Utopia

I just finished a project for my art class. We had to actually "answer" to a call for art and artists concerning "sustainability." We had to do a silk painting of what we saw sustainability as and such. It was very interesting... stressful, considering we had a week to create a peice with a new technique and considering that we had to cater to the specific requirements of the exhibition. Anyway, although my peice didn't turn out like i'd hoped, I had some interesting thoughts today, walking to and from the coffee shop with a collegue (fancy word for another guy in my class), about "sustainability."

Is environmentalism practical? I think it's a nice idea, just like communism, but I don't know if it would actually work for our society right now. We are (America) a culture that wants everything fast, convenient and comfortable. Is the hi 5 improving the percentage of hawaiians that recycle? Statistically no. It raising the price on all bottled beverages and giving the homeless and children something to do, but it isn't getting the job done. When I think about us conserving the environment, I think of us all wearing gloves in some overly sterilized building with all matching environmentally safe bio-degradable clothing, standing in some line for our daily rations of food. I think of monotony and pretty much socialism. All these liberalists who are rebel hippies seem to want the very thing they will be fighting against when they finally get what they want.

Utopianism. A peaceful society, capitalistic, with a clean environment, no wars, no problems... we think this would be perfection, what we want, but I myself cannot imagine living like this. Without problems what would I do? Without the sick, what would the doctors do, or aspiring doctors dream of doing? What would bring people together if they were already perfect? What would unite a country if their were no war? There will always be disagreements, petty or huge. There will always be sickness. There will always be the rich and the poor. What could we dream of fixing or when we try so hard to fix it and fail, what could we pray to God for or ask your friends for help for? I feel like a Utopian society would be so superficial, but maybe I'm wrong. I thank God for the bad so I can appreciate the good, so I can grow as a person, so I can actually feel. I will do everything I can to help the environment, but I'm not going to be afraid of living. Siddartha Buddha was right with at least one of the things he said (the main one) Live the middle path, don't live in the two extremes. If a string is too slack, it won't play. If it's too tight, it'll snap. If it's just right, you can play the most beautiful music... So maybe the real Utopia is the one we're living in right now and we just haven't seen it yet.