The Convenience of Narcissism

Chapter Nineteen- Utopia Revisited

When I was young, I read this beautiful book written by Sir. Thomas More who lived in England in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Utopia was a fictional island where people had learned to live in peace and harmony. There was no war, no crime, no hunger, and no one was homeless. In many ways this little island seemed to embody all the qualities found in the Biblical narrative of paradise on earth. Humanity had finally grown beyond their petty differences and interpersonal squabbles.

Utopia was an experiment in absolute socialism. Greed was absent from this society. Ownership of property was not allowed. Buzz words like this may send a chill down the spine of the citizens of a modern capitalist-based society. Thomas was trying to appeal to the ruling elite of his day with an ideal world that he saw as an alternative to the monarch based feudal system of his day. The ideas found in Utopia were revolutionary and would later fuel concepts that would lead to modern day democratically governed nation states. There would be countless revolutions in Europe and the new world that would eventually bring about nations such as these United States of America.

Other nations which more closely resembled the people of Utopia culturally, would be paved over by immigrants from Europe and the rest of the world. Soon constitutions would be drawn up that would carry the torch of Utopian concepts. However, unlike Utopia these national constitutions would include verbiage and ideals that were missing from More's writings. Why? You see, in his writings More leaves out one critical detail in his perfect human society that cannot be ignored by any country that wishes to remain stable. Throughout this book we have been exploring what was missing in Utopia. As you turn the pages and read about all the wonderful achievements of this communal society it is painfully apparent that the reason everyone gets along and helps each other and never pursues a political office is because no one in Utopia seems to possess an ounce of narcissism.

How convenient and quite honestly unrealistic. When the founding fathers of the U.S. constitution put pen to paper, they were quite aware that people are proud, arrogant, deceptive, greedy, and power hungry. They knew this all too well because they had only just escaped the tyrannical rule of an intrenched narcissist. The last thing they wanted was to choose a new NARC to rule them. The constitution drawn up by this new nation would need to ensure that no one would be permitted to rise to the status of absolute authority. This new nation would be governed by a majority NARC vote. Every NARC would have a voice. Well at first only the white male voices of these sovereign states, but what else would you expect from NARC driven humans?

Fortunately, at least one of these white males seemed to sense this topic because his behavior would ensure that this new nation would not fall back under totalitarian rule. This remarkable man was George Washington the first president of these United States of America. No one really understands why he rejected not only becoming king of this newly forged nation, but also a third term in office. However, like Jesus had done over a millennia earlier Washington would set a precedent for future generations in resisting his inner NARC.

Washington seemed to know something of the ideals of Utopia, because his actions indicated that he wanted to imitate the selfless values found in that work of fiction. Both More and Washington were not acting on their own. Both of these men could see the same virtuous concepts in their own personal copies of the Bible. Both of these men understood to some extent that Jesus of Nazareth had been guiding humanity toward this path throughout his ministry.

The real question was: How could NARC driven humanity ever aspire to these noble ideals? Such a government would require divine intervention to reach this Utopian world view. In later centuries some would even contemplate ending free-will in order to achieve such a peaceful new world. Was free-will really the problem? We have explored this question in earlier chapters and while over population is promoted as the problem today it is actually the NARC driven mismanagement of our natural resources that is contributing to the breakdown of every system.

Even the word Utopia is now referred to negatively because the ideals it promotes lean closer to socialism than capitalism. Financial corporations will often subscribe to corporatism which could be defined as band-wagon narcissism, leaving its employees to wallow in self-pity. As many today speak against Utopia our world sinks deeper into a dystopia that just a few years ago was to be found only in works of fiction.

The island of Utopia is in reality a metaphor for where the human race is actually heading. In his work of fiction Sir. Thomas More indicated the ruling elite of his day needed a wakeup call. He was thanked for it by execution. Many today are now crying out for justice. This cry is for racial and gender equality, along with an open acknowledgement of the harm done by past generations. People are trying to break down every boundary in search of the real culprit behind all the world's problems. Could there really be one unified theory of everything? Could there be an answer that no one wants to see but has been staring us in the face this whole time?

You may not like where this book is heading. You may feel like you're in one of those stories where a large brick wall is slowly closing in on you, inching closer to pushing you off of the edge where the crocodiles, sharks and piranhas are eagerly waiting just below your feet. You may not like what is on the next page. After all there is a monster at the end of this book. You may think you have already figured out who the monster is. I won't force you to go there but please listen. I do understand why you may be so apprehensive about moving forward. You may have invested a great deal of time and energy in believing something that may not actually be true. If so, please don't panic, because if you see it, it will change your life forever no matter what you believe.