Loyal Omega Followers

The Alpha male, the leader of the pack, all names amount to the one controller of the group. With those who are born to lead, there are those who are born to follow. The ones that are not the strongest, smartest, or give some kind of special aspect that allows them to lead. These are the followers. No matter how great a leader is, he or she is nothing if they have no one to lead. In Utopia, the crew is on an imaginary island where the government is perfect and where everyone follows the rules. However, what happens if someone does not follow the rules? They are dealt with accordingly, but what happens when more and more people follow the same trend against these rules? The society would collapse and the laws would no longer be useful because there would be no one to control. In real life, the closest any society could get to a Utopia was through a: tyranny, monarchy, or communistic society. In all of the stated society types, people must act similar to one another in some way otherwise the individuality would threaten to destroy the civilization. Part of the human psyche is the natural force of competition. In communism, this is completely impossible because the government controls every aspect of a person’s life. While people still retain some sort of individuality, no real society can exist. In Brave New World, people are all taught to act the same way. Soma for whenever there is an uncomfortable situation, and constant promiscuity the rest of the time, the society is built on subduing the people’s desires. The only way to have a true controlled environment is by having eliminating all forms of individuality. However, without the individuality, people also lose their creativity. Without this creativity the world, more importantly the society will not be able to advance. People will not be able to think of creative ways to solve problems or to do anything without being taught and instructed to do so. The larger a population is, the harder it will be to manage. In the New World, by Jonathan Chen, there are enough islands to promote individuality and growing space while maintaining order. The only way this is possible is through the use of the “Big Brother” Chip located inside everyone’s brain. The chip, combined with religion, creates the ultimate control group to ensure peace. Although crude, the New World is in fact a near-Utopia. People are given all they need to survive, and all they need to do is find a job and do anything that they please within the rules. The control groups are the most important aspect of these “perfect” societies due to the fact that there is no society that is made of a single leader. Without the people, there is no such thing as a Utopia. Ironically, the one thing that a Utopia needs most is what can cause it to engulf and destroy itself.

The Omega Leader

In a new world, what is needed is balance and strong leaders. In I AM LEGEND, Robert Neville is set in a post-apocalyptic world full of bloodthirsty vampires. These vampires are a result of a sort of plague disease, and Neville is their only hope. He hopes to create a formula to transform these creatures back into the human beings that they once were. Although it seems that he is trying to do good in the world, are his intentions really that heroic? Everyone has transformed into these nocturnal monsters except him, yet he is the one trying to change them back. The monsters seem content with their lives now and yet Neville wants to change them back for his own desires. He wants to “save” the humans. However, there are no longer any humans in the deserted wasteland of the future. They are all creatures of the night except for him. Is it right for him to try to convert them to his own ways? The process of a Utopia involves having one direct leader, in a tyrannical form of government. The only other choice is to have a group of elites who will lead the people in the New World. Groups of Elites tend to seek more power once they taste it and those groups often tend to consume themselves until there is one direct leader. A tyranny or monarchy is the only way to truly have a Utopian government. Neville is most definitely the hero of the novel, but he is a tyrant. He is trying to seize control from the monsters and transform them back into humans against their will. The Alpha Male of the monsters is the obvious leader, and in order for Neville to succeed he must defeat the beast. There are definitely aspects of monarchy government, as shown in the monster, of the book. They are creatures of the night, but they follow one leader and thus this is a prime example of a monarchy. Their civilization is a brutal one but follows the correct process of having one direct ruler. Neville on the other hand shows signs of heroism while he tries to create a tyranny. By forcibly wiping out the monsters and trying to turn them back into humans, he is doing the same thing that Hitler did with the Jews. Neville is trying to wipe out all traces of the plague virus in the infected humans and change them from vampires to humans. He is trying to destroy an entire population as well, and thus he has tyrannical tactics in “restoring” the world. Having one solid leader is the only way to ensure a successful community. For example, the terror that had struck Malden High School today was truly a traumatic one. Had the elite controllers of the school not calmly told all faculty through e-mail to evacuate then no one would know what to do. Without the proper guidance, patrons of the school would have gone into panic and everything would fall out of control. Funny thing to notice is that the group of elites that are needed to create a perfect society is how the system of Malden High School works as well. There are four elite group members and one direct ruler, yet there is still so much trouble and flaws in the school. The idea of one leader is not incorrect, but the reason for the trouble that continues to flow in school despite the leadership is a topic for next week. It is very fortunate that there was no actual bomb in the school because the area they were blocking off was the area that was directly underneath the English classroom that Ms. Alexis’s period one class was in. Stay safe everyone, hopefully nothing like this happens again.

Welcome to the New World

What are the elements of a perfect society? The basic Utopia of all people is composed of different ideas based on a person and their wants and desires. However, there is a pattern and formula that can help create the perfect society for anyone. The books that will be used to concoct the formula will base mainly on Utopia by Sir Thomas More and I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. The story of Utopia is based in Europe during the 15^th Century. In the story, there is an imaginary island that is stated to have perfect conditions. Perfect systems of organization, legal work, government, everything works in harmony. This is the first part of the perfect society: Harmony. Due to media, such as the news, depicting violence in America, people tend to think of harmony as peace. In that peace, no violence can occur in order to keep the harmony. However, the truth behind harmony is the simple fact of balance. The Killing Joke, by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland, is a Batman comic book. During the comic, the Joker shoots Batgirl in the spine and leaves her paralyzed, and so Batman must pursue. Gotham seems like a dystopia with all the crime and psychotic men and women running about, and it most surely is a dystopia. However, Batman represents not only the justice of their society, but how hard work and perseverance pay off. With that being said, everything that Batman represents is countered by the criminals of Gotham of whom he has sworn to capture. The evil and justice of Gotham City represent the balance that a Utopia needs in order to function. The harmony between good and evil of this dystopia is actually a key part of a Utopia. Although a world without violence seems like an amazing ideal, it is also left unbalanced. Without the balance, the “perfect” society would face ruin quickly. Sir Thomas More states in his novel that the Utopia would be a superior society compared to Europe (keep in mind that this takes place during 15^th century Europe). All the Utopias that people thought of in Ms. Alexis’s class of Period 1 had some form of peace. However, as shown in Batman, there is no way to achieve peace without any fighting. “The pen is mightier than the sword.” – Edward Bulwer-Lytton. This quote refers to the idea that knowledge is greater than brute force, which is true in most cases. However, there would be no need for the pen if there were no sword and vice-versa. The harmonious aspects, which cause wars, are the building steps of a Utopia. Knowledge and power are what allow individuals to move up in life through Social Darwinism, and it is these people who compete against each other. No matter what, peace will lead to war. It is an endless cycle that creates a new idea of Utopia, one where violence is a necessity rather than an obstacle of life. The obstacles that people complain about now are part of a cycle that keeps harmony in the world and allows everyone to live the way they live. How would people plan to eliminate violence? The only way is by using more violence to reach the temporary peace. Then the battle is fought again and again and will never cease. The line between good and bad is what actually keeps the world together. This is a key aspect of having a Utopia.

Utopia, by Sir Thomas More

I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson

This one needs no explanation. :]