Utopian Societies

Utopian societies are run by the concept of political domination and societal expectations. Societies are meant to voice the individuality of each person and create a safe environment for the people within, but, if the government is forcibly designing the people to think, live, and behave a certain way, then it can lead to chaos and mass disorder. Today in society, there is a representative government that prevents any specific group from acquiring an excess amount of power such as the Utopian governments demonstrated in the novels Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, 1984 by George Orwell and The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin. Utopian societies strip away humanity from a person as soon as they are born. By molding them, they are creating a false reality that the people would not know how to break out from. Individuals in society are so accustomed to the Utopian lifestyle that they cannot process a better way of living. During the Enlightenment Era, philosophers, such as John Locke, argued that the government was established by the people to provide protection and security for their property. In utopian societies, the government offers safety but removes every right an individual has, basically making them property. When The perfect society the government creates fails to work it slowly evolves into a dystopian society, which causes chaos to become a widespread issue.

Freedom is a concept that every human being has, but it can quickly be restrained by the government they reside in. Utopian societies perfectly demonstrate how government can have the power to entirely dominant individuals. A person can feel trapped and go through life in a monotonous pattern. In the novel Brave New World, Huxley states, “Everyone belongs to everyone else, We can not do this without anyone.

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Even Epsilons are useful. We couldn't do without Epsilons. Everyone works for everyone.” Society molds an individual to correctly display consistent behavior. In this society, everyone is equal and created to be indistinguishable. Nothing is considered to be unique because the higher power established the belief that equality makes the government run better. The quote refers back to the beginning of the novel where Huxley portrays the social conditions that help maintain the government, both socially and economically. The higher-ups believe everyone is owned by somebody and within the book, the idea prevents them from breaking free from the government and seeking their individuality.

A land ruled by the single concept of perfection is doomed to be imperfect. To create a community that is flawless, a person must lose so much more than what they will attain. With individuality comes creativeness but in a paradisal society where equality is the predominant drive, creativity is forbidden. The quote, “That the social conscience completely dominates the individual conscience instead of striking a balance with it. We don't cooperate-we obey.” establishes how individuals are not able to express their knowledge due to the oppression of society. One of the main characters in The dispossessed , Shevek, would have been able to find a better and faster way of communicating with people from other planets but he morally felt it would be going against the government in an egotistical way. Since the government can control the knowledge of an individual, Shevek was scared to bring up his ideas and rather live hidden. Shevek demonstrates how in a utopian society the government has control over the most nugatory thought or opinion. Every person in society had different talents and

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ideal, but when the government is restricting it and putting laws to unify, people feel the need to hide their ability rather than to embrace it. Utopian communities create the illusion of being held slave to society. Being enslaved by a community refers to the concept of people being forced to follow what the government has made normal whether they agree with it or not.

Fear is the drive people need to take action or to obey. In Utopian societies, they install the concept of fear and associate it with power. If the citizens of a government do not fear them, it allows the people to roam freely and easily rebel against the authority of the higher power. Dominating the people creates a strong line between what the government wants from the people and what the people want from the government. The government's purpose is to ensure safety, but when the people's safety is eventually put at risk, they will do anything to ensure it again. An example of the government empowering the brains of the civilians is the quote, “War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is the strength.” Throughout the novel 1984 , the author introduces the slogan that is represented in various parts of the text. The slogan demonstrates how the government is brainwashing their people into living in a society run by fear. Government is telling people that war is peace because constantly having enemies united the people together. Freedom is slavery because a person who followed the rights of freedom will not succeed due to individuality. Individuality In a utopian society is considered to be a major setback. Ignorance is the strength because if the people do not question the government than they can implement whatever rule they choose and

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use success to justify it. By forcing these concepts into the peoples head they are creating a ‘perfectly” corrupt Utopian society.

For an individual to abide by the regulations, a society implements them they have to be persuaded to entrust them with their security. Utopian societies may nonsense stories and fibs for the people to give them their full faith. Once the government twisted their ideas into the citizen's heads, the people were brainwashed by the false hopes and dreams these utopian governments promised. George Orwell wrote in 1984 , “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” The government, known as the party, uses false history to make the inhabitants of society believe their stories. The party controls the past by using it as guidelines and series of events that can be somewhat prevented in the future. If the past was favorable than people would not have a reason to come together and mend it. But, if it was incompetent and ineffectual than society would not try to relive it and would, in fact, try to fix it. They create false histories by making it seem as if the people liberated each other and took a stand for something worth fighting for, but in reality, they did not; they are still living in the same dreaded reality. The party brainwashed them in a way that

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