Month: August 2004

Apocalypticism, the belief if not outright desire for the end of the world in a dramatic and violent way, has existed in every culture because suffering and the...

Dystopia is the word often used for literary depictions of utopias gone wrong. It is no coincidence that these depictions are classed as science fiction, though...

Reluctant mid-morning chore: weeding among mosquitoes. But outside the door is a cloud of hovering dragonflies, maybe thirty or more, hovering delicately about ...

A model microcosm of society is a group of people arguing. We may recommend a certain openness, tolerance, or mindfulness to them, but it is likely that most pe...

The utopia that conforms to the way of the hermit and solitary can be found in the short tale of Tao Chien called “Cherry Blossom Spring.” In this s...

The flower I call morning glory (probably Mexican heather run wild) only blooms overnight, and this morning there are over a dozen of the gentle lavender flower...

Utopias are portrayed as lost and inaccessible worlds (Thomas More, Tao Chien, many science fiction settings) or as ideal states of the past. Hence the Golden A...