Orville H. Schmidt

Utopia: Heaven or Hell? Orville H. Schmidt

Ever since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, writers and reformers have been inspired to create fictional or experimental utopias. The former may be serious as was Platos Republic or satires as Erewhon by Samuel Butler. The latter may be one-man utopias such as Thoreau at Walden Pond or continental reverse utopias (dystopias) such as the former Soviet Union. Utopias may stress technology as did the New Atlantis of Francis Bacon or resist technology as did the Islandia of Austin T. Wright. They may be sexually promiscuous as was the Brave New World of Huxley or extremely puritanical as were the Shaker communities. While they may appear frivolous they represent mans desire to dream the impossible dream. They can show us the flaws in our present socioeconomic system and point to more prosperous and just systems in the future. They may, in the words of Lewis Mumford, be utopias of escape or utopias of reconstruction. In any case, fasten your seat belts and enjoy the trip of your life!