I have to say that I both agree and disagree with Kim Stanley Robinsons’ claim that, “It’s crucial to keep imagining that things could get better, and furthermore to imagine how they might get better.” I agree that by remaining both optimistic and motivated to create that “utopian” world we are pushing ourselves to truly achieve such goals. When we look at our future, it’s important that we try and picture the best future possible, and then do everything in our power to achieve said future. HOWEVER, I think it is equally important, if not more important, that we also look at our future from a dystopian pessimistic standpoint as well. Every single dystopia, potentially a hyperbole, has at least one thing in common; none of those societies were created in the hopes of becoming a dystopia. More often than not, we are given at least one scene in a dystopia where the build up to the society is explained, and consistently the main antagonist of the story explains how they intended to make a beautiful perfect utopia. Though often than not this is used in order to humanize the antagonist, it’s also very true to how ironic our optimistic dreams can be. By only looking at all the good something could do, we may become blind to all the harm it can also cause. Take the first Maze Runner movie for example, this dystopia that our main characters were trapped in, was really just the government facility WCKD attempting to test and isolate a rare enzyme found in the characters that protects them from the Flare. From WCKD’s perspective they were trying to find the fastest way to their idea of a utopia, without taking the time to recognize the dystopia that they had created with their own hands. Only by looking at both the optimistic-utopian-future and the pessimistic-dystopian-future are we truly able to build a more stable, beneficial future and avoid becoming, or creating, a dystopian society.
The song of the week is: Eleanor Rigby by Cody Fry
Fun Fact: This song is a cover of the popular song of the same name by The Beatles
