Utopia 400-0

Utopia A or B

Two visions for the future

by Mike Mercer

( This is a reprint of my paper for a class in political theory at Concordia University )

POLI 490 Q

Prof. Daniel Salee

April 22, 2010

Table of Contents:

Introduction

1. Genealogy of Utopias A & B

The Transition

2. The Question of Human Nature

The Four Categories of Virtue

Crime and Punishment

Is big brother watching?

3. Addressing Marx about social structure

The question of “real” freedom

Economic Plans

4. Who should rule Utopia?

Citizenship

Multiculturalism

Education

5. Urban Planning

Technology and Technique

6. On the doorstep of Utopia

Critical Analysis

Introduction

This paper aims to examine the structure of power in two theoretical settings, Utopias A and B, which are in the process of being formed. It is taken as a foundational principle that all societies need some sort of civil control, anarchy is not an option. The sort of control used will depend on the society type. The more free a state aims to be, the more minimal and or subtle the civil controls. Utopia A will be an authoritarian state that acts in a blunt way to provide stability and happiness to its people. It is willing to limit individual liberties for the common good. Its social controls are clear and numerous. Utopia B will be a libertarian state that loves Freedom, Democracy and Capitalism. In many ways it is what America claims to be. Thus it must use subtle methods of social control.

My thoughts on the issue of population control and society management have been influenced by several sets of authors: Plato, Foucault, Marx, Tocqueville and Chomsky, who are well known to have written on politics, power and the construction of society. Also of note are: More, Bacon, Neville, Orwell and Bradbury, who offered accounts of fictional societies; Utopias and in some cases their dark opposites. Next I want to give credit to: Howard, Wright and Le Corbusier, who were architects and urban planners with ideas of physical utopias. Finally I want to point to Ellul, Saul and Franklin, who wrote about how technology has affected real society.