I think mundane Utopianism of this sort is very attractive and inspiring to me. Basically pleasant bureaucracy for life
"A society in which every child shall grow up in pleasant homes and attractive surroundings and with good educational opportunities; in which every adult shall be provided for in sickness and adversity; and in which the pensioner can take untroubled ease."
Development economist Arthur Lewis.
Development economist Arthur Lewis.
May 6, 2025 at 6:27 AM
I think mundane Utopianism of this sort is very attractive and inspiring to me. Basically pleasant bureaucracy for life
"Deep Space Nine refutes the utopianism of The Next Generation because it displays the moral compromises captains need to make" no, Deep Space Nine refutes the utopianism of The Next Generation because every time some existentially horrifying shit happens to O'Brien he still has to show up for work.
June 26, 2026 at 5:43 PM
"Deep Space Nine refutes the utopianism of The Next Generation because it displays the moral compromises captains need to make" no, Deep Space Nine refutes the utopianism of The Next Generation because every time some existentially horrifying shit happens to O'Brien he still has to show up for work.
These people will speculate about the wildest sci-fi futures, and then call free buses for all unrealistic utopianism
November 3, 2025 at 3:32 PM
These people will speculate about the wildest sci-fi futures, and then call free buses for all unrealistic utopianism
when i first started watching during the pandemic, that's what i fell in love with: the utopianism
June 8, 2024 at 4:03 AM
when i first started watching during the pandemic, that's what i fell in love with: the utopianism
*living in the world wrought by technological utopianism* we should try technological utopianism again
i remain professionally convinced that tiktok wasn’t banned for either the stated reasons (national security & data privacy) or competitive reasons (ads on tiktok worked compared to IG/FB/Snap/TW)
TikTok was banned because it is/was monstrously effective at teaching people empathy of others
TikTok was banned because it is/was monstrously effective at teaching people empathy of others
I am watching 30 years of propaganda melt away at first contact with actual Chinese folks.
Every comment section on RedNote are the Chinese users welcoming the Americans, "I'm so glad you're here! We can be friends now! We are not enemy!"
Every comment section on RedNote are the Chinese users welcoming the Americans, "I'm so glad you're here! We can be friends now! We are not enemy!"
January 14, 2025 at 8:47 PM
*living in the world wrought by technological utopianism* we should try technological utopianism again
Yep, a much better “hope machine” is decarceration. The story framing is an adoption of corporate techno utopianism instead of an examination of how dystopian it is to lock people in cages
That prisons are by design and policy so bereft of stimulation, education, entertainment, joy and connection makes it very difficult to say this is bad actually however it does not make it impossible to say this is not uplifting and heartwarming actually
VR headsets are 'hope machines' inside California prisons
Prisoners are now taking regular trips to far-flung, exotic locales such as Thailand
abcnews.go.com
January 11, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Yep, a much better “hope machine” is decarceration. The story framing is an adoption of corporate techno utopianism instead of an examination of how dystopian it is to lock people in cages
The tech utopianism of the Obama years....
A large component of this mess was that we were represented by people who barely understood the internet and just took it on faith that the tech people could wield their creations as if they were magic, never bothering to see the necessity of regulating it or seeing where this was all going.
February 7, 2025 at 6:23 PM
The tech utopianism of the Obama years....
See also Musk to Yarvin's complete misunderstanding of Asimov's liberal humanism and Iain Banks's Socialist utopianism
October 29, 2025 at 9:54 AM
See also Musk to Yarvin's complete misunderstanding of Asimov's liberal humanism and Iain Banks's Socialist utopianism
The radical Utopianism of walking around a library with a kid who is excitedly grabbing every book that looks exciting off the shelf.
August 16, 2026 at 7:40 PM
The radical Utopianism of walking around a library with a kid who is excitedly grabbing every book that looks exciting off the shelf.
it's dark dark where society is sleepwalking into enabled by techno-utopianism
![He believes AI could, in the next 7-12 years, help treat nearly all infectious diseases, eliminate most cancers, cure genetic disorders, and halt Alzheimer’s at the earliest stages. In the next 5-10 years, Amodei thinks that conditions like PTSD, depression, schizophrenia, and addiction will be cured with AI-concocted drugs, or genetically prevented via embryo screening (a controversial opinion) — and that AI-developed drugs will also exist that “tune cognitive function and emotional state” to “get [our brains] to behave a bit better and have a more fulfilling day-to-day experience.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hakzua5btcgcfjye2yujlhos/bafkreifyw635i2kepg6q4jnla5dav3umyyvqggu35faeilxgfn3wnaxaja)
October 13, 2024 at 6:14 PM
it's dark dark where society is sleepwalking into enabled by techno-utopianism
"Andy Burnham is simply parroting the failed sports utopianism of Sunder Katwala"
Influence?!? (according to the anglofuturist & ethnonat influencers anyway)
Influence?!? (according to the anglofuturist & ethnonat influencers anyway)
July 13, 2026 at 5:30 PM
"Andy Burnham is simply parroting the failed sports utopianism of Sunder Katwala"
Influence?!? (according to the anglofuturist & ethnonat influencers anyway)
Influence?!? (according to the anglofuturist & ethnonat influencers anyway)
🇺🇸 "The era of American utopian idealism is over... NO to idealistic utopianism. Long live hard realism," — Hegseth
December 7, 2025 at 2:19 PM
🇺🇸 "The era of American utopian idealism is over... NO to idealistic utopianism. Long live hard realism," — Hegseth
re-reading this banger from Endnotes 4 in preparation for a talk on utopianism on Tuesday
November 23, 2024 at 9:03 AM
re-reading this banger from Endnotes 4 in preparation for a talk on utopianism on Tuesday
So much pop-utopianism does not survive contact with "so why does the bins then". There are clear answers to it, and social solutions I support the rationale for, but people don't wanna hear it
Like the "I would make lattes in the revolution" posts from way back, I would take this sentiment more seriously if they would admit society requires necessary labor that people DON'T WANT TO DO and have to be either paid or forced
Notably this post does not say "you dream of cleaning sewers"
Notably this post does not say "you dream of cleaning sewers"
September 29, 2026 at 8:45 AM
So much pop-utopianism does not survive contact with "so why does the bins then". There are clear answers to it, and social solutions I support the rationale for, but people don't wanna hear it
Elon is a bullshit artist vaporware hawker and it’s totally correct to mock this specific stupid claim, but it is sort of depressing how him associating himself so strongly with techno-utopianism has negatively polarized so many against it.
in a long life filled with saying stupid shit this is may be the stupidest shit he's ever said
November 12, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Elon is a bullshit artist vaporware hawker and it’s totally correct to mock this specific stupid claim, but it is sort of depressing how him associating himself so strongly with techno-utopianism has negatively polarized so many against it.
it's pretty easy to imagine a "post-gender world but where biological sex is neatly intact and treated as immutable", that's just like, london. it takes no imagination let alone any kind of utopianism.
July 30, 2026 at 2:13 AM
it's pretty easy to imagine a "post-gender world but where biological sex is neatly intact and treated as immutable", that's just like, london. it takes no imagination let alone any kind of utopianism.
With a little bit of quasi-religious utopianism thrown in.
March 8, 2025 at 5:45 PM
With a little bit of quasi-religious utopianism thrown in.
this essay made me think of this 1995 cartoon which may have aged better than anything I've ever written
October 18, 2023 at 12:15 PM
this essay made me think of this 1995 cartoon which may have aged better than anything I've ever written
I can't think of a better combination of utopianism and fetishism.
January 3, 2026 at 3:55 PM
I can't think of a better combination of utopianism and fetishism.
Techno-utopianism is an incredibly resilient yet utterly discredited vibe. It's not even sophisticated enough to be called an ideology, as it's really just moodboard context for bad startup pitches, yet it gets revived and rebranded again and again.
Nirvana is just around the corner, just trust the word of serial liars and some of the worst people on the planet.
Silicon Valley’s abundance of hype over abundance
Tech executives are now promising the AI revolution will lead to not just more, but everything
www.ft.com
June 7, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Techno-utopianism is an incredibly resilient yet utterly discredited vibe. It's not even sophisticated enough to be called an ideology, as it's really just moodboard context for bad startup pitches, yet it gets revived and rebranded again and again.
I think this is in part due to the rise of utopianism as an aesthetic in the 90s
I keep saying this but the 90s were also the era in kid culture in which we watched diverse groups of kids from around the world could come together, learn things, and save the world from climate destruction, corporate greed, and intergalactic colonizer aliens.
good thread 🧵 read it
in a lot of ways, I do see the 90s as the absolute apotheosis of the white hegemonic empire that is America. it's as far as you can really take that idea. 9/11 accelerated it, but it was always gonna turn on itself and start eating itself alive.
in a lot of ways, I do see the 90s as the absolute apotheosis of the white hegemonic empire that is America. it's as far as you can really take that idea. 9/11 accelerated it, but it was always gonna turn on itself and start eating itself alive.
May 4, 2026 at 2:54 AM
I think this is in part due to the rise of utopianism as an aesthetic in the 90s
This book isn't naively boosting cyber feminist utopianism, it talks only the page before about how this utopianism is a product of a time and environment that is also spawning new opportunities for the offshoring of feminised labour, the creation of new information labour sweatshops in call centres
September 25, 2026 at 6:03 PM
This book isn't naively boosting cyber feminist utopianism, it talks only the page before about how this utopianism is a product of a time and environment that is also spawning new opportunities for the offshoring of feminised labour, the creation of new information labour sweatshops in call centres
One of those things where there’s just no way to spin out a cohesive argument against aggressive YIMBY upzoning that isn’t predicated on a form of social utopianism
Seizing the community input system to be racist? In America? It’s more common than you might think.
December 7, 2025 at 5:01 PM
One of those things where there’s just no way to spin out a cohesive argument against aggressive YIMBY upzoning that isn’t predicated on a form of social utopianism