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The Utopian
Dream
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The revered Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made a highly
profound statement when he said, “The
means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which
we live. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual
power. We have guided missiles and misguided men”.
Since the
dawn of time, there have been countless conflicts between
people all over the world on the basis of differing racial,
religious and political philosophies. Throughout history,
humans have attempted to achieve their own vision of what
the world should be like through their individual
philosophy and have often failed to find that vision
realised. Believing that their Utopia, what each individual
perceives to be the ‘idyllic society’, may only prevail
through their own ideology, humans have often gone to many
extremes in an attempt to create this world of theirs at
any cost. I constantly ask myself, ‘why is this the
case?’… And only one answer rings true: humanity more easily
recognise what divides them rather than what unites them. It
is the dream of many individuals to exist in a society that
is perfect – that is, of course – according to their
definition of ‘perfection’. And yet, it is quite ironic that
we have been in an eternal search for ‘Utopia’ and unable to
find it when in fact the actual word is derived from a Greek
term meaning ‘No place’.
Human
history has been an ongoing story of improvement and
deterioration of the human condition as a result of humans’
actions themselves. Fundamentally, Utopia should be about
the betterment of the human condition, in one way or another
to live the best life we possibly can for ourselves.
However, this is my vision of Utopia… My dream. By no means
do I aim to question the individual Utopia’s that people
envision, but rather, I believe it is essential that we
must question the methods that people are using to
realise their Utopia in our world today. Perhaps I dream of
things on a scale that is beyond my ability to change.
Perhaps I dream of things that are ahead of my time. Perhaps
I dream of things that are impractical. But such is the
nature of dreaming. It is the words of Eleanor Roosevelt
that sustains my dream…“The future belongs to those who
believe in the beauty of their dreams”. In my belief,
there is no greater truth.
Recent times
presents us with a struggle that has been ongoing since
humans inhabited the earth – religious wars. At the present
time, there are over 198 religious conflicts worldwide
according to the United Nations Security Council. The
Palestinian-Israeli conflict, that has been a prevailing
battle sparked from ancient hatreds, concerns the existence
of the Jewish state of Israel, which the Palestinian states
lay claim to.
Terrorism,
hijackings, suicide-bombings and murders have relentlessly
followed between civilians of both nations whereby lives are
lost on a day-to-day basis. These are terms that the western
world, through the media, has become too well acquainted
with in relation to this region. Over a piece of holy land,
the blood of thousands of innocent people has been shed –
and the rivalry has only escalated.
I, like
others undoubtedly, find myself sitting in the safety and
security of my living room asking myself the same question
time and time again, “When will this vicious cycle of hatred
end?” And the answer is as unclear as the purpose of these
attacks themselves.
If
Palestine’s vision of Utopia is reclaiming the state of
Israel and Israel’s vision of Utopia is retaining their
homeland, who’s Utopia must be sacrificed in order to come
to a resolution? What other avenues of conflict resolution
can allow both nations to attain their Utopia’s? In cases
like the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the idea of a common
Utopia emerging out of the death and destruction that has
occurred may at times seem impossible – but it is not
improbable.
Even
closer to home we have seen this endeavour for a Utopia on a
national level, through the refugee crisis last year.
Beginning with the Australian governments refusal to allow a
boatload of 460 asylum seekers rescued by the Tampa,
continuing with the mandatory detention of these refugees at
Woomera, and culminating with the ‘boat people overboard’
scandal, the government had defended their stringent and
unwavering stance on this issue by stating, quote, “we
cannot have a situation where people can come to this
country when they choose.” In the government’s view, the
policy to reject these refugees was made in the national
interest of Australia. So great was the threat of this
rising ‘tide’ of asylum seekers to Australia, that the
government needed to implement border protection plans,
avert the course of these refugees by sending them to
Pacific Islands, and detain those that made it to the shores
of this land. To the Australian federal government, the need
to protect the ‘Utopian society’ that is Australia in any
way possible seemed to them the best solution.
In a world that
holds over 21 million refugees, we denied just over 6,000
people who were fleeing their countries in search of a
better life for themselves and more importantly for their
families. People whose biggest crime was jumping the ‘cue’,
so to speak. Yet at the same time, as a member of the United
Nations, the federal government contradicted its pledge to
‘promote universal respect for, and observance of, human
rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction
as to race, sex, language, or religion’. In addition to
this, they abandoned the United Nations Declaration of Human
Rights (1948) and the United Nations Refugee Convention
(1951) to which Australia is a signatory.
However, one must take a look at the other side of the
coin. To these refugees, Australia was their vision of
Utopia. Coming from ravaged lands, where they were oppressed
and their basic human rights disregarded, these refugees
confronted the very real chance of death on their journey to
Australia. Australia to these people was a sanctuary: it
represented safety, freedom and a future. There was no
intention on their behalf to ‘spoil’ the Australia for those
who inhabited the land already.
Furthermore, Australia in itself is a multicultural nation,
therefore social conflict is less imminent due to the
countries understanding of pluralism. If anything, Fairfield
City – whose slogan emblazoned beneath its logo reads ‘Celebrating
Diversity’
– is a quintessential example of social diversity being able
to produce social harmony. How easily we forget that
Australia was a sanctuary to all the migrants fleeing World
War Two and the Vietnam War. This may just be the greatest
paradox of our time. Additionally, with a declining
population, Australia has the geographical space and
resources to accommodate these refugees – more so than any
other country in the world. The arguments for accepting the
refugees are infinite… what is most worrying however is that
the time our government has to change their response to this
crisis is finite.
But this situation prompts one to ask the question: ‘What
happens when two visions of Utopia collide?’ When Utopia for
one group of people means a choice between life and death?
Can one person’s vision of Utopia accommodate another’s?
From the modern crises that humanity is faced with, you may
sit there reading this thinking that Utopia is an impossible
dream! However, I say to you, history is full of happenings
that cynics during their time said would never happen, but
that dreamers made happen. Without dreams, new frontiers
never become reality.
If we take a flashback into history, we will find that the
Utopian ideals of people have been realised and that the
methods used to achieve these ideals were the reason for its
success. Prominent world leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and
Martin Luther King Jr., who are an eternal source of
inspiration for me, are prime examples of hope for a Utopian
world in action. Using the notion of passive resistance,
Gandhi achieved independence for the Indian people, who had
up until 1947 been oppressed under the British regime When
Mahatma Gandhi proclaimed the words “Non-violence is the
first article of my faith, non-violence is the last article
of my faith” he spoke to the people of the world when he
fought for passive resistance – eager for a world in which
violence was no longer considered the only means to an end
for a conflict. When Martin Luther King voiced his renowned
“I have a dream…” speech before 210,000 black Americans
under the Lincoln memorial, he expressed his perpetual
longing for civil liberties for black Americans and used
civil disobedience to achieve his dream. Both of these
figures made their mastery of the spoken word the servant of
their cause. Both of these figures saw their Utopia’s
realised… slowly, but surely.
As we embark upon the 21st Century, the need for
a collective vision by humanity for a universal dream has in
my view become so imperative. This is precisely what Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. meant when he stated, ‘the means by
which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live’.
Humans throughout time have been misguided in the belief
that the Utopian dream is about the superiority of one race
or one religion or one political idea and have consequently
turned to war or prejudice to preserve their ideologies.
In
modern society, we so strongly believe that our visions of
Utopia are so different that we can never share a common
goal and that other people are a threat to our Utopia. But
this is far from the truth. With the advantage of hindsight
of history, we should have realised by now that our vision
of Utopia is not that different from the vision of others.
We are all in pursuit of the best life possible, and only
through communication, tolerance and a unified effort will
we ever see any of our Utopia’s realised. For as Oscar Wilde
said, “A map of the world without Utopia is not even worth
glancing at. Progress is the realisation of Utopia’s.” And
this is what humanity has failed to realise amidst a
warring, prejudice-wrought world. My dream is to realise
humans building bridges instead of burning them.
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