Michael Luna

Perhaps Utopias Should Have Red Flags

          The study of utopian societies is something entirely new to me, yet it proves to be a very fascinating subject. At first, the question of whether or not all utopias are created with no variation was on my mind and that question proved to be much too encompassing. What I finally decided to do was look into the inspiration of utopias and what I found was something that changed my mind again. Should utopian societies be called socialist societies instead? How much of an influence are socialistic ideals for the creation of a utopian concept? As I mentioned, what I found was very telling and I even changed my question a third time. The question that should be asked is this: How much have utopian societies influenced socialism? This is what I seek to answer as I delve into a subject that I had very little interest in before.

          How can the revered ideas of utopia influence socialism? First, one must look into what a utopia is and what is it about a utopian society that is so appealing? This is not a very difficult question for many people. A utopia is purported to be the perfect environment where all people are equal and that more care is given towards your fellow citizens. There is little, if any, conflict among those in the society. Utopian society generally advocates for a shared workload among the citizens to ensure that everybody is doing their part to help the society prosper. In some of the examples of utopian societies that were read, birthing and child rearing are controlled which, I suppose, lessens the burden that is placed on a mother during this critical time. Back to socialism. Socialism, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary website, is “a system of society or group living in which there is no private property.” There are other definitions of socialism as well and they all mean the same: equality for all. This equality may be government-controlled, but it is still equality. So how does this tie into utopian ideals? What socialism aims at is “ending the exploitation of the working class, ensuring that the whole population participated both in the accumulated wealth of society, and, finally, making political power superfluous”(Spies 395). This is the type of utopia that is viewed in the novella Anthem by Ayn Rand. In her story, everybody exists only to help everybody else and there is no concept of individualism. Perhaps the best example of this is when Equality 7-2521 recites the phrase: “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever”  (Rand 19). All that is missing from this society are food-rationing coupons.

          Another reason that I believe that utopian ideals are what helped to mold socialistic thoughts are the overall concepts embraced by utopian and socialist advocates. While every single human is going to have differences physically and mentally, utopian societies try to figure out a way around this. Whether it is the strictly woman-friendly society in Herland, the isolated society in Utopia, or the society in Ecotopia where fraud and embezzlement are horrible crimes while prostitution and drug use are just everyday activities, people are on a level playing field and the society does its best to ensure that there are no advantages for anyone. The ideals of liberty, fraternity and equality are prevalent in socialist doctrine and these same ideals populate utopian literature as well.

          Currently, I do not believe that I have found a solid answer for my question of how much of an influence utopian ideas have been towards socialism. While there is quite a bit of information out there to be gathered, I do feel that I need to do more research and stop playing the conspiracy-theory game. Yes, socialism aims at ending the inequalities of a society by granting total power to a centralized government. Utopian societies do not tend to lean this way, but there is that heavy undercurrent of centralized control. Just look at what More writes when he described how princes would be voted out if they did not follow with the expectations of the people. That idea sounds purely democratic rather than socialist, yet closer inspection can lead one to believe that the “people” are really the centralized government in disguise. I must admit, this has been a bit harder than first expected, but I have learned quite a lot about how utopian ideals could have very well formed the bedrock for socialists such as Karl Marx and Che Guevara.

Works Cited

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. Herland. 1915.

Merriam-Webster. Socialism. n.d. Web. 13 June 2013.

More, Thomas. Utopia. 1516.

Rand, Ayn. Anthem. New York : Signet, 1995. Print.

Spies, Bernhard. "The End Of The Socialist German State: The Socialist Utopia And The Writers." The Modern Language Review 89.2 (1994): 393-405. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 15 June 2013.

White, Richard. "George Orwell: Socialism And Utopia." Journal Of The Society For Utopian Studies 19.1 (2008): 73-98. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 14 June 2013.