The Socialist Ideal

Abstract

In the preceding article Daniel Singer calls for us to "conceive a realistic utopia and examine all technological inventions so as to distinguish those which can only foster domination from those which could be used in a different society." Similarly, the Marxist philosopher Roy Bhaskar has recently called for "a William Morris-type movement of positive concrete utopianism to stand alongside Marx's negative explanatory critique [of political economy]." (Dialectics, (London; New York: Verso, 1993), p. 345). This year that has just ended was the centennial of the death of William Morris. A bit belatedly we offer this article, not only as a memorial but as a reminder of our duty to conceive a concrete, realistic, utopia. The creation of beauty from the means available, whether the Aboriginal sand paintings or a computer design, is the birthright of every child on the planet. This universal Enlightenment value stands negated for the great majority of the worlds' children by the capitalist world order of our times, and the negation of that negation is our socialist, revolutionary, task. - The EditorsThis article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.