it is not a requirement to do so. Ultimately it is up to you to decide on how you're going to be a positive influence.

Where's the utopia?

It's gone. Bless our teenage hearts, that spoke of private islands, then Montana, then apartment complexes full of utopians. Utopias are great, and I'd absolutely love to live in a nice, exclusive city or on a self-sufficient island with high-tech technologies. These things cost money, however, and it's hard to convince people to drop their lives in lieu of peaceful island living. You can't just start a utopia. People want to get married, visit other countries, and see their relatives. Instead of building a utopia, you should build yourself a sanctuary.

The definitions are clear: a utopia is far away from trouble. It's easy living. It's a remote island, or community, and it's got to be self-sufficient... even a bit xenophobic. A sanctuary, however, is in the middle of the trouble, creating a perimeter of safety. When I'm ready to buy a home, it will be a sanctuary: rural, close enough but far enough from society. Ideally, you would want your fabulous sanctuary to be self-sufficient. Not only does self-sufficiency help defend against the inevitable societal collapse/zombie wars, but it's also quite frugal. (solar energy, organic food from your own garden, etc.)

Conclusion

Encourage yourself, and others around you, to challenge themselves and grow as a greater person and human. Do not try to eliminate instinct; rather, control it. Self-control is an important trait that one should master. Remember it is the effort put forth that makes you utopian - while it may be true that genetics can favor your development, no one is to be considered a utopian without putting forth the effort to be their best. Holding yourself accountable will set the stage for overcoming your faults. If you want to actively better the world, then go for it. It's a great way to give a little extra to the community. The concept of a utopia, while novel, is not as realistic as a sanctuary. Above all: be happy, be productive, be positive, and let others do the same.

With all due respect,
Vael Victus


PS: utopianism does not have an uppercase "u" - that's a bit too much for us.
PPS: you can call non-utopians "dystopians" if you'd like.