Babel Clash

So, as I wrote previously, it doesn’t seem impossible to write a positive future, where society is actively sorting out its problems instead of creating new ones.  So… Why don’t we?  I’ve been mulling this, as I’ve gotten a certain amount criticism over the years about the kinds of futures that I create.  Generally this criticism runs along the lines of “Bacigalupi writes well, but after you’ve finished one of his stories you just want to go slit your wrists.”

Which actually makes me laugh, because a lot of times, that’s how I feel after I’ve finished writing the story, too.

So what’s wrong with writing a Utopia?  Or at least creating a positive version of a future society? And why don’t more SF authors do it?

My theory is that the real problem with writing Utopias is that it puts a writer’s values front and center. It’s the artistic equivalent of tearing open our shirts and baring our chests while bleating about the need for true love in the universe.   It’s a vulnerable position because in a society that values the the ironic eye over the naive one, you’re basically setting yourself up as the artistic equivalent of Dennis Kucinich.

He’s just so painfully sincere, y’know?

Writing a Utopic vision of the future means you really are going to talk about people working out their differences (yawn), show them living as is if they valued the earth (gag), and worst of all, you’re not even going to make fun of them.  The future awaits, and it’s made of granola.  Nearly everything that you propose (reducing consumption? controlling corporations? making people aware of waste streams?) has that reek of do-gooderism and social engineering that even if you do it well, it still has the whiff of singing The Internationale. It’s not so much that it’s impossible to write a positive future, it’s more the fear of someone making fun of your vision that really sends a writer running in the other direction.

That’s my theory, at least.  Artists want to look smart, and smart and painfully sincere go so badly together.

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