Oct. 10: Utopian Visions

Today's writing is about Utopia. The author talks about how even the writer, Sir Thomas More who coined the term Utopia realized that such an ideal stated was most likely impossible. He also stated that the fantasy genre grew out of the writings of More and others during the Renaissance. He further stated that in order for there to be a story there has to be some force which threatens the utopian visions. In "For Further Reflection" the author stated that "Utopias make for wonderful stories provided you include a powerful threat to its existence."
It is sort of amazing that people still continue to seek utopian communities when much of history tells of the fall of such communities due to human failings. One of the glaring memories of this fact that has happened in my time of course was Jim Jones and Jonestown. In many of these situations it seems that unlimited power is the corrupting factor. Power along with greed seem to be the factors that cause the fall of most utopian communites whether fictional or real.
In today's "Try This" assignment the author asks us to "Dream up an idea for a utopian fantasy. Give it either a real-world setting (on some unharted island, perhaps) or a fantasy setting in some alternate universe where magic reigns. Now introduce a formidable evil threat to that society". There are so many examples in classic literature (or even modern movie genre) that depict other famous authors take on this assignment. J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings, Star Wars (all 6 movie versions), even the Time Machine. I think these all point to the fact that people yearn for Utopia but a flaw in their character makes Utopia an impossibility.