There is no perfect state, so don't burn this one
On social-media outbursts, utopian fantasies, and striving towards the "more" in "more perfect union"
In an apparent outburst of frustration, an individual blasted out a message to hundreds of thousands of social-media followers, lamenting that they "don't care anymore if this country destroys itself and burns down to the ground". The language is sufficiently inflammatory that the post itself was deleted, though Google confirms it once existed. If cooler thinking prevailed, then so much the better.
■ The radicalism of the outburst, though, highlights a gravely misguided principle for which everyone must keep perpetual watch in themselves and in others. It is the belief, conscious or not, that a utopia exists and can be reached.
■ Nothing is so exhausting as the perpetual fight against the utopian mindset. There is no perfect end state, nor will there ever be. Every social or political system built on the utopian fantasy has ended in tears or terror. Just within modern history, the Soviet Union never became a workers' paradise -- but it managed to murder hundreds of thousands directly at the hands of the state and millions more through systemic failure.
■ There is no "cleansing fire" to be had from burning down imperfect but aspirational institutions (like America's Constitutional form of government). There is only ever the slow, hard work of building, reforming, and caretaking along the way. Our greatest victories are often celebrated over the eradication of our own worst shortcomings. That is the very point of commemorating Juneteenth: The evil of slavery was overcome, much later and much harder than it should have been, and ultimately those too long denied their liberty were finally emancipated.
■ Something better is always possible, but to fantasize over something perfect is a path to terminal frustration. The Constitution correctly promises only a "more perfect union". Not an end state, but a striving towards better. It's a lesson everyone has to internalize, both now and in the future.
