Hölderlin said: “What always turns a country into a hell on earth is precisely what people try to turn into paradise.” Throughout human history, although the ideal of "world harmony" has never truly been realized, the desire for utopia is deeply rooted, especially after the Enlightenment, when humanity was highly confident in its rational abilities, leading to many thoughts and ideologies aimed at building utopias. In the twentieth century, some utopian ideas were put to the test; when humanity passionately and fervently put these ideas into practice, believing they had created a paradise on earth, they suddenly found themselves in hell when the doors of the new society closed behind them.
Why can't humanity build a paradise on earth free from suffering and oppression, but can only accept an imperfect society? A British newspaper during World War I invited scholars and writers to contribute under the title "What is the root cause of the world's problems?" A writer named Chesterton replied with just two words: "In me." The root of many problems in human society lies not externally, but deep within human nature. External problems can be resolved through revolution, but as long as human hearts do not change, new problems will always arise, often more terrifying than the old ones. If one seeks to transform human nature, the most dreadful problems are bound to emerge.
"Animal Farm" is one of the famous dystopian trilogies, revealing the absurd nature of humanity's ideal of building a utopia through an animal fable. This book is undoubtedly an effective antidote to ideological poison, capable of dispelling the enchantment of political utopianism over the human heart and fostering a dark awareness of human nature.
History proves that utopian thought has an almost irresistible allure for people; only through profound insight into human nature can one remain sober like Benjamin the donkey in the story while everyone else is intoxicated.
Socrates profoundly realized the limitations of human reason, stating that the greatest wisdom humanity can attain is to fully recognize its own ignorance, known as the knowledge of ignorance. Similarly, a deep awareness of the darkness of human nature allows one to calmly accept a society that inevitably has flaws, while placing expectations for perfection in that transcendent world beyond this existence.