Utopia?

I filmed things I could order/purchase without interacting with another person. The text that runs across the screen reads “Fully automated luxury gay space communism.” This concept grew from meme culture and has been the topic of many a subreddit, one Reddit user stating it “is a meme that points at both a naive optimistic goal and embodies its impossibility. It is a reference that is both optimistic and pessimistic, hopeful and cynical. It is making fun of itself while simultaneously asserting itself.” A utopic, communist, queer, space nation may be outlandish but it can represent a hope to free ourselves from the earthly hierarchies and restrictions that control our lives.

The optimism that runs through utopic discourse (including academic and theoretical utopic discourse) is not always grounded. I understand and appreciate the importance of the hope it embodies, but I am often let down by its lack of objectivity. While it doesn’t make sense to expect rationality from utopia, it does true progressivism no good to disconnect it from real life circumstance or our goals/hopes, one of those being a considered egalitarianism.

To me, the tongue-in-cheek meme embodies a limbo that many progressives reside in. In the case of automation, many utilize it regularly and, further, it’s soothing to take comfort in the Marxian notion that human labor’s eventual replacement by technology and automation will determine capitalism futile. However, as of this moment, these processes, rather than enacting utopia, have helped to dismantle the concept of job security and endanger the American union—the interfaces and automation of tech companies serving as sufficient cover, as they optimize behind-the-scenes workforces for profit above all else. Amazon, Uber, Airbnb, etc. all take advantage of unregulated cyberspace, and, ultimately, it is the poor and minoritized that suffer the brunt. Given this (I often wonder) how do we look towards utopia while keeping our feet planted firmly on the ground. As we envision the future and take action to enact it, how do we avoid utopic discourse and progressive action that doesn’t consider the needs of everyone and the reality at hand (see Jill Stein 2016)—that quite possibly puts ease or ‘automated luxury’ before those this ease immediately and negatively affects?