DominicBunnell
New
I sometimes accuse certain people on this forum of being utopian, but here I want to talk about exactly what I mean by this term.
As I see it, utopians generally think that we just need to do one simple thing, and then everything will be OK. This thing could be getting rid of capitalism (Marxism), getting rid of the state (Anarchism), getting rid of all government interference in the free market (Libertarianism), getting rid of the state, capitalism and all modern technology (Primitivism) or changing human nature so as to make us happier, less selfish and less violent (Transhumanism).
Of course not every Marxist or libertarian is utopian, but some of them are, and this can be very dangerorus. There can be a tendency to blame those evil people over there for preventing us from reaching utopia. It's their fault that we're not living in a utopian world, and maybe we just need to get rid of them in order to make the transition. Utopians always have an enemy, and it's always this enemy's fault that the world is so messed up. For Marxists the enemy is the capitalist, for libertarians it's the supporter of big government, and for transhumanists it's the technophobe or luddite.
The kind of utopianism I see on this forum goes something like this: If we can get rid of materialism and atheism and bring in a more 'spiritual' worldview, then there will be no more war, poverty, greed or selfishness. The idea is that, by having the right beliefs about consciousness, psi and the afterlife, we can somehow overcome the dark side of human nature. Of course the enemy here is the dreaded materialist, who wants to poison our children's minds with their evil ideology. The narrative is presented in very simplistic black-and-white, us-vs-them terms, and it's often described as a kind of war that we just have to win for the sake of the world or the universe or whatever.
So why is there so much demonizing, caricaturing and stereotyping of materialists around here? There are many reasons, of course, but I think utopianism plays a big part in all of this.
As I see it, utopians generally think that we just need to do one simple thing, and then everything will be OK. This thing could be getting rid of capitalism (Marxism), getting rid of the state (Anarchism), getting rid of all government interference in the free market (Libertarianism), getting rid of the state, capitalism and all modern technology (Primitivism) or changing human nature so as to make us happier, less selfish and less violent (Transhumanism).
Of course not every Marxist or libertarian is utopian, but some of them are, and this can be very dangerorus. There can be a tendency to blame those evil people over there for preventing us from reaching utopia. It's their fault that we're not living in a utopian world, and maybe we just need to get rid of them in order to make the transition. Utopians always have an enemy, and it's always this enemy's fault that the world is so messed up. For Marxists the enemy is the capitalist, for libertarians it's the supporter of big government, and for transhumanists it's the technophobe or luddite.
The kind of utopianism I see on this forum goes something like this: If we can get rid of materialism and atheism and bring in a more 'spiritual' worldview, then there will be no more war, poverty, greed or selfishness. The idea is that, by having the right beliefs about consciousness, psi and the afterlife, we can somehow overcome the dark side of human nature. Of course the enemy here is the dreaded materialist, who wants to poison our children's minds with their evil ideology. The narrative is presented in very simplistic black-and-white, us-vs-them terms, and it's often described as a kind of war that we just have to win for the sake of the world or the universe or whatever.
So why is there so much demonizing, caricaturing and stereotyping of materialists around here? There are many reasons, of course, but I think utopianism plays a big part in all of this.