Every now and again someone will drop a great question in the comment section, one that makes all the others pale in comparison. This week the prize went to Probligo for asking:
“I think that I know what might make my "utopia". It is unlikely that other people would "like" it as much as I, but that is the product of my own selfishness.
“I think that I know what might make my "utopia". It is unlikely that other people would "like" it as much as I, but that is the product of my own selfishness.
How about it TF? What would be your "utopia"?
More importantly, how might it be achieved?”
The first thing I thought about was being able to be around my family without worrying for their safety, to make a living without governmental bureaucrats mucking up the works or worrying about world affairs and political upheaval. If my family is happy and secure then I’d be in Utopia.
Last night I was listening as my 7 year old grandson read aloud to me, part of his homework assignment from school. He could read from any book in my house; but it had to be aloud to an adult, making sure he understood what had been before him.
I handed him Mark Levin’s, Liberty and Tyranny; a tough read for somebody his age, lots of words he’d have to sound out and then figure out their meanings with opportunities for discussion. There was a reference to “ Federalist 51” and I had a chance to explain that it had come from a compilation of thoughts entitled, The Federalist Papers.
“But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
JJ and I read that paragraph a second time as he attempted to understand what had been offered for his young mind to fathom. It didn’t take long for him to agree that if everyone acted to the best of their ability there would be no crime, no need for police or courts to try criminals, no need for locks to keep thieves away and so on.
I brought up a tangent idea, closely related to the idea that government was the greatest reflection on human nature; the coinage and artwork engraved upon it as a reflection of what a particular country places on its currency. In previous blog articles I’ve mentioned, Numismatics , an episode from Dr. John Lienhard’s short radio show, The Engines of Our Ingenuity:
“Money, after all, represents the works of our hands -- our technology. Our interest in money has a component that's far more honorable than greed. Money represents what we do. And what we do is what we are.”
All of this reminded me of a line in the Book of Mormon, a challenge to us all:
“Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.” Alma 48: 17
The Utopia I’ve presented has some lofty aspirations for my fellow humans with whom I share this spinning planet. If you have to play games with people’s lives, impose unrighteous dominion and power in order to control others, obtain anything of value through deception; then go some where else and leave me out of it; that’s a start. The blessings of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness were written into our founding documents, a utopian desire if any there was.
Our founders desired to have a nation with as much freedom as could be afforded each individual based on their ability to discipline themselves for such is required to permit such freedoms to continue; that comes about as close to Utopia as can be achieved short of living after the Second Coming where Christ will reign here on Earth.
In the year 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, “I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” Taken from Ezra Taft Benson’s talk, “Watchmen, Warn the Wicked” .
My vision of Utopia you ask and how might it be achieved? There’s your answer; and the formula for such a “state” lies with following the constitutional boundaries placed on government. America is the Utopia sought for; its foundations rest upon divine principles, which principles were established from before the world was. It’s up to us to live up to the standards required to maintain the blessings offered from God.
The first thing I thought about was being able to be around my family without worrying for their safety, to make a living without governmental bureaucrats mucking up the works or worrying about world affairs and political upheaval. If my family is happy and secure then I’d be in Utopia.
Last night I was listening as my 7 year old grandson read aloud to me, part of his homework assignment from school. He could read from any book in my house; but it had to be aloud to an adult, making sure he understood what had been before him.
I handed him Mark Levin’s, Liberty and Tyranny; a tough read for somebody his age, lots of words he’d have to sound out and then figure out their meanings with opportunities for discussion. There was a reference to “ Federalist 51” and I had a chance to explain that it had come from a compilation of thoughts entitled, The Federalist Papers.
“But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
JJ and I read that paragraph a second time as he attempted to understand what had been offered for his young mind to fathom. It didn’t take long for him to agree that if everyone acted to the best of their ability there would be no crime, no need for police or courts to try criminals, no need for locks to keep thieves away and so on.
I brought up a tangent idea, closely related to the idea that government was the greatest reflection on human nature; the coinage and artwork engraved upon it as a reflection of what a particular country places on its currency. In previous blog articles I’ve mentioned, Numismatics , an episode from Dr. John Lienhard’s short radio show, The Engines of Our Ingenuity:
“Money, after all, represents the works of our hands -- our technology. Our interest in money has a component that's far more honorable than greed. Money represents what we do. And what we do is what we are.”
All of this reminded me of a line in the Book of Mormon, a challenge to us all:
“Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.” Alma 48: 17
The Utopia I’ve presented has some lofty aspirations for my fellow humans with whom I share this spinning planet. If you have to play games with people’s lives, impose unrighteous dominion and power in order to control others, obtain anything of value through deception; then go some where else and leave me out of it; that’s a start. The blessings of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness were written into our founding documents, a utopian desire if any there was.
Our founders desired to have a nation with as much freedom as could be afforded each individual based on their ability to discipline themselves for such is required to permit such freedoms to continue; that comes about as close to Utopia as can be achieved short of living after the Second Coming where Christ will reign here on Earth.
In the year 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, “I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” Taken from Ezra Taft Benson’s talk, “Watchmen, Warn the Wicked” .
My vision of Utopia you ask and how might it be achieved? There’s your answer; and the formula for such a “state” lies with following the constitutional boundaries placed on government. America is the Utopia sought for; its foundations rest upon divine principles, which principles were established from before the world was. It’s up to us to live up to the standards required to maintain the blessings offered from God.
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