Golftopia

GOLFTOPIA

By Roland Watson

To hear the corporations tell it, the destruction and despair that I described in this section is not what is happening at all. They are actually leading the way, forging our progress, to a new and greater social prosperity. Indeed, they are the means by which humanity will finally establish its long sought after utopia.

Let's have a look at their utopia, shall we, and to make it easier to visualize, and remember, I'll give it a name: "Golftopia."

Like its predecessor, the world of the American Dream, which I do not mean to malign, Golftopia is a wonderful place.

- It is based on family units, but this time both parents work. (Men and women are equal!)

- Children are free of flaws and differences (eugenics!), and are raised in day-care centers. (The creation of a new industry, and more jobs!)

- Everyone is young and beautiful. (Plastic surgery! Euthanasia is in vogue!)

- Everyone has a house, two cars, many televisions and computers, enough to eat, a pension, if they are not made redundant before it vests, and two weeks vacation a year. (Disneyworld! And what homeless!? They are like the slaves of old. They don't count!)

- To relieve boredom (or despair!), there's "entertainment," pornography on the internet, sports, and celebrities. (It's fun to worship billionaires, or the first trillionaire!, and if that's not enough, there's always anti-depressants!)

- It truly is a wonderful world: corporations will take care of us from birth to death (maybe!), and it is the same everywhere. (No more diversity! No them!)

Of course, we will have to accept a few things, a few hard "truths."

- We will still have class structure. (Someone has to caddy!)

- And centralized power, and "leaders." (They are better than us! It's "right" that they lead, and that "they" vacation in Monte Carlo!)

- And if the leaders think only of themselves sometimes (or usually!), well, that's to be expected. (That's human nature!)

- As to wild nature, it will have to be tamed and controlled. (Golf courses are nice!)

- But we'll take care of the animals. (In park-zoos!)

In summary, everything will be planned; determined. (No free will!)

Everyone, every single person, will have a glorious "career."

Who cares about life, and the universe, anyway? We all hate philosophy. We'll turn on the lights, and turn out the stars.

Okay. Obviously, there will never be such a thing as Golftopia. People will always rebel against unjust social orders and we, and nature, cannot be controlled: only allowed to live freely, or destroyed. But insofar as corporations try to impose Golftopia on us, we will have to stop them. As to our activism, what all of the forgoing implies is that this will be an extremely challenging task. We will have to learn where, and how, we can change the corporate system, and which tactics will give us the greatest probability of success.