utopia/germaine/10s416

Firstly, the author claims that “the alteration envisioned by utopian thinkers has not come about, and for the most part, their projects have produced results opposite to what they intended”. I agree with the author that prior to what people have in mind, people who try to change the social and political state of a country end up getting unexpected results. This results in social unrest as people try to pursue what is ideal in their lives. When people try to change something stable in society, it might result in adverse effects. There are many different movements that have ended up in disaster and also the loss of human lives due to conflicting arguments. However, if people make the effort to understand each other, these utopian movements might be able to be successful as people acknowledge the fact that everyone has their own preferences and differences and this would allow people to accept each other easily.

Secondly, the author claims that “we believe that we are so much better, wiser and advanced than those who have tried it in the past”. I agree with the author that people nowadays believe that they are always better, smarter than the people of the past. This causes them to feel more superior to others and also demand for a higher standard of living. As people get more self-centered, they will only think of what is best for them. As a result, living in harmony is hard and dangerous to attain as living in harmony would mean putting aside each other’s differences and accepting one another. However, not everyone is individualistic. There are people in society today who commit their lives to serving others and making living together in harmony easier for everyone. There are also methods to help foster harmony between people. For example, in Singapore, the government tries to foster harmony between different racial groups by setting certain percentages of racial groups that can live in the same housing block. With increased exposure to each other, people might be able to live in harmony after all.