Utopian

Lately, I've been tripping on utopias from stuff that I've read. The one from the most recent, The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, was like one of the greatest breaths of fresh air that I've ever inhaled when it comes to short stories. Omelas, by Ursula K. Le Guin (author of the Earthsea series, which was adapted by Studio Ghibli as ゲド戦記), is mainly a story about utilitarianism.

In the titular city, the folk live in compassion and peace throughout their lives, while a child remains locked in the bowels of some cellar there. This child, kept in suffering and given a meager amount of sustenance, is the very reason Omelas is prosperous and peaceful; if the child is taken out of his suffering and taken care for, Omelas is guaranteed to fall into ruin (mechanisms are not explained well, because this is probably a metaphorical story). The citizens are required to see and be taught about the child as a sort of rite of passage. Some rage, some cry, but eventually get over it and learn to appreciate the child. A few others walk away from the city, never to return - the ones who walk away from Omelas.

Would you stay in Omelas? I would, considering that leaving Omelas would do nothing but give me a sense of satisfaction. I believe that what counts is that everyone in Omelas is appreciative and acknowledging of the child's harsh existence as the preserver of their city. I still wonder whether the kid is conscious that his suffering is the equivalent of the happiness of a thousand people?

Candide's El Dorado is interesting too. Yet, I'm not sure that it has much glory without the rest of Candide's world in the background. What's more surprising about this heaven-on-earth is that the main character decides to leave it in order to chase down his maiden.

Although it might not be related, there's one more "utopia" that I've been conscious of recently, but it's not a heaven-on-earth in the sense of its meaning. It's, instead, a faction in one of the multiplayer games I play. Each faction has the ability to claim land for themselves on the server that I play on, but the virtual world gets reset every few months so that everyone can start anew.

One of the largest factions, Eutopia, was home to many players over several maps, from when the game was still in beta. It had some of the best facilities and most impressive homes on all of the server and I had the pleasure of being in the faction for a few months. That was about one or two years ago. Last time I checked, Eutopia had only one player to its name. Just like I only check in every once in a while, I suppose that real life caught up to everyone else. I still sometimes imagine how Eutopia sprawls through the land, now belonging to nothing in particular.