Utopia and Equilibrium-8th Grade English

            One thing I enjoy is deep discussions. Not like deep discussions as in “The force is strong in this one”-esque Yoda type conversations, but viewing life, morals, and the big picture and patterns of things.

In 8th grade (last school year, I'm going into high school after summer break is over) English we were asked what a utopia was, and so the typical answers were shouted out and scattered throughout the cacophony known as English class atmosphere, and finally I got irritated and answered correctly. So she said, after a trivial discussion on the definition of the word, to invent what we believe a utopia to be. I immediately questioned it because she was asking us to invent something “perfect” when everyone has their own relative standards to happiness, it’s just the way things are. She answered vaguely with brevity and we dragged further into the lesson.

          So we sculpted our utopia’s with paper and graphite, and developed our ideas in groups. She paired up the obvious choices, trouble-maker to pacifists, busy-bee work-a-holics united of course, and my group, the class martyr and supposed “good writer”, (a.k.a supporting parents and two mustangs back home.) introverted book-worm with too much hobby time on his elongated crafty hands, and finally a guise of an intellectual, represented by his glasses and exclusively his glasses at that. Well the generic idealistic answers hopped out of their mouths. “Free cars for everyone!”: says the guise. “I think a perfect utopia is some sort of assembly line for.. something”: says the introvert. And wouldn’t you guess it, the martyr retreats in his chair and remains silent.

The Theory:

Well I started out by saying a utopia is generally impossible when being made by humans. We all have different standards, and not only that but generally we’re never satisfied with our lives. Happiness is a relative thing, and once your see a greener patch of grass you attempt to reach for it. That’s just how things are. So I proposed, rather, what would a universal utopia be? What standards of a utopia are we talking about here? On a human level? A universal and astronomical one? Something as tiny as an atomic level? I know it may seem like my reasoning is just border-line excessive and that I’m looking into her question too much, but I had legitimate reasoning. She didn’t ask what OUR utopia was.. She asked what we thought A utopia would be.

So I began to say that in a utopia we would need “sameness”. Think about back to every conflict known in the history of man. Everything butts heads because of differences. This ties back to a theory I have of imbalances of equilibrium. EVERY single thing that advances, or changes, is caused by conflict or an imbalance of equilibrium. Let me give you examples on different levels.

Biological: Bacteria needs to thrive and survive(conflict), therefore it has developed means of attacking and hijacking cells (advancement).

War and Humans: Someone uses a rock to bash someones head in, someone else uses for example a rawhide shield to defend it, the rock no longer works, therefore they sharpen the stone to pierce it, then the latter person retaliates in a new advancement of defense. Millions of years later: People battle with swords, then they use cavalry as a speed propellant and height advantage, then the infantry develop elongated spears in retaliation. It has never stopped in the history of time.

Modern technology: Someone is lazy/unable/ in a rush(conflict/imbalance of equilibrium), we develop elevators and escalators(advancement).

Atomic level: A particle is lacking electrons(conflict), a nearby one has an excess in electrons, they make the jump(equilibrium is restored) and static electricity is produced (advancement.)

    You get the idea. This theory can be used in any situation, trust me be creative. I wanna get up out of this seat, so I get up. That right there is an example. The world would need to consist of sameness. So let’s say for example everyone is the same somehow (magically). They all are just existing to exist, doing whatever. This is an ALMOST conflict ridden world, but in actuality, not even close. Let me explain. By some circumstance, one of the clones trips over a stick (a physical imbalance), they have this NEW experience that no other clone has EVER experienced in their entire lifetime! This clone now tells other clones, those clones are intrigued, sparked, aroused by this turn of events in a normally bleak, drab, and unchanging world! One person experienced it, then told another person in a moment in time, but they were all told at different times, all of these differences in so many millions of ways eventually ERUPT into a diverse world once more!… So you see.. this simply cannot work.. I’m not implying that someone will trip on a stick, rather, I’m implying that if physics and biology and atomic conflict still exists, a conflict free world on a social level could never exist either. And on a biological level, no one ever said people couldn’t get sick. If you want, propose a rebutting comment, but I promise this always works in the scope of things. So where does this bring us?.. This all means that eventually the only true utopia.. universally, physically, atomically, anatomically, biologically, etc etc, is nothingness. For nothing to happen, and no conflict to occur, nothingness is required. I know you might be saying “well, who ever said that utopia’s shouldn’t have conflict.” The reasoning is that the question was what is a general utopia, a perfect society, a perfect or ideal existence. Problem is we all have views and opinions in the never-ending pool of difference. Therefore.. a utopia by no one’s standards must have no conflict. Sort of catch the idea? So yeah, literally, existence could not exist in order for a utopia to be possible, and since that’s not possible, neither is a utopia. Utopia is a null and void concept. That’s my proposition on a true, inside and out utopia. My teacher then said “You have officially negated my entire lesson.”  Haha… We did the lesson anyways. So much for that.