Blog: 2 Utopia/Dystopia and what these words mean to me

Definition of UTOPIA
1: an imaginary and indefinitely remote place
2 often capitalized: a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions 3: an impractical scheme for social improvement
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/utopia) \

     The word utopia makes me think of a perfect society. Now of course we have all learned from childhood that there is no such thing as perfect and that everything can be improved upon or made better. I would imagine a utopian world to be free of all kinds of violence and crime. Poverty, hunger and disease would not exist because a perfect society will have conquered these issues. Pollution will be non-existent and people would have constant access to clean water and fresh air. The people of this utopia would be free to express themselves and to pursue whatever dreams that they have. Sometimes I think of utopia as a boring world filled with a placid people. I can’t imagine people being passionate about anything because passion leads to anti-utopian behaviors like cheating on a spouse or yelling at someone for not agreeing with your point of view. I feel like a utopia is a wonderful but unattainable dream of what we might like our world to look like.

Definition of DYSTOPIA
1: an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives
2: ANTI-UTOPIA
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dystopia)
    
     Now the word dystopia brings me to scary thoughts of what may done in a misguided effort to turn the nation we reside in into our vision of utopia. Many people have committed atrocities in the name of creating a utopia (the perfect world that fits something that they dreamed about) A dystopia occurs when one person may be afraid to express their thoughts because their society or the people who run it may condemn them. For example in someone’s utopia everyone has a strong relationship with the church and with God. It has been decided that marriage is between a man and a woman and that to be considered a good citizen you must follow the bible and the church. Now what happens to all the people who disagree with this someone? Are they killed, ignored, or sent to jail? This person’s utopia has just become a dystopia for all those who disagree with this person’s view of things. I feel like a dystopia occurs when we force a group of people to live according to what we believe is the “right” way to live without giving them any choice in the matter and punishing this group of people for not conforming to the status quo.