Allyson Zipp Many Utopian visionaries speculate that the reorganization of a single mode of human interaction is the key to unlocking the gates of paradise on Earth. One dominant institution, they suggest, exerts the great dystopic force that prevents humanity from achieving its full potential.
Opinions differ on which specific institution requires reengineering.
Some identify politics, others economics, still others a sociological construct such as gender relations. What ever is chosen, the proponent contends that reforming it will reorder the structure of human society and thus produce a utopian civilization. In contrast, Aldous Huxley suggests that the principle dystopic force preventing humanity from achieving its full potential is each individual s own lack of self awareness and self knowledge. Huxley s Island , the virtually inaccessible Pacific nation of Pala, is the product of over a century of enlightened guidance. One hundred and twenty years earlier, in a proactive move to shield Pala from the woes of encroaching industrial civilization, Pala s Raja and his Scottish physician-advisor embarked on a great plan.