The story about Olemas that we just read in class made me think of a Utopina society in the beginning of the writing. I have heard things about Utopian societies before, and we have discussed a few in A.P. united states history actually. There was a huge movement to try and create utopian societies at one point. They included the shakers, the Oneida community, and Brook farm. The Shakers were a religious cult, called the Shakers because they shaked violently when in worship. The Oneida community was an attempt at a community that shared everything. EVERYTHING. Wives, husbands, food, shelter, water, anything at all. The Brook farm was an experiment by some transcendentalists (you may have heard of a few) to make a communal living place full of like-minded intellectuals. What do all of these communities have in common? None of them worked. All of the ideas always seemed kind of unrealistic to me anyways, but I wonder if there are reasons that us humans cannot live together like that. One idea is like the one in the essay; that we cannot have a utopian community because there is no light without dark. Another is that we as humans, are selfish and tend do not do what we should morally, which fits in more with Peter Singer's ideas. I think that it is some combination of both. I think that we as humans are not made to live completely selflessly. It goes against our grain. So I do not think that a Utopian Society is possible.
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