Jul 6, 2022 4 min read

Unleashing is what has been happening over the past six or so years. Unleashing deep frustration for some while also unleashing the forces that reversed established law for others. There really are two sides to every story. Depending upon its impact on you and your loved ones, the negative side can be perceived from either perspective.

While briefly watching a Fox Network talk show the other day featuring former Attorney General Bill Barr, one of those sides came more clearly into focus for me. AG Barr said, “The radical left is trying to create utopia.” (An imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.) He uttered that phrase with complete disgust, disdain and frustration.

This brought me to a different phrase credited to Bobby Kennedy, “Some men see things as they are, and say why. I dream of things that never were and say why not.” That “why not” has always resonated with me.

Then I remembered two memorable phrases from family members. One said, “Life is not like AYSO soccer,” and my Dad’s last words to me, “Kid, you have to toughen up.”

So, what is it? Do we equate utopia with some type of horrible dystopian future where people take care of each other? Or do we simply embrace the harsh realities of we Homo sapiens – greed, hatred, manipulation, control and endless war?

My personal preference has always been to strive for King Arthur’s vision of Camelot. Of course, the ending of that story didn’t work out well for anyone either.

Bobby Kennedy also said, “I don’t think that we have to shoot each other, to beat each other, to curse each other and criticize each other. I think that we can do better in this country.” Then he was shot.

Do we try for utopia or the recreation of a perceived utopia from the 1950s?

What if we tried instead to rebuild the middle ground?

Kennedy’s political platform emphasized racial equality, economic justice, non-aggression in foreign policy, decentralization of power, social improvement and youth engagement. His policies were unpopular with business which did not want to fund his social agenda.

Now, back to Attorney General Barr. Driving into Pittsburgh and seeing the skyline from the Fort Pitt Tunnel, I thought to myself, “The majority of these buildings were the result of business leaders who probably had similar opinions as the former attorney general. Those radical liberals want to create utopia where everyone is equal, where people have similar opportunities, where they are free, and poverty is erased.”

During a business trip to the Netherlands, the Secretary of Finance’s wife explained to me that 80% of their citizens were middle class, 10% were wealthy, and 10% lived in some version of poverty. The political description of such an existence could only be interpreted as some form of socialism or mini-utopia.

Of course, we have various versions of socialism in the United States with Medicare, Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, public education, and transportation. We also have several forms of savage capitalism that include mass incarceration from laws that were unequally enforced. (Have we seen Jeffery Epstein’s client list or imprisoned Wall Street bankers?)

One of my more erudite college professors once proclaimed that only the very rich and the very poor have freedom. All one needs to do is follow wealthy citizens like Bill Cosby living freely and those political leaders who have already admitted to illegal activities by asking for personal pardons. Then compare them to their passionate followers who believed they were fighting for a better life for their families, citizens who are now serving prison time.

Bottom line? Toughen up because people always get hurt. Give businesses some economic control, but risk becoming collateral damage. Encourage free public education, a social safety net, and other freedoms while continuing to embrace some level of socialism.

We need political balance, not extremes. But what’s wrong with Utopia?

Nick Jacobs of Windber is a health-care consultant and author of two books.