Dystopia

"A divine falsehood is more powerful than any human truth"
-Michael Bakunin

One of the cruelest and most detrimental ideas ever produced by humanity is the concept of there being an attainable ideal society, commonly called a Utopia (which ironically means in Greek- no place). The first part of the human epoch saw the glorification of the individual. This being clearly personified in the likes of Alexander the Great, Jesus of Nazareth, Julius Caesar, Mohamed, Genghis Khan- the list is long but I think you get the idea. People would hope for a Charlemagne, but frequently got an Ivan the Terrible. Empires rose and fell, each one building on the ruins of its predecessor. As time wore on a strange symbiotic relationship between religion and political power arose all over the planet. One was used to substantiate the other, and both generally profited from the exchange. With the advent of people associating themselves with nations we began to see a shift occur. Rather than hoping for individual spiritual salvation and a ruler that wasn't going to brutalize you this strange notion of their being an ideal society arose. It had its roots in both the religious and political traditions of the past, and was thus a sort of fusing of these two parallel power structures. People all of a sudden decided that they not only didn't need God anymore, but they also didn't need Kings anymore either. After a few centuries of bloodshed, social upheaval, and pandemonium we have arrived at the present day. We have leaders, but have them theoretically under our control. We have religion, but in every single instance we see a dramatic decline in religious affiliation with material wealth. It is the concept of Utopia that has driven all this. That we are on a path that will lead to a just and equitable society that will benefit all equally, we only need ________ (insert cause of the day here). Forests have fallen, cities arisen, whole regions have been rearranged, and all manner of technological marvel has been utilized to help us on our path towards our elusive goal. When one takes it all in perspective it is a lot like searching for the end of a rainbow, it is always just a bit further. The 20th century was one dramatic competition between nations to see which one would deliver first on this dream of an ideal society. Well, in case you failed to notice, last century was one of barbarous bloodshed, environmental destruction, oppression and suffering on a scale that mankind had never previously known. All this was done because people honestly thought that it would be another step on the yellow brick road to universal happiness. Most religions are based on some pretty wacky notions, but this Utopia one has got to take the cake. How the sort of civilization we have got going here is ever going to lead to anything but a social nightmare is beyond me, clearly I'm a heathen and heretic. Yet legions of idealists are out there preaching this gospel every day, and worst of all they seem to take especial delight in indoctrinating the young. All of this has had the result of making mankind forget the most basic and fundamental goal that all living things have- survival. We are so caught up in building our tower of Babel that we seem to have forgotten the foundation still rests on Earth. Every time I listen to a leader or academic speak I experience tremors of despair and laughter. How many bullshit programs will people buy until they realize that they are in essence the same. Just another ostrich approach to solving the underlying problems that have been with us since this whole congregating in large numbers trend began. This Utopia dream is just like waiting for the second coming of Jesus. Just a long wait for a train that ain't ever going to come. There is a great saying that goes: 'you can want in one hand and shit in the other and see which one comes out first'. That is pretty much humanities approach at present, and given our addiction to repetition it looks like the shit is going to come out first.