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Ticket to Heaven Daily Dose

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Hrvatski Noahid:
While music, dance, and language are widely known to be found in every human society, the optimistic belief in a better future is perhaps one of the original human universals. From the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in search of their American Dream to the five-year economic plans of the Soviet Union, from the blue-collar workers maintaining our infrastructure to the cavepeople who decorated rock walls thousands of years ago, the quest to make tomorrow better than today has been one of the hidden catalysts for every achievement ever made by human beings.

Our capacity to dream, to imagine, to plan, and to improve has elevated us to a position of almost total authority over the rest of the animal kingdom. This capacity has built palaces, castles, skyscrapers, and monuments. It has invented the steam engine, the lightbulb, and the internet. It has yielded science fiction, Walt Disney World, coconut cream pie, and prosecco. Perhaps more than anything else, however, our faculty of imagination and our sense of optimism have given us the concept of a utopia, an ideal society where hardship, poverty, and injustice no longer exist.

Although the word for utopia was only invented by Sir Thomas More in the sixteenth century, the search for a perfect society has been a central theme in Western thought for almost two thousand years. Indeed, ever since the characters in Plato’s Republic first explored the nature of justice and just societies through dialectical exercises, a great deal of Western intellectual effort has been devoted to envisioning optimal systems and governance structures.

Many of these efforts have been theoretical or philosophical exercises, such as Plato’s Republic, Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, or Aldous Huxley’s innovative and subversive Island. However, other utopian projects have taken place in the real world and are responsible, at least in part, for some of the most pivotal movements in world history. The Bolshevik Revolution, for example, ousted the ruling class of tzarist Russia and implemented radical new ideas about economics and governance, a series of decisions which backfired magnificently, killed millions of people, hobbled Russia for decades, and had worldwide ripple effects throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Over one hundred years before the Bolsheviks took control of Russia, the American Revolution was also catalyzed by grievances regarding economics and governance. Much like the Bolsheviks, the philosopher-leaders of the American Revolution overturned monarchial rulers and established their own systems. Unlike the Bolsheviks, however, the Americans’radical and original ideas, which they outlined in a collection of founding documents such as the Declaration of Independence, birthed one of the planet’s most powerful nations, one of its largest economies, and some of the most influential political ideas in the Western world. (Ticket to Heaven by Zachary R.J. Strong, PDF version, p 21)

Hrvatski Noahid:
Indeed, the history books and statistical records clearly demonstrate that the American attempt at utopia has been decidedly more successful than the Soviet efforts. Despite its many well-documented faults, in just a few centuries the “land of the free” and “home of the brave” has become a world leader in culture, science, technology, politics, and philosophy, as well as a leading military superpower and a primary food exporter. Immigrants from around the world flock to its borders, some even making dangerous and illegal crossings over the Rio Grande for a chance at a better life.

On the other hand, the Soviet economy was an overmanaged disaster with thousands of government offices vainly attempting to control all aspects of production and distribution, leaving many Soviet citizens without the ability to buy a car, a television set, or even many food items considered staples in the West. Furthermore, whereas the waves of illegal immigrants crossing the American border have triggered heated discussions about a border wall to keep people out, the “antifascist” Berlin Wall implemented by the Soviets was not constructed for defensive purposes, but to keep East Germans from fleeing communist rule. Dissenters and dangerous thinkers who could not escape to the West were imprisoned in gulags and worked to death in the frozen wastelands of Siberia.

An honest review of human history reveals that most utopian projects have not led to better societies, but to economic disaster, mass starvation, and even genocide. From Le Corbusier’s questionable attempt at an “efficient” architectural commune in France to the violently mechanistic attempt at agricultural utopia in Pol Pot’s Cambodia, it seems to be the case that individuals or nations with grand visions consistently end up in shambles. In the case of the Soviet Union, this can be both metaphorically and physically seen in the remnants of the Berlin Wall, torn down by East Germans in 1989 following decades of silent discontent. (Ticket to Heaven by Zachary R.J. Strong, PDF version, p 22)

Hrvatski Noahid:
Meanwhile, the American Dream has outlasted and outperformed every instantiation of communism that has ever been attempted. Whereas the ruins of the Berlin Wall serve as a stark reminder of the costs of compliance, the records of American achievement can be found in the etched walls of Virginia’s coal mines, have been immortalized in movies like Saving Private Ryan, and even include a star-spangled banner on the surface of the Moon.

Yet even the American attempt at utopia now seems to be failing, and inexplicably so. Despite its material wealth and accomplished history, the number of Americans dying from opioid overdoses each year is now equivalent to the number of soldiers who died in the entire Vietnam War, and the suicide rate of American youth between the ages of ten and twenty-four has nearly doubled over the last decade. Fourteen percent of American youth report experiencing serious psychological distress within the last month, and about one in ten have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. These themes are reflected in the statistics of other Western nations, with assisted suicide one of the leading causes of death in Canada and suicide devices now becoming available in European countries.

Beyond the psychological misery experienced by large portions of North American society, the average person faces significant economic challenges that impact their quality of life. With the amount of wealth controlled by the Western middle classes quickly eroding and large corporations now investing in residential housing, home ownership is becoming a distant dream. Indeed, it is estimated that over half of young adults still live with their parents for the first time since the Great Depression, and that the majority of those who do live on their own find their living situation hard to afford. Moreover, the savings of the average household are exceedingly slim, with fifty-six percent of families reporting that they would be unable to find one thousand dollars to cover an emergency.

Even people with careers that provide for their material needs find themselves facing unprecedented levels of unhappiness, with eighty percent of employees reporting feeling disengaged at their workplace. The top regrets of dying Westerners are centered around themes of working too hard, sacrificing one’s individuality, and neglecting important relationships, indicating high levels of life dissatisfaction. Burnout in many professions, particularly nursing and teaching, has become widespread, leading to a shortage of critical workers and ongoing systemic pressures on education and healthcare systems.

In addition to the psychological and economic troubles faced by the West, the political atmosphere in Western nations is strained nearly to the point of breaking. Ongoing conversations about race, gender, and sexuality have driven rifts between once-amicable political factions in many countries, with influencers on both sides making use of genocidal rhetoric and politicians refusing to collaborate or reconcile. The divide has become so deep, and the rhetoric so violent, that both the United States of America and Canada now qualify for inclusion on genocide watchlists. (Ticket to Heaven by Zachary R.J. Strong, PDF version, p 23)

Hrvatski Noahid:
Perhaps most distressingly, the West seems to have lost its capacity to even engage with the kinds of bold ideas necessary for utopian visions, leaving its nations mired in short-term thinking and bitter disputes over policy issues. Consider, for example, that in the late 1940s, an American schoolteacher named John Reber drafted an ambitious plan to build two dams in the San Francisco Bay area, supporting new land development, the creation of freshwater lakes, and new transit routes. Despite the vast changes this would have made to the geography of San Francisco, Reber’s plan was taken so seriously that a scale model was built by the government to prototype his suggestions.

In contrast to San Francisco’s enthusiastic engagement with the Reber Plan, the Walt Disney resort in Florida is an underappreciated casualty of the West’s inability to pursue grand projects. Although it may be one of the world’s most popular vacation destinations, Walt Disney originally intended the “Florida Project” to be a twenty-thousand-person Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow complete with underground tunnels for cars, a circular design, and a wide range of urban planning innovations meant to serve as a testing ground for future cities. Unfortunately, following Disney’s unexpected death in 1966, the company abandoned his bold vision for the project and instead built another theme park, a much safer option that delivered predictable shareholder value.

In response to the West’s loss of interest in visionary ideas, which seems to have occurred in the second half of the twentieth century, one of the most successful investors in Silicon Valley has diagnosed Western society with a case of indefinite optimism – an optimistic belief in a better future without any specific plan to get there. In business contexts, this manifests as a vague commitment to shareholder value and a myopic concern with certain dollar figures, which often remain disconnected from more practical matters of innovation, market leadership, organizational integrity, or company mission. The ill-fated attempts of brands like Bud Light to capitalize on cultural movements are a symptom of this lack of vision, as marketers with a sense of definite optimism would have a unique story of their own to tell instead of a variation of someone else’s narrative.

Even science fiction, a Western literary genre known for depicting expansive and fantastical visions of futuristic societies, has lost the optimistic and imaginative themes that were common in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Whereas readers of decades past might have entertained themselves with H.G. Wells’ The Shape of Things to Come, they are now treated to dystopian and apocalyptic themes through written works like The Hunger Games and The Handmaid’s Tale, or movies like The Matrix, Avengers: Endgame, and even the charming Wall-E. (Ticket to Heaven by Zachary R.J. Strong, PDF version, p 24)

Hrvatski Noahid:
The simultaneous collapse of North America’s mental health, economic prospects, political discourse, appetite for innovation, and even sense of optimism has raised serious concerns among experts, many of whom now refer to the situation as a crisis with no clear cause or solution. While researchers have found some contributing factors to the current state of Western civilization, such as the dramatic rise in smartphone use among modern teenagers or the over-systematization of childcare and education, the problems seem to be too interrelated and complex to solve.

Attempts have been made to understand the issue, with Canadian psychologist John Vervaeke referring to the West’s current predicament as a meaning crisis attributable to the misinformation, underdevelopment, and cynicism which has become endemic in Western nations. Philosopher Terry Patten differs slightly by describing the situation as a meta-crisis, alluding to his view that the psychological, spiritual, and economic catastrophes are too inter-related to allow for the identification of root causes. Regardless of the terminology, both theorists are gravely worried about the sudden loss of meaning, significance, and continuity experienced by Western individuals in the post-internet era, which seems to be connected to technology and childcare, but in ways that cannot be fully explained.

While these diagnoses offer valuable insights into the nature of the West’s current crisis, the reality is that these confusing collapses should be attributed to unacknowledged problems within Western thought that have been outstanding for millennia. Indeed, an honest review of the Western intellectual project reveals a mind-bending level of fraudulence, corruption, conjecture, and ignorance that has left the average person deeply confused about fundamental matters of human nature, human history, and the laws of the universe. Over the past couple of centuries in particular, this confusion has cascaded into philosophies, religions, scientific pronouncements, expert consensuses, textbooks, government policies, and even artistic expressions that are hostile to human life, ultimately resulting in the meta-crisis now troubling Western researchers.

In much the same way that Marie Antoinette’s out-of-touch perspectives cost her a perfectly good head during the French Revolution, without an accurate understanding of human nature or the laws of the universe that govern social living, any nation or civilization will inevitably collapse under the weight of its own ignorance. This is what happened to the Soviet regime, as frustrated citizens began tearing down the Berlin Wall while bureaucrats micromanaged pointlessly destructive whaling programs. In a similar sense, this is also what happened to the Catholic Church following the celestial discoveries of Bruno and Galileo, and to the countless failed attempts at liberal communes that have been made in recent history. (Ticket to Heaven by Zachary R.J. Strong, PDF version, p 24-25)

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