The Utopian Manifesto

Throughout history, humanity as a whole has sought for utopianism. Most attempts have led to a sort of dystopianism. First coined by Sir Thomas More in 1516, in his work Of the Best State of a Republic, and of the New Island Utopia, utopias have been a state towards which many great minds have striven for. I intend to discuss the seven qualities I believe all utopias should possess, five reasons all non-utopial governments fail, what types of governments work best together, and what events give support to my Theory of Utopia. The recipe for a “Utopian Manifesto” shall be laid out in an attempt to ease the mind’s search for perfection.

It paramount to inform the reader, that before the ingredients of a perfect government can be discussed, the triggers for failure should be addressed. Although many factors lead to a government’s demise, several recur throughout historical times, among them are: high taxes, unstable rulers, a large land area, too much or too little money, and a weak military. Taxes are necessary, but as the American Revolution shows, a wise ruler will not tax the unnecessary. Such actions will lead to revolution, or the expulsion of the ruling government. Leaders always represent a problem. Some are weak, others are strict; some are too old, too young, disabled, unfocused, or a combination thereof. The reasons leaders fell governments world over, is quite clear. The Roman Empire, as is the Royal British Empire, and of course the Mongolian Empire all show that nations with borders encompassing dozens of ethnic groups never last long, at least without compromise. Money, however a figment of the imagination, is so detrimental to a society that no matter the amount of money, all the people want from leaders is money. Too little money, the government cannot afford anything; too much money, it attracts poorer neighbors. Need I explain to you about weak militaries? I think not.

Carl Sagan stated in his masterpiece documentary Cosmos: A Personal Voyage that: “Shouldn’t we consider in every nation major changes in the traditional ways of doing things, a fundamental restructuring of economic, political, social, and religious institutions. We've reached a point where there can be no more special interests or special cases, nuclear arms threaten every person on the Earth.” Sagan was a visionary; he knows Humanity can achieve utopianism. The end of the Second World War prompted world nations to unite, hence the United Nations. However much criticism the institution has received since its inception, the idea, the philosophy is flawless. The high taxes waged on American colonists in the 18th century led to a revolution led by idealistic realists. The Cold War enabled the human mind to prosper unflinchingly and so progressively, that in a little more than twenty-five years since the development of the V-2 rocket, Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon. The competition was good. The empire forged by the brilliant Hellenistic general, Alexander the Great, was so vast that by the time of his death in 323 BCE the conquered lands fell away from Greco rule. The Mongolian empire was the largest one ever to grace human history. From Korea to Greece, and from Siberia to the southern tip of China, it spanned thousands of ethnic groups; yet, it could last 200 years before it disintegrated.

Now it seems time to reveal the recipe and ingredients for a utopian government. I feel that the three governments that best support utopianism is: Theocracies, monarchies, and democracies. The seven “Utopian Ideals” or “Utopian Philosophies” are as follows: Public input, positive competition, endowment of science and the arts, a singular religion, a singular language, a monarchy (established through dynasties), and a strong defensive military. Before I progress, I must stress that my “Philosophically Sound Utopia” will not succeed unless all nations follow suit. The government’s sole purpose is to serve its people, so, it is only logical that the people have a say in the dealings of their governors. Religion gives a nation its ideals, laws, and so forth. Christian nations believe in forgiveness, and therefore prisons are instituted (prisons and jails have predate Christianity, but I know no record of a Christian nation without jails or prisons); Muslims (fundamentalist Muslims) believe in a Hammurabi type of law—an eye-for-an-eye sort of thing—and that the punishment must equal the crime. Buddhists and Hindus share a belief in Karma, so, in a way, there would not be much punishment; however, I am certain that such crimes as murder and adultery would be punished harshly. Language holds a culture together best. It would be absurd to assume otherwise; that does not suggest a singular, global language that is a preposterous idea. Dynastical monarchies are perhaps the most enduring forms of government, most preferably a constitutional monarchy. Monarchies give a sense of national pride; national pride is good but it can lead to negative rivalry and must therefore be handicapped. Positive competition, akin to the Olympics and the Space Race, has innumerable helpful attributes. The Olympic Games are perhaps the most famous example of positive competition. I would have the Olympics sponsored in any utopia, for they promote nothing more than good health and national competition. The Space Race is, along with the Industrial Revolution, the most important leap since the Renaissance, maybe even the discovery of metallurgy. The arts and sciences are equally important, and in that light, societies only can succeed if their citizens are knowledgeable in them. Those two things define us as humans belonging to Humanity. A government that restricts the public’s access to knowledge always fails when the knowledge leaks out, a good example is how the power of the Catholic Church was hindered after the Reformation and the Renaissance, and it never recovered (this is not a “prime” example, since the Church was not a government-in-fact back in those thrice forgotten days). The public will need to be represented or to have a voice to the government. If not, the government will be folly. It is for quite obvious reasons that a nation should possess a strong and formidable military. It might be worth mentioning two things: First, than the military should only act when its mother nation is in jeopardy, or when attacked; second, that—I suppose this might be a hotly contested statement—the incumbent ten most powerful nations at any given time be the only nations able to legally possess nuclear arms.

As aforementioned, the only way for utopianism to succeed is for all nations of the world to take part. With that restated, I should note that it would be dangerous (and therefore discouraged) if there was only one superpower in existence. Two superpowers at least should be competing, but never having a victor declared. Now, the number of great powers (synonymous with superpowers) should never exceed one-seventh of the current number of nations. The reason for this is due simply to the fact that you want the “lesser worlds” to have as much say in world affairs as the great powers—in fact, it would be best if the lesser worlds had most power.

In retrospect, I believe this examination of the worldwide search for a perfect government will be regarded with some resolve. These ideals will not be all be proven true. There is a famous saying that goes, “Practice makes perfect.” Yet, if you can never be perfect, then why practice? This truth has been nagging at political scientists and thinkers for millennia. In truth, millions of our species have argued that the perfect government is no government at all! How absurd that is; if that were true, governments never would have gained a foothold in human history (in fact, there’d be no history). The Utopian Ideals I have put forth show that utopianism is attainable. This Utopian Manifesto is named in honor of Karl Marx’s brilliantly cast failure, the Communist Manifesto. There is an irony here, Communism failed, a utopia will not. In light of this vichyssoise of philosophies, and this verbiage of ideals, I will leave with this: Utopianism is reachable, it is so near to us; yet we cannot depend on the corrupt world leaders to take us there, the hope of a utopia lies in the hands of the people, our future is in our hands!