As I was running today....down the hill and away from my house I came upon a plastic cigar tube broken and dirty....against the curb. It was a Philly Blunt cigar.....and even though I'm no drug guy, I know these are what kids use to fill with pot and smoke. My immediate thought was "how sad"....that some middle class kid is doing this for fun.
In my Utopia people wouldn't do drugs. They wouldn't drink to excess. They would respect each other, and respect the rules of society. Although they might not be friends with everyone, they'd treat everyone as if they would treat a friend. Parents would be responsible for their kids upbringing, and their actions. People wouldn't drive and text at the same time. You wouldn't have to lock your door or load your gun because no one would ever think about taking something that didn't belong to them. People would always walk their dog on a leash so a runner didn't have to try to figure out if they were about to get sniffed, or about to get bitten. Kids wouldn't necessarily agree with their elders, but they'd respect them. Girls wouldn't get pregnant at 14. There wouldn't be 30,000 separate and distinct religious denominations around the world all believing that they were the ones that had the true word of God as their guide. Rich people would pay taxes but no one would look at being rich as being evil. Poor people would pay taxes too....because everyone should contribute something. Kids would have the opportunity for a decent education anywhere in the country, and we'd pay teachers more than lawyers to guarantee that. Cops would walk a beat like they used to and people would look at them as allies, not enemies. You'd be free to listen to any music you wanted to, but not so loud in your car that you shook the windows on other cars. Facebook wouldn't change their terms of service and privacy settings every other day. Money wouldn't be the root of all evil, but the start of many things that were good.
In short, my Utopia would be perfect for me.
But as I ran along today I realized that if everyone conformed to my Utopia, I would be the only one living in a perfect world. Everyone has their own definition of Utopia...and many people have a vastly different version than I do. The guy smoking the Philly Blunt, dropping a 30 brick of Bud, and lying on the couch cursing his favorite NFL team is living the dream...his dream.
The guy running for an hour before having lunch with his son, preparing for the next week of work, and trying to figure out how to be a better husband and dad is living the dream....my dream.
I'm kind of sad right now....because this world will never get closer to my vision of perfection. Based upon current events we're getting farther from it every day. We're more insular, less tolerant, and more ready to step on anyone else's rights to preserve our own.
Maybe it's because I'm getting older....and that perfect vision of a society in which people truly want to belong is ingrained from my childhood memories....but I long for more simplicity in life. I suppose in the end the best you can do is create your own Utopian environment and let the rest of the chips fall where they may.
I often wonder what other people envision as their dream life.....and if I'd even want to step foot in it if invited?
No comments:
Post a Comment