Definition, Please
In essence, the definition of a utopia is extremely subjective. What would seem like a utopia to one person may seem completely repulsive to someone from a different (or even the same) culture. This is why even though a utopia and dystopia are polar opposites by definition; the fine line that divides the two truly deserves its title. In Childhoods End, Clarke explores the nature of the fine line by instigating the arrival of the Overlords, an advanced alien race who cleanses the world of inequality and creates a utopia of peace and stability.
In the wake of reconstruction, Earth by the standards of all earlier ages, it was Utopia. Ignorance, disease, poverty, and fear had virtually ceased to exist (Clarke, 64). Inequality is the greatest source of unrest and is the cause for all the aforementioned maladies of society. The eradication of inequality naturally brings content and harmony to society and its denizens and as a result crime had practically vanished. It had become both unnecessary and impossible. When no one lacks anything, there is no point in stealing (Clarke, 65). With no fear to life or property, mankind thrives in a world of security and trust, defined only by the relative term utopia.
Every action has an opposite, but equal, reaction. The consequence to ensured stability and equivalence is suppressed creativity and expression of spirit. This tradeoff is met with radically opposing thoughts. Those who have some kind of stability/security in their lives will reject the tradeoff and claim that creativity is what it means to be a human and not a machine. Those who struggle to make ends meet will embrace the switch and state that it is difficult being creative if surviving is a constant problem. For many cases creativity is the escape route from the routine life of modern society and is constructive by providing a much needed distraction from everyday stress. However, on occasion, creativity spawns pure evil. Revolutionary ideas like relativity and nuclear fission are changed into icons of power and control in the shape of bombs. Curiosities become obsessions that plague human minds to commit the most atrocious crimes in human history. Inequalities amongst people breed jealousy and ignorance which take physical form in genocides, murders, and oppression. The suffering brought upon humanity by imbalance and twisted creativity far outweighs the gifts born of it. The Overlords suppression of rampant resourcefulness should be a blessing, not a crime as the average man was grateful to them [the Overlords] for what they had done to his world (Clarke 64).
The Overlords intervention in human affairs was an act of mercy and gave humans a chance to recognize the irrational nature of their behavior. While all people understand the concept of societal harmony (similar to communism), the fear of social repercussions and corrupt execution of socialism (Mao, Lenin, etc.) make the vicious circle of suffering and miscommunication continue to trap the idea of utopia in fiction.
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