utopianism

["Devine, James" <jdevine@xxxxxxx>]

[was: RE: [PEN-L] Job flight]

Carroll wrote:>That's one reason socialists should for the most part emphasize the
negative in their agitation and propaganda. Guesses about what will be
"good" in the future are mostly sort of silly. But we can know with intensity what is 
not to be tolerated in the present.<

alas, utopianism -- the creation of ideal alternatives to the system -- has never been absent from socialist movements. In the US, E.V. Debs's Socialist Party included lots of utopian ideas, including ideas from the Bellamyists. The Communist Party had the USSR, which it often portrayed in utopian terms. The Maoists did the same with China. (One time, a Maoist told me that since the revolution, there was no more mental illness in China!) The New Leftists had their utopian visions, sometimes attached to Cuba.[*] 

I see nothing wrong with utopian dreaming, as long as it's not seen as a matter of thinking up blueprints that _must_ be imposed. Rather, utopianism helps clarify what people are in favor of (not just getting rid of capitalism) and suggests ways that socialism might work in practice. Utopias should be matters for debate and discussion, not to be simply dismissed.

[*] BTW, even though it's a mistake to idealize such socialist experiments, it's good to defend them against imperialism.  

jim d.