I think a utopian society would offer an equal and broad education to all citizens which would empower them to think analytically for themselves. Citizens would have a mutual respect and acceptance for the differences of others. There would be universal health care and no privatization of any resources. Anything considered a necessity would be given to all people. There would be less emphasis on consumerism and therefore less exploitation of resources. A greater focus would be placed upon the arts. There would be less dependence on technology, and as a result, more personal interaction between people.
I believe people’s values can be broken down into the nature/nurture question. Of course some personal traits are genetic, but I believe that people learn their values. People can be taught (and brainwashed) to believe most anything. I believe that people are neither inherently good nor bad, and their nature depends heavily upon education. This heavily defines people’s interactions with the environment.
If people are taught to care for the well beings of one another, they will. If they are taught to ignore other’s needs, they will. The idealistic side of me wants to believe that when seeing another person suffer, even if taught to ignore his or her pain, a person can feel his or her pain. This is a question I ask myself yet cannot prove either way. For the most part, however, I believe a person’s education will influence their actions.
Because we have been taught (our whole lives, by 1,000s of advertisements) that we need material comforts to be ‘happy’, we often feel like we need to buy things to be fulfilled. We have instincts within us make us always want more. Whether it be food, safety, etc., we have learned that in order to survive, more is better. Today, in a society where it is possible to always get more (for less – money, energy, effort, etc.), these instincts have done more harm than they have helped. With education given to everyone taught to question everyone and everything, people would stop accepting what they are told by the television and magazine advertisements, and start to think for themselves (while still respecting the opinions of others). We will always want more, but what we want more of will change (from a culture which values material goods to a culture valuing education and empathy).
If people are educated in this way, they will not be expected to think or act in any particular way. Incentives or coercions would not be needed (or used) to control anyone. People themselves would understand the problem of an exponentially increasing population. With a wide range of educated, and differently opinionated people, ideally, they would seek and find solutions to problems that we cannot find today due to inabilities to negotiate with others of differing opinions. A government would have to ensure all people are given this broad education.
I like the idea you bring up about Nature/Nurture, I think that it plays a large role in the development of who we are as people. The media is a gimmick that we have not yet figured out. I think its obvious that a good portion of the population believes it does more harm than good, yet we find ourselves unknowingly falling victim to the ideas and products that are portrayed in the media. I think we do need to move away from the media driven world, but it is only getting more difficult as technology continues to produce more and more things that only offer more outlets for the media to enter our lives.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Erik. The modern media just makes me cringe anymore. Even NPR is going down the tubes-but that's a blog for another day! :D I'm really interested in how you would propose the government's educational takeover/rehabilitation. Government and education have never been good companions in past policies and I'm always skeptical when the government starts meddling in education. All around a very good article Amanda.
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