An Extreme Collectivism

                The society of Herland represents an extreme of collectivist culture. At the time the novel was written, women lacked rights that were granted to men. This divide was present in both collectivist and individualistic cultures across the world. In fact, women in individualistic cultures gained rights sooner due to the cultural encouragement to fight for one’s own desires, where collectivist cultures instill that the stability and success of the county as a whole should be considered. However, Charlotte Perkins Gillman has taken the idea of a culture that truly values each individual equally from the collectivist vision. In Herland, all of the inhabitants are women and they are all considered equal persons in the society.

                In the society, motherhood is the most important duty of each and every citizen. It is the task of the women of the society to properly raise and educate the children above all else. With no means of expanding their world or making any outward progress due to their isolation, the primary meaning for life is the continuation of their species. Motherhood in Herland is so important to the citizens that it has spawned its own religion. Mother Nature is considered the overarching life force by which all parts of nature feed off of. Mother Nature cares for the citizens through providing food and water and the citizens respect the earth by replanting resources that they have used up. Additionally, all remnants of natural goods that have not been used are returned to the earth to enrich the soil (Gillman, 51). This cycle of motherhood that originates with Mother Nature and is continued by the mothers in the society gives every woman an equal part in the goal of the society to raise and mentor children.

The collectivist theme is taken to such an extreme that the women talk in terms of “we” rather than in terms of “I.” This word use annoys the men that travel to the society as outsiders from Europe. Their exposure and adherence to individualistic culture prohibits them from comprehending the absolute connectedness of the women in Herland. The collectivist ideal is also present in their lawmaking. When thinking about enacting a law, the impact of the decision on the children and on motherhood as a whole is analyzed in detail. Laws are created only if they further the cause of motherhood and receive unanimous agreement from the mothers (Gillman, 57).  Yet, the unanimous agreement comes naturally if the decision will benefit motherhood, since all members of the society value that above all else.

There is one policy of Herland that takes the collectivist culture ideal to such an extreme that personal equality is undermined. When each woman becomes a mother, she is examined to see if she is capable of properly raising the child. If it is decided that the mother cannot educate the daughter to the expected standards, then the responsibility for the child’s education will be given to another woman (Gillman, 70). While this idea preserves the best interest of the child by allowing her to receive the best education possible, it eliminates the personal right to raise one’s own daughter. Naturally, the men are appalled by this idea coming from an individualistic culture. It raises the ethical question of should the child’s right to the best education or the mother’s right to raise her own child be considered more important? This moral quandary shows that no culture can create total equality for all while still having goals for the society.  

I don't want any (Sir Thomas) More

                In Thomas More’s Utopia, one of the main disadvantages that can be noticed immediately when reading is the use of slavery. At the time when More was writing the novel, slavery was a normal part of society. However, today most people recognize how oppressive and inhumane slavery is. The slavery presented in the novel is slightly different than that of past slavery in the United States.  In Utopia, people are only entered into slavery if they break the law, as an alternative to jail. This caveat makes the slavery seem less unwarranted. Yet, it is still a negative aspect and a microcosm of the full society.

                Despite being a free citizen in Utopia, the citizens have limited free choice in many areas. In some respects you could say that the citizens are slaves to the government. One could say the same about our society today, but Utopia has more constrictive policies than the United States. The political systems of both societies are set up similarly by electing officials to represent certain areas. However, in Utopia those positions are maintained for life rather than having reelections. Thus, the citizens cannot change the decision makers of the society until after the ruler’s death. Additionally, some of the punishments instituted by the government are very harsh. For example, certain age limits exist for marriage. Women must marry at age 18 and men at age 22. This eliminates free choice of when or if to marry. Another oppression that fits into the marriage framework is that premarital sex is illegal. Furthermore, the punishment for such an act is slavery for life. Adultery is also punished the same way. So, everyone is limited to one person for their entire lifetime and any deviation from that ideal is enslaved. If those were the rules in our society I am not sure how many people would not be slaves.

                The other main source of constricted free will in Utopia relates to occupations. On the surface, this seems to be an advantage of the society. The work day is compressed into six hours to allow time for other exploits by the citizens. Additionally, job rotation occurs which usually enriches interest in one’s work, since he or she is not always performing the same tasks. Yet, this typically positive work intervention is utilized poorly by the society. Each and every person in the society is forced to work on the farm for some portion of their life. The citizens are rotated through so that everyone must assist in food production in the society. When citizens are not on the farm, they have one other occupation that they carry out for life. No free choice is included in this decision, as most people are required to perform the same occupations that their parents perform. The society of Utopia can be viewed as analogous to a large organization. In this company, you will never be promoted, your job schedule will never change, and you will be forced to complete whatever projects are assigned to you. Oh, and most importantly no one can quit.

                The very first supposedly perfect society utilized humans simply as mechanisms in industrial and economic systems. People are valued for their role in the system rather than the unique characteristics that compose them. Hopefully, the other authors in the utopian tradition do not follow his lead. 

Love thy neighbor, but don’t trust him

              When most people reflect upon their lives, family and friends comprise a large portion of what is reflected upon. Human beings are surrounded by other humans from the moment of birth. As a children, we are taken care of by our families. In the schools years, we are surrounded by our peers and form relationships to foster our growth. As adults, we start families of our own and repeat the cycle. Humans are constantly interacting with each other and our experiences both influence and are influenced by other people in our lives. When thinking back on good memories, most people’s memories will be of experiences with friends or family. However, because we are constantly in contact with others, bad experiences and memories are often derived from interactions with friends and family as well.

                Most people weight the positive outcomes of friendships more than the negative outcomes.  Otherwise, people in society would shy away from friendships to protect themselves from the negative outcomes. In The City of God, St. Augustine argues that the danger of worldly friendships outweigh the possible benefits that can be gained. He states that because family and friends have such a close emotional relationship, they can be easily harmed and deceived by each other. Due to the closeness of these relationships, one can be harmed before he even realizes and devoid of a means to protect oneself as a result. St. Augustine thus warns to be cautious in these relationships (Augustine, 858-859). By taking this stance on the issue, he is assuming that humans are inherently bad and sinful. Because he is promoting the utopian nature of the heavenly city in contrast to the imperfect nature of the earthly world, conceding the value of human relationships on earth would lessen the improvement from the earthly world to the heavenly city.

                Since St. Augustine is basing his ideas for the ideal world on the bible for what awaits in the heavenly city, it would be intuitive that he would align his arguments with the principles of the bible. However, one of the most widely known messages of the bible is ignored in this argument above. In his argument, St. Augustine somewhat deviates from the message from Jesus to love thy neighbor. While he is not conveying the exact opposite message, his ideas still stray from the general message. He encourages people on earth to be suspicious and guarded on actions with family and friends. If one was to truly love one’s neighbors, he would not be worrying about the wrongdoing that could be experienced as a result. This fact diminishes the support for his claims about how to approach relationships with family and friends in the earthly world.

                Even regardless of the quality of support for St. Augustine’s argument, he proposes an earthly life that lacks pure enjoyment. If every person has to constantly doubt the intentions of other people, then relying on others and working together seem impossible. A life consumed by paranoia does not seem like a life that could also be full of happiness and enjoyment. Regardless of one’s religious beliefs, I believe that everyone can experience a happy and fulfilling life and it seems dystopian to take away a means to achieve that. 

Fueling Potential

In every country around the world, citizens go hungry regardless of the wealth and development of the country. The problem is much more prevalent and noticeable in third-world countries that lack food sources on a large scale, but even the most technologically advanced countries experience the same problem on a smaller scale. Thus, everyone is affected by this problem in some way and can witness it nearby. From this personal connection, each person has a stake in the formation of a solution to the widespread problem. The development and implementation of a system that would produce and distribute adequate amounts of food to all people would improve the world dramatically. As a result, people would no longer have to worry about obtaining food sustenance and could focus on meaningful contributions to the world.

                In the world today, humans have many rights but access to food is currently not one of them. This policy negatively impacts the world as many people suffer and struggle to survive due to not having the proper resources needed to obtain a substantial amount of food. According to psychologist Abraham Maslow, a person must satisfy his physiological needs, of which hunger is one, before being able to concern any other types of needs (Maslow, 370-396). According to this hierarchy of needs theory, needs of safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization cannot be achieved by those who lack the proper amount of food to maintain a healthy life. Therefore, this problem limits the potential of valuable human lives to the most basic level. In altering the economic system to provide food to all people that would restore potential to their lives and allow them to be positive contributors to society. So, the benefits would be twofold as the lives were saved by providing the food and subsequently enriched by allowing for energy to be focused on a different domain.

With the agricultural and technological advances present in society, it is unacceptable that food is not available to all humans so that their lives are sustained in an equal manner. With the current free-market system for getting food, those with extensive monetary resources can garner the best food products, while those who lack such resources can only afford low quality food or sometimes none at all. In order for the proper change to occur, increased food production must first occur, followed by proper distribution of the food resources. In order to address the food production, countries would have to cooperate to create an organization that first determined the necessary amount of food for each person. Then, the organization would need to contract and provide necessary resources to farmers in the various countries to produce the specified amount of food. With the implication of saving human lives, governments should find much value in utilizing resources in this manner.

Next, the food would have to be distributed based on population of people lacking the proper amount of food, based on expert projections of a group within the newly created organization. This structure to systematically target and provide food to those in need would address the problem in the most organized way possible. The method would require worldwide cooperation which would be very difficult to achieve, but the possible outcomes should provide enough incentive for that to happen. From the implementation, the world would be improved as all humans had access to adequate food sources and could reach a higher level of potential.

Works Cited

Maslow, A. H. "A Theory of Human Motivation." Psychological Review (1943): 370-396. Print.