Utopians
are often especially
sensitive to the evils of the world
and, craving certainty, purity, and completeness,
firmly reject the evils as totally as possible, wishing to avoid
any compromises with them. Instead, utopians assert an
alternative vision of the world which they would like
to come into being. Their visionary belief may be
labeled “religious” or “political”—
it matters little for this
discussion.
They await
a “new world” which is
to come into being by an act of God,
a change in the human spirit, by autonomous
changes in economic conditions, or by a deep spontaneous
social upheaval—all beyond deliberate human control. These
believers are primarily concerned with espousing the “true”
understanding of the evil and the principles by which
people should live, gaining converts, living with the
least possible compromise until the great change
arrives. They may deliberately seek to establish
ways of living and communities which
exemplify their principles and which
may inspire others to do
likewise.93
The most
serious weakness of
this response to the problem
of this world is not the broad vision,
or the commitment of the people who believe
in it. The weakness is that these believers have
no effective way to reach the society of their dreams.
Condemnation of social evil, espousal of an alternative
order of life, a deep personal commitment, and an effort
to live according to it, are all good and necessary, but
unfortunately alone they do not transform human
society and institutions. To do that, an instrumen-
tally effective program of achievable steps for
dealing with the evils of existing society
and for creating an improved
social order is
required.94