Goeglein: Stumbling Toward Utopia
By Tim Goeglein
In 1516, Sir Thomas More published a book titled Utopia, which compared social and economic conditions in Europe with those of an ideal society on an imaginary island off the coast of the Americas.
More wanted to imply that the perfect conditions on his fictional island could never exist, so he called it “Utopia,” a name he crested by combining the Greek words ou (‘not, no’) and topos (‘place’).
The current use of utopia, referring to an ideal place or society, was inspired by More’s description of Utopia’s perfection. Utopia refers to an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members.
For centuries since More first coined the word, man has sought to create their utopias where everything, in human understanding, would be perfect – a heaven on earth. Everyone would get along – there would be no poverty, no war, no conflict of any kind. It is a desire we all have because we are created Imago Dei – in the image of God – and thus yearn for such a place.
Unfortunately, all man’s attempts to create a utopian society have been abject failures because they are based on man’s efforts, instead of submission to God’s authority. Only in heaven is such a utopia a reality. But that has not stopped them from trying.
In 1971, John Lennon penned the utopian anthem, “Imagine,” in which he called for a world without religion, without countries, with no possessions, no greed or hunger, and a brotherhood of man “sharing the world.”
Lennon’s wistful thinking became the anthem for a more recent to create another utopia. This attempt was fueled by the radical activists of the 1960s who unleashed the latest attempt to create a perfect, at least in their view, American society.
Instead, they took a wrecking ball to society and America has never been the same. All one must do is look at our current culture to see the damage the 1960s utopians created.
Hardly a day goes by without someone asking me, “What happened to America?” or “How did we end up in this mess?” For many, they feel they are living an American nightmare, rather than an American Dream.
So how, did we get here, and what is my answer to the reoccurring question I am asked, “What happened to America?” The answer is simply: “The latest attempt to create utopia has failed: the 1960s.”
It was in the 1960s that America discarded its fundamental underpinnings of faith, family, and respect, and our nation has never been the same since. Our relations with each other across every conceivable spectrum have only worsened, our inner cities have become more decayed, our educational system increasingly inept, our families splintered, and our national civility anything but.
What happened in the 1960s, and continues to this day, did not occur overnight. It was the culmination of incremental efforts by determined progressives to remake America into something the Founding Fathers would not recognize.
While much of America was unaware, in the first 60 years of the 20th century, progressives were taking over every major institution: academia, religion, primary education, entertainment and local governments. Once entrenched, they used raw power, ridicule, and intimidation to consolidate and strengthen their control.
At last, they could then launch their radical transformation in the 1960s – starting on the coasts, eventually metastasizing inland. And like a spreading disease, America began eating away at itself until eventually nothing was left except an empty shell of what she once was.
But the damage of the 1960s is not irreversible, but it will take time and perseverance to slowly reclaim each institution the progressive Left captured during the twentieth century. I am an eternal optimist, and I believe we can make America once again the “shining city on a hill” for which Ronald Reagan so eloquently advocated.
I believe we can leave a legacy for future generations to enjoy such that when they are asked, “What happened to America?” they can respond, “She threw off the shackles of the 1960s and is moving forward into a glorious future.”
That is the utopia for which I hope and pray.
Tim Goeglein, a Fort Wayne native and longtime member of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, is vice president of external and government relations for Focus on the Family. Formerly, he served as a special assistant to President George W. Bush and as a deputy director of the White House Office of Public Liaison. This is excerpted from his latest book, Stumbling Toward Utopia: How the 1960s Turned into a National Nightmare and How We Can Revive the American Dream, (Fidelis, 2024).
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