Anglo-Futurism: Utopia
A utopia is described as a place of ideal perfection. It is sometimes treated as a far off imaginary location, where hopes and dreams are realised.
The term was popularised by Thomas Moore (16th Century) in a book of the same name. The word comes from Latin and means ‘no place’. In his book, he describes a fictitious island effectively ruled by philosopher kings. It is a highly regulated society with a totalitarian state.
Utopias are common features of successful worldviews. Islam has Paradise, Buddhism has Nirvana and Christianity has the New Heavens and the New Earth. Libertarianism has the stateless state, Liberalism has Complete Freedom and Socialism has the Social Man.
It appears to me that ideologies with utopian goals, seem to be more resilient than the non-utopian ones like Conservatism.
CS Lewis sums this up in his quote,
Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
Utopian goals cause the adherents to look beyond the mundane and earthly existence, and focus on a perfected future. These ideologies use utopian thinking to help conceptualise the whole of their framework in a single idea, which is simply expressed and simply understood.
AngloFuturism is a 21st century utopian ideology. Its utopia is for humanity to live amongst the stars, to explore and colonise space. Quoting the introduction to Star Trek,
To boldly go, where no one has gone before
Unlike the common utopian ideologies we have today, the Anglo-Futurism dream is not a far-future implausible goal, but a improbable reality. Rather than conforming to the typical description of a utopia or ‘no place’, which will never be reached, the Anglo-Futurist one is bound within the Space Age. Within the century, we could see permanent Moon colonies and even Mars bases.
This also means Anglo-Futurism has a shelf life, may be 250 years maximum. Once the utopia is within grasping distance, then this ideology would need to be replaced by a new framework.
Even if this utopia is not reached, the intermediate steps required to build a resilient culture will benefit society. Much like how significant technological advances were made during the 20th Century Space Race.
The opposite to a utopia is dystopia. These are usually understood as societies which are run by tyrannical governments. In the other extreme, they can feature a breakdown in law and order. Books and films like 1984, Brave New World and V for Vendetta are all good examples of a dystopian future.
Many of these dystopian visions are technologically based, where it is used by ruling elites to limit freedoms, coerce the population into doing something they don’t want to or where humanity is enslaved to an alien overlord.
Some have argued we are already careering towards a dystopian society, while others suggest we may actually be within one right now.
Anglo-Futurism is an ideology which prioritises the most wise use of technology. A brake on the unfettered use of tech could help reduce the chances of a dystopian future or even provide a pathway from our dystopian present.
The framework Anglo-Futurism offers not only allows us to aim for the stars, but helps us develop a productive society, while avoiding a dystopian future.