Octavia Butler’s Dawn, book one of her Xenogenesis Trilogy, shows the impossibility of utopia--that is, a truly perfect society--and the dangers of pursuing it. The book is about two groups of people. First, there are the human survivors of a nuclear war that destroyed earth. Second, there are the Oankali, an alien species that is obsessed with “saving” humanity by changing them. They are determined to integrate humans into their seemingly utopian society through interbreeding. Aside from the ethical issues of inter-species breeding itself, the aliens, who think of themselves as heroes, are perfectly willing to coerce the humans into interbreeding with them. They genetically modify human DNA, without the humans’ prior knowledge or consent, in order to render them unable to conceive children by normal human sexual reproduction. They then offer them the “choice” of reproducing by She says elsewhere, “Personally, I find utopias ridiculous. We’re not going to have a perfect human society until we have a few perfect humans, and that seems unlikely” (qtd. in Belk, 369). Yet, paradoxically, she makes the point that a true human utopia is impossible while also presenting a scenario where one might actually be possible. The catch? Humanity has to become something else entirely; our very nature has to change. For example, Lilith is informed, matter of factly, “your people will change. Your young will be more like us and ours more like you. Your hierarchical tendencies will be modified and if we learn to regenerate limbs and reshape our bodies, we’ll share those abilities with you” (Butler, Part 1, ch. 5). The point? Humanity has to be willing to embrace change at small levels, to “grow up” as Butler put it (qtd. in Belk, 386). The way she sees it, humanity’s unwillingness to accept change, to become different, is what holds us back and prevents us from having a true utopia (Belk,
In Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill writes that “it is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied.” By this he meant there are qualitative degrees of satisfaction and if to be satisfied we’re lowered in status to that of a pig, it’s better for us to be dissatisfied humans. The film GATTACA and the books Brave New World and The Handmaid’s Tale create fictional places where the needs and desires of humans are met, but not as well as they should be and not without a price. Given the achievements in science over the last several decades, specifically in areas of genetics and biology, it is no wonder why we dream of altering our world in the name of progress. But with social progress in these tales comes repressed individuality, loss of personal freedom, and discrimination of those who aren’t the biological elite. Because such stories deal with these potential imperfections of utopia, they’re called dystopias, pessimistic visions of societies striving to be ideal but never reaching their goal.
To choose for their children, the world’s wealthy class will soon have options such as tall, pretty, athletic, intelligent, blue eyes, and blonde hair. Occasionally referred to as similar to “the eugenics of Hitler’s Third Reich” (“Designer Babies” n.p.), the new genetics technology is causing differences in people’s opinions, despite altering DNA before implantation is “just around the corner.” (Thadani n.p.). A recent advance in genetically altering embryos coined “designer babies” produces controversy about the morality of this process.
The intention of this work was to open the minds of its readers, in this case the people of Europe. This is the case of every writing in relation to philosophy and politics. Utopia can easily be restricted to satire and art; nevertheless, this work is so much more. The channel of communication was unorthodox; nonetheless, it took creativity and ingenuity to make ideas as radical has his were during the 16th century to be transmissible to those who had the eye and mind to interpret it. This work, like various others has its flaws and key pros. This system cannot be seriously enacted into society today due to its limitations for the advancement of society. That said this is a great starting point for colonization on distant planets and the bases for a new version of democracy that could evolve into something more desirable and unimagined today.
There are quite a few similarities between Terry Gilliam’s film, Brazil, and George Orwell’s novel, 1984. The protagonists in each story have very similar personalities, thoughts, and actions. Along with the connection between the main characters, the perspective governments in each story are extremely similar and, in general, the plot and overall feel of the stories are similar. While the novel 1984, and the movie Brazil compare greatly, so do they both compare with the film version of 1984, starring John Hurt. The two movies have a great deal in common; certain scenes seem to be interchangeable between the two films.
The concept of eugenics has to do with the belief or practice of improving the genetic quality of the human race (“Eugenics” 2010). The concept was first introduced by Francis Galton, a researcher who wished to apply Darwin’s theory of evolution to the human race. Much like many endeavors that start off with good intentions, the results of applying this concept in real life were gross crimes against humanity. The eugenics movement in the early 20th century perverted the original concept by employing morally objectionable techniques including forced sterilization, marriage restrictions, segregation, internment camps, and genocide (Black 2012). In War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America’s Campaign to Create a Master Race, Edwin Black discusses the root of the eugenics movement in the United States of America and how this ultimately influenced the horrifying actions taken by the Nazis in pursuit of the pure Aryan race.
The concept of eugenics was originally advocated by scientific and religious leaders at the beginning of the twentieth century. It was considered utopian and was driven by rhetoric of social reform. At this time, this form of eugenics was not connected to genetic testing but rather used methods such as sterilization, immigration restriction, family planning promotion schemes, and anti-miscegenation laws (Paul, 1995). In the United States, such methods were mostly directed towards immigration and focused on racial issues, whereas in the United Kingdom, class-oriented eugenicists were driven by the fear that if the “lower classes” outbred their social superiors, this would lead to evolutionary regression (Mazumdar, 1992).
Ben Franklin himself said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Since the dawn of mankind, humans have always expressed a desire to understand natural phenomenon and to answer questions regarding their way of life, their birth and what happens after death. These needs resulted in the development of a variety of philosophies and theories that can be found all around the world today. These beliefs soon became more and more superstitious. Once these beliefs became part of the social structure like castes and race, these caused a social divide - A divide that affected the economic status of the livelihood in a society. If this trend of religious discrimination around the world is observed and analysed, I felt that this question might be the key to predict how bright our future as a united utopia will prevail.
While talking about Utopia, it’s necessary to consider Dystopia as well. Dystopia is the exact opposite of Utopia. A dystopian world is also not similar to the present world. It speaks directly to the crisis in belief, for dystopia portrays a world in which no one wants to believe. Dystopian imaginaries, suggests what must be curtailed if the world should not end up the way it is portrayed. Dystopia, therefore is a lesser imagination than
Human sacrifice killings is a horrific but devastatingly true reality for some that come too close to the jaws of the Matamoros cult. People usually think of a utopia as an amusement park or just an amazing dream. The dictionary version is often defined as “any visionary system of political or social perfection” (“Utopia”). A dystopia is quite the opposite though. Think of your worst nightmare and that is exactly what a dystopia is. The professional definition is “a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding” (“Dystopia”). As it goes in 1984, the whole book is based on a dystopian society. Citizens have horrible lives which leave them dehumanized by the central government. They are also being under
Future has always intrigued people; we have always wanted to find out what future will
... world. Everyone would live, act, and look the same in this society. I don’t agree with Plato’s or Mores theory because I don’t think a person should work and achieve a nice home and have to switch houses with someone that might not have a nice as place as what I had. I agree with Lucian because if you work harder than someone else then shouldn’t get the same amount of money as them. Whatever job they do is how much money they should get not everyone gets the same amount. People could not think for their selves because it was dictated to them. After figuring out about this society, they are not perfect. They have some good things in their society like you don’t have to pay for anything or you go to the hospital without any fees or copays. In the end, Utopia will always be a different society that everyone would want to live in but hate it when they did. (More, 2011)
For years, authors and philosophers have satirized the “perfect” society to incite change. In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley describes a so-called utopian society in which everyone is happy. This society is a “controlled environment where technology has essentially [expunged] suffering” (“Brave New World”). A member of this society never needs to be inconvenienced by emotion, “And if anything should go wrong, there's soma” (Huxley 220). Citizens spend their lives sleeping with as many people as they please, taking soma to dull any unpleasant thoughts that arise, and happily working in the jobs they were conditioned to want. They are genetically altered and conditioned to be averse to socially destructive things, like nature and families. They are trained to enjoy things that are socially beneficial: “'That is the secret of happiness and virtue – liking what you've got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their inescapable social destiny'” (Huxley 16). Citizens operate more like machinery, and less like humans. Humanity is defined as “the quality of being human” (“Humanity”). To some, humanity refers to the aspects that define a human: love, compassion and emotions. Huxley satirizes humanity by dehumanizing the citizens in the Brave New World society.
In the totalitarian society of Brave New World, the development of human beings is completely controlled by the World State. Each person is raised in a hatchery, where the government controls every stage of their development until maturity, a process that takes Two-hundred and sixty-seven days. The embryos¡¦ DNA is controlled chemically to stimulate or to retard their physical and mental growth to create a biological class structure. The human¡¦s placement into a certain class, such as Alpha, Beta, etc., depends on their level of physical and mental ¡§perfection.¡¨ The very notion of human reproduction without genetic purity (regular human birth) is viewed as dirty and illegal.
An impractical scheme for social improvement. This is the third definition of the word utopia in the Mirriam-Webster dictionary. Anatole France says it best with this quote regarding utopian societies, „Without the Utopias of other times, men would still live in caves, miserable and naked. It was Utopians that traced the lines of the first city· Out of generous dreams come beneficial realities. Utopia is the principle of all progress, and the essay into a better future.„ The world has been constantly changing over time, new ideas pave paths that lead to better living. Most of the ideas are expressed through science fiction stories written by authors looking to change the world in some way or another. Authors begin with an idea, and then move towards placement of thought and scheme into somewhat of a reasonable reality. Authors such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Octavia Butler use the stories they write as ways to express their problems that they have with the present world. Advances in the present day world can only be reached through dreams and desires. These dreams and desires come to life as authors present their ideas on paper.