The Future Perfect
Entry by: Paul McDermott
19th February 2022
The Future Perfect
Every day in Utopia will have been perfect: how could you not have come to accept this? As you will have gathered, I have had others pose this question more than once: my answer will have been, if not the same on each occasion, then very similar. Truth will always have been found in the turning of historical pages. I have been able to offer a rational explanation in one form or another whenever the question may have been posed.
Utopia (in any shape or form) could only ever have been described as an ideal (or even idyllic) state of affairs. No doubt Sir Thomas More would have taken great delight in his satirical description of an unattainable state of perfection, even though his hidden intent would undoubtedly have been a critical (even jaundiced) view of the world in which he was obliged to dwell. Also in Utopia’s perfect community (and as has since been stated in more recent song lyrics) “ … July and August cannot be too hot, // And there’s a legal limit to the snow here …â€
Yes, we have been obliged to cope with other problems, trials and tribulations from time to time but these have been temporary inconveniences rather than difficult temporal problems and we have been able to deal with them as and when they have presented themselves.
What would our forebears have thought of this Future Perfect community? They would certainly have been envious of our idyllic, harmonious existence in which all crime and discord would have become faint, distant memories of a barbaric bygone era.
Utopian perfection in every aspect of our daily lives would no doubt have been a desirable goal for any civilised caring community. If only earlier generations could have been minded to be considerate to others, treating them the same way they would have expected to be treated. Could have been achieved, should have been possible, ought to have been Mankind’s greatest accomplishment, with just a modicum of extra effort. Alas, we could indeed have created … a Future Perfect, or a Perfect Future?
350 words
Every day in Utopia will have been perfect: how could you not have come to accept this? As you will have gathered, I have had others pose this question more than once: my answer will have been, if not the same on each occasion, then very similar. Truth will always have been found in the turning of historical pages. I have been able to offer a rational explanation in one form or another whenever the question may have been posed.
Utopia (in any shape or form) could only ever have been described as an ideal (or even idyllic) state of affairs. No doubt Sir Thomas More would have taken great delight in his satirical description of an unattainable state of perfection, even though his hidden intent would undoubtedly have been a critical (even jaundiced) view of the world in which he was obliged to dwell. Also in Utopia’s perfect community (and as has since been stated in more recent song lyrics) “ … July and August cannot be too hot, // And there’s a legal limit to the snow here …â€
Yes, we have been obliged to cope with other problems, trials and tribulations from time to time but these have been temporary inconveniences rather than difficult temporal problems and we have been able to deal with them as and when they have presented themselves.
What would our forebears have thought of this Future Perfect community? They would certainly have been envious of our idyllic, harmonious existence in which all crime and discord would have become faint, distant memories of a barbaric bygone era.
Utopian perfection in every aspect of our daily lives would no doubt have been a desirable goal for any civilised caring community. If only earlier generations could have been minded to be considerate to others, treating them the same way they would have expected to be treated. Could have been achieved, should have been possible, ought to have been Mankind’s greatest accomplishment, with just a modicum of extra effort. Alas, we could indeed have created … a Future Perfect, or a Perfect Future?
350 words
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