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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

BLOGSVILLE CITIZENS - WHAT IS YOUR PERFECT UTOPIA???



Howdy blogsville. How are you all doing? This blog use to be consistent but this days it's almost one blog a week. I've been busy and so have all the other contributors.

So today in class my professor asked me if there was one thing I could wish for in order to make the world perfect what would it be? I was at a serious loss for words, because I was thinking about this thing and anything I thought about immediately was cast aside by some other bigger thing I assumed was better to make the world perfect.
So now am asking all you blogsville peeps, what is that one thing and everybody is limited to just 'one' wish. If you could wish for something that could make the world a more perfect/better place what would it be???

Now to my next point, these days I am finding myself believing more and more in gender equality and I am absolutely for women's rights etc. But sometimes even the women that claim that they are for gender equality do not want it to go far enough in terms of the responsibilities women would now have to participate in. For example, my african feminist friends usually flinch when I tell them that gender equality entails that they be willing to 'propose to a man for marriage, pay for the bride-price, and financially sponsor the 'wedding'. Now the thing with this gender equality thing is that I believe if women truly want to be equal, they can't ask for just the parts that they like and then shun the other parts that they do not want.

Now I was reading 'The ones who walk away' by Ursula Leguin and this woman is truly brilliant. So the gist of the book is this, there is a city called Ormela and this is one 'perfect' city and it is happy and absolutely beautiful. The perfection/happiness of this city however depends on the misery of a malnourished child who is locked down in a basement, who does all the cleaning and all the dirty work. This child is like 10 years old and he lives in abject poverty, he can't speak any language as he has been locked down in the basement ever since he was three years old. This child is just treated absolutely badly, now the whole happiness of the city is possible because that child bears all the misery.
Her question was this, what action should be taken? Should the child continue to suffer so all the people may be happy and perfect? Should the child be given the same equality as the rest? If it is, then the perfection of the city ceases to exist and we would have sacrificed greater joy, just for the joy of the little kid. This is a very terrible terrible paradox and I have been racking my brain trying to come up with something, but alas, I have fallen short so i decided to bring it to my wise blogsville peeps. What would you guys do?? Especially if you think about it in the terms of the world being 'perfect' and all that perfection depending on one ethnic group working in slave conditions day and night, living in misery and suffering. Would you be willing to make that sacrifice in order to achieve the maximum happiness??

This was what I put up on my facebook status and I was wondering if I could get any help with an answer to it.

"One of the ten commandments says 'Thou shalt not Kill'.Most people usually interpret it as Thou shalt not kill unless for 'self-defense' in times of war, or personal safety.Even though the good lord himself never gave those elaborations.My question however is this,does the executioner or does the person who executes a criminal sentenced to the death penalty in prison disobey God's commandment? Is such a person going to go to hell or is he/she xcused as well?"

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Women don't want equality. They want things lopsided in their favor.

One wish to make the world a better place -- total elimination of privacy. If no human can have a private moment even in his thoughts, instant utopia. Think about it.

I don't want maximum happiness, so I'll make no sacrifices. Sadness has its merits.

As for state sanctioned killers, I believe the bible makes provisions for the law of the land.

Azazel said...

U believe that the bible does??
But u don't know
And I agree with u @ elimination of privacy..
Makes total sense to me

Myne said...

How does the loss of privacy equate utopia I wonder. I would go for saying, there's nothing like Utopia. As just one person, in your mind is there utopia? Not to imagine for a society of different individuals.

leggy said...

im not a feminist at all at all.
utopia for me would be world peace.can you imagine?it would be awesome.

Otunba 'JesusFreak' Jb-M said...

Yes the bible talks about obeying the law of the land.....Read Romans 13:1-7, Titus 3:1, Matthew 22:21, 1peter 2:13-17.....they all talked about obeying higher authority in the land.

LucidLilith said...

Gender equality means 50-50 in bride/groom price, proposal, work and pay and all other things.

As per the 10 year old, that is a no brainer. The child deserves whatever level of happiness that the rest of us have. If it means sharing the misery, so be it.

Socialism don land.

Anonymous said...

How can there be 100% gender equality? Some things culturally should not change. We are made two different ways for a reason. If it was 100% it wouldn't be equal and women would be at a disadvantage. We would have to do all that men does then on the side still be pregnant for 9 months and labor. How about breastfeeding? How about raising children? Women are naturally better for that. Men are better for more physical stuff like war and whatever else. But the point is some roles shouldn't change. Men have to make up for it by being more of the supplier imo.

Why can't we all just get along? yea that would be my one wish. As for the killing thing. I think self defense shouldn't count because it's just defense.

Azazel said...

Lol true talk @ socialism don land lily...
But in a socialist state u wouldn't be able to havfe all this goody goody things like the Ipad etc..

Suru if it can't be 100% then how many percent should it be? Men will argue that it should be 100% or nothing else, afterall if u say somethings should not change, most chavunistic men would agree with u and tell u that somethings like 'women staying @ home and being housewives should not change'

El-Divine said...

the search for utopia is the bane of idealists. i dont want a utopia, i hv enuf of it when dream at nite. the world with all its imperfections gives us an excuse for living. majority of us look forward to the future bcos we think one thing or another will be better. if we lived in a utopia, hm...the boredom would bcome the next problem ppl will want to eliminate. and if u think utopia wont b boring, try living in disneyland instead of visitin it once evry two yrs. or try imaginin what on earth we will b doin in heaven...for..was it forev

Azazel said...

Lol Eke in Utopia one could wish for there not be anything like boredom innit?

The Messiah said...

Believe it or not, you don't need a change to find utopia. Like Siddarthra aka Buddha found out, true happiness is inside the individual already and doesn't need to look no further than himself/herself. And how in the hell does elimination of privacy cause a utopia? To me it will cause insanity, b ecause the best way to remain a sane individual(of course in my opinion) is to have a private space designed for you and only you.

El-Divine said...

yea eche...ppl will wish for there not to b boredom. and messiah, yea ur right.

Unknown said...

The day you honestly give a reply as to accepting a lady's marriage proposal,then we'd start talking..
www.askchacha4free.blogspot.com

Azazel said...

Messiah Anonymous said elimination of privacy, he/she never said elimination of private thoughts..
I feel that a lot of evil things are done in private so if everything is in public, stuff like that won't happen again