How to recognize a dystopia - Alex Gendler

Have you ever tried to picture an ideal world?

One without war, poverty, or crime?

If so, you're not alone.

Plato imagined an enlightened republic ruled by philosopher kings,

many religions promise bliss in the afterlife,

and throughout history,

various groups have tried to build paradise on Earth.

Thomas More's 1516 book "Utopia" gave this concept a name,

Greek for "no place."

Though the name suggested impossibility,

modern scientific and political progress

raised hopes of these dreams finally becoming reality.

But time and time again, they instead turned into nightmares

of war, famine, and oppression.

And as artists began to question utopian thinking,

the genre of dystopia, the not good place, was born.

One of the earliest dystopian works is Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels."

Throughout his journey, Gulliver encounters fictional societies,

some of which at first seem impressive, but turn out to be seriously flawed.

On the flying island of Laputa,

scientists and social planners pursue extravagant and useless schemes

while neglecting the practical needs of the people below.

And the Houyhnhnm who live in perfectly logical harmony

have no tolerance for the imperfections of actual human beings.

With his novel, Swift established a blueprint for dystopia,

imagining a world where certain trends in contemporary society

are taken to extremes,

exposing their underlying flaws.

And the next few centuries would provide plenty of material.

Industrial technology that promised to free laborers

imprisoned them in slums and factories, instead,

while tycoons grew richer than kings.

By the late 1800's, many feared where such conditions might lead.

H. G. Wells's "The Time Machine" imagined upper classes and workers

evolving into separate species,

while Jack London's "The Iron Heel" portrayed a tyrannical oligarchy

ruling over impoverished masses.

The new century brought more exciting and terrifying changes.

Medical advances made it possible to transcend biological limits

while mass media allowed instant communication

between leaders and the public.

In Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", citizens are genetically engineered

and conditioned to perform their social roles.

While propaganda and drugs keep the society happy,

it's clear some crucial human element is lost.

But the best known dystopias were not imaginary at all.

As Europe suffered unprecedented industrial warfare,

new political movements took power.

Some promised to erase all social distinctions,

while others sought to unite people around a mythical heritage.

The results were real-world dystopias

where life passed under the watchful eye of the State

and death came with ruthless efficiency to any who didn't belong.

Many writers of the time didn't just observe these horrors,

but lived through them.

In his novel "We", Soviet writer Yevgeny Zamyatin described a future

where free will and individuality were eliminated.

Banned in the U.S.S.R., the book inspired authors like George Orwell

who fought on the front lines against both fascism and communism.

While his novel "Animal Farm" directly mocked the Soviet regime,

the classic "1984" was a broader critique of totalitarianism, media, and language.

And in the U.S.A., Sinclair Lewis's "It Can't Happen Here"

envisioned how easily democracy gave way to fascism.

In the decades after World War II,

writers wondered what new technologies

like atomic energy, artificial intelligence, and space travel

meant for humanity's future.

Contrasting with popular visions of shining progress,

dystopian science fiction expanded to films, comics, and games.

Robots turned against their creators

while TV screens broadcast deadly mass entertainment.

Workers toiled in space colonies above an Earth of depleted resources

and overpopulated, crime-plagued cities.

Yet politics was never far away.

Works like "Dr. Strangelove" and "Watchmen" explored the real threat of nuclear war,

while "V for Vendetta" and "The Handmaid's Tale"

warned how easily our rights could disappear in a crisis.

And today's dystopian fiction continues to reflect modern anxieties

about inequality,

climate change,

government power,

and global epidemics.

So why bother with all this pessimism?

Because at their heart, dystopias are cautionary tales,

not about some particular government or technology,

but the very idea that humanity can be molded into an ideal shape.

Think back to the perfect world you imagined.

Did you also imagine what it would take to achieve?

How would you make people cooperate?

And how would you make sure it lasted?

Now take another look.

Does that world still seem perfect?