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Glimpses of
Extraterrestrial Utopias
Sheryl Gottschall
©
The contactees
of the 50s and 60s era painted images of ET civilisations that
could be classed as Utopian. The social climate on some ET
worlds was largely one of contentment, happiness, harmony and
order. These societies were highly organised and the ETs
worked in occupations that were often tied to some sort of
service industry working towards the planetary populations’
higher good. The social goals were not directed towards the
accumulation of money. Indeed, in some instances planetary
civilisations had no monetary systems whatsoever. Interactions
were based on cooperation in general, even though systems
existed to control deviance, and education of both a formal
and informal nature was highly regarded. Value systems were
based on cooperation and self-development rather than
competition, selfishness and authoritarianism, and these
values were inspirational rather than demanded.
Although the
effect of a utopian society is the transformation of its
civilisation, it doesn’t stop there. Nature is usually
perfected and idyllic as well. Some ETs impressed upon the
contactees that they had come to understand the value of
appreciating the effect of their own needs on their
environment and in some cases there are reports that ET
cultures had either returned to or maintained a more rural
style of living so as to remain harmonious with nature. In
this sort of society it is only natural that nature will
flourish and continue towards perfection. ET technology had
also been developed that was not so disruptive to the
environment, and while ET civilisations continued to learn
more about the universe and the subtle energies that
interconnected it so too did they work in harmony with those
energies rather than destroying them through their technology.
Although these
societies almost sound like fairy tales and possibly too
futuristic for us to digest, the ETs spoke of their societies
as being already in existence and had been for quite some
time.
The Dream of
Utopia on Planet Earth
To dream of
Utopia is to enter into new ways of resolving the problems
that come with living. The concept of Utopia is often silently
lurking in the background of many religious beliefs, social
programs and political infrastructures, although many of us
may not recognise it. Achieving a utopian lifestyle is a
driving force in most societies constantly motivating them to
do and be better and humans can be uncanny in their intuitive
understanding sensing when their society is drifting away from
the utopian ideal. But what does it mean to dream of Utopia?
Usually the
dream of Utopia is heightened when widespread dissatisfaction
exists in a social structure. In the western world modern
social conditions and values have peaked in recent years,
creating a cynicism fed by the disheartening most recent
scandal found in the news headlines. Priests and teachers
breaching the trust of innocent children by molesting them;
doctors trading their patients long term health for short term
profit; large corporations denuding the planet while slowly
distinguishing the life of our childrens’ children's home;
people warring on their fellow man; all make us expel a heavy
sigh as we watch an archaic creaking system insidiously
invading our very souls. The last century has seen the idea of
Utopia flounder and falter as people exchanged hopes of
harmony for peace, and then peace for mere tolerance.
Dissatisfaction
with the direction society has taken has given rise to the
feminist movement, environmental concern groups, the search
for self-sufficiency, self-education, self-responsibility,
healing and truth returning us to the path towards Utopia. So
in a sense it has not all been for nought. In fact, the
emergence of the dream of Utopia is dependent on the
appearance of widespread dissatisfaction otherwise we would
not reset our course and turn closer towards our goal. So in
this sense to dream of Utopia is to dream of a better life, a
better world and a better way and this keeps us moving forever
forward.
The Role of
ET Utopia
In this
important way contactee accounts have reawakened the pursuit
of the ideal society. The challenge for any utopian society is
the development of a set of images that might cross different
social groups and boundaries while uniting and inspiring them
in similar ways. Imagine a world where even the boundaries of
extraterrestrial societies could be bridged with our own. This
would indeed be a gigantic leap.
One of the
functions of utopian ideals is to sharpen our understanding of
current political, social and moral dilemmas and this is
precisely what the ET contact experiences of fifty years ago
did. They fired the social imagination to bring back hope and
direction to humanity. Although the ETs were quite high-tech
they also seemed to practice what one could only call
voluntary simplicity. They were not so much self-denying but
rather practiced constraining their appetite for material
goods by shifting their value system to one of intellectual
endeavour and spiritual development. This promoted the idea of
life-long learning, a delight of the mind that requires only
leisure and modest material support. Quite a contrast to our
modern fixation on ‘the lifestyles of the rich and famous’, an
item of popular culture that uses envy to promote high
consumption.
The hope for
happiness was entrusted to non-material ‘wealth’ that
diminished the need to acquire and consume. Fulfilment of the
soul at some higher level of aspiration is achieved as an
alternative to material self-indulgence. In this way the image
of ET cultures that view life as an opportunity to learn
rather than to squander paints a panorama of enquiry, wonder,
aspiration, empathy, tolerance and compassion toward all whose
path we cross, qualities necessary if we are to eventually
become ‘cosmic citizens’.
Is it no wonder
then that contactee accounts five decades ago were the
precursors in our own culture of the flower-power era of the
60s, the hippie movement of the 70s, the environmental groups
of the 80’s and the grasp for the return of family values in
the 90’s.
Dreaming of
Other Worlds
What might it
be like on other worlds and would we like it? From contactee
accounts we can see that other cultures have been able to move
past the problem of wars, disease and religious intolerance
and this should give us some hope that it can be achieved. But
what might a society need to do to travel from point A to
point B, and more to the point would we be willing to
participate to bring it about? If we tackle the issue of
consumerism, which has a devastating effect on the
environment, how might ET civilisations have resolved this one
problem?
As stated
previously some ETs have shifted values so the need for
materialism has been surpassed by the higher status of
success, that being ‘personal development’. However, there are
many steps in between that have to be conquered. For example,
how would we satisfy our need to ‘get our hands on’ things we
admire? One idea proposed by Marge Piercy is to develop a
worldwide library where even the rarest books, jewels, objects
d’art, fashionable clothes etcetera could be borrowed and
examined by the entire population. Imagine your household
changing from month to month or year to year with the latest
item of value. This could be a most interesting way to live
and is an idea worth pondering.
In William
Morris’s News From Nowhere, the citizens of Ecotopia own
little but it is elegantly handmade, the workweek has been
reduced to twenty hours, leisure becomes a value in its own
right used for the arts and crafts, play and recreational
sports, especially hiking, camping and climbing in the
fiercely defended wilderness which has come to be respected as
Ecotopia’s principal public asset.
This is only
one example of how to deal with one issue, but as you can see
a Utopian world will require major value shifts that begins
with our individual choices. Extraterrestrials have achieved
such shifts and I believe it is possible for us to follow the
path they have laid before us. It all begins with us choosing
values that are closer to essential sanity and contribute to
the greater good of our planet and it’s inhabitants.
References :
The Voice of the Earth by Theodore Roszak, 1992 Bantam Press
Journal of Near Death Studies, Winter 1991papers -
1) Near
Death Experiences and the Pursuit of the Ideal Society, Allan
Kellehear PhD
2) Over My Dead Body There is an Ideal Utopia:
Comments on Kellehear’s Paper, Carl B. Becker PhD.
Women on
the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy
Inside the Spaceships by
George Adamski
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