Utopia.

“So wait. You have jewels in your eyes? And they tell time? And they go backwards? Isn’t that maybe one thing too many, Shay?” - Tally, Pretties

WARNING : SPOILERS (just one though, read at your own risk if you want to read the Uglies Series and haven't already, and if you just don't give a fuck, welcome to another early morning post brought to you by Angela!)

That's honestly not the best quote from the Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld, but it works pretty well with what I'm going to write about.

I'm reading the last book of the Uglies Series (I recommend this to everyone!), Extras.

Short summary : It takes place about 300 years from now. The series is about futuristic stuff, and utopia. You're in seperate categories, Littlies (toddlers, little kids), Uglies (teenagers to the age of 16), Pretties (I think this is until you're about 20?), Middle Pretties (parents), and Crumblies (old peoople). There's also Specials, which I consider their Mofia. There's a surgury for everyone, to make them look pretty. In Tally's world, their number one goal is to be pretty. And throughout the series, Tally finds out that her perfect utopia is not so perfect, and actually pretty controlling, and personally I'd say kind of communist. And of course, it's up to Tally to fix everything before the shit hits the fan.

Tally's world is a utopia based world, you're pretty, you have a good job, everyone cares for the earth, each different city is far from the other, kind of like states, they have different accents and such. And there's a population balance, no under age sex, drugs, crimes, any of that. The biggest crimes committed there, in the beginning, are when the Uglies pull "tricks" like sneaking out to the Rusty Ruins (a town somewhere by Six Flags, CA) on their hoverboards, which is against the law, since they want to keep everyone in their own town, and out of trouble.

So eventually Tally finds out that during the surgury to become pretty, the doctors give your brains these lesions that prevent you from getting angry at one another, prevent confrontations, therefore preventing war, murders, all that stuff.

And I was thinking, well, that sounds pretty nice, actually. Not having wars and arguements, everyone gets along, and plus the technology is so advance, and everyone has a job, it's all perfect. Though, most people become "pretty-headed", which basically means all the Pretties care about is fashion and having fun. Until their Middle Pretties, then they get jobs and that. But Tally and a few of her friends kind of thought their way out of being pretty-headed.

Anyway, I was wondering, who'd like for this? I know I would. I understand that a part of my thought process would be controled by the government, but it was only anger and being able to let things go. It was their way of keeping the world safe. Eventually it all goes downhill, and people start thinking for themselves (after an event I won't mention, due to spoilers) and then the New Smoke (another town that Tally's city is trying to destroy, since everyone is running away) keeps getting bigger and expanding and basically turning back to what we are now, just with really fancy technology and pretty people.

My opinion changes back in forth with this, a lot, but if you could chose, which would you?

A world where everything is cool (hover boards, etc), the world is at peace, no one gets angry, you're guarenteed a job and a successful life, no starvation or underage pregnancies, no drugs, all for the payment of a brain lesion to make sure you don't get mad.

Or, a world like it is now, and no lesions and you can 100% think for yourself.

Eventually in Extras, which takes place two years after the first 3 books, they go wild and have no lesions, and can look however they want, but the only way you ever get noticed in life is by your Face Rank, which is determined by how pretty you are, and how cool you are, stuff you do, and how many times people say your name. I think that's the one I'd choose.

What about you guys? What do you think of utopia?