In which i think too much about an animated movie.

Also, possible spoilers for the two people who haven't seen it yet.

The ideal society: "Zootopia" and political philosophy.

While "Zootopia" seems like a typical simple, happy animated feature with your average feel-good message about everybody getting along and everyone-can-be-whatever-they-dream, if you pay attention (or if you're a typical philosophy type and you think too damn much), you'll realise that there's actually a whole lot more going on.

"Zootopia" is actually a quite sophisticated look at various political philosophies that have sought to answer the age-old question: "how shall we achieve the ideal state"?

The clues are all in the names. Puns abound.

First off, "Zootopia" is a pun on Thomas More's "Utopia", a 16th century work of fiction and political philosophy, which was itself based on, and a critique of, the much older "Republic" of Plato.

Although "Utopia" is today understood to mean "an ideal place", this is a mistranslation: the literal meaning of More's original Greek was "no-place". In other words, More was saying that an ideal society was unattainable.

In any case, like Plato's Atlantis (which was never intended to be understood as a real place, but was intended as a fictionalised exemplar of his ideal state), More described Utopia as an island divided up into several districts - which we see in Zootopia's "environments".

The next clue is in the names of the principal protagonists.

Judy Hopps is a pun on the 17th century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes. Exactly as Judy describes in her opening skit, Hobbes wrote that the "state of nature" was one of anarchic savage competition, a "war of all against all" in which the strong preyed on the weak, and there was no place for industry, culture, art or society: life was necessarily "nasty, brutish and short". In order to avoid this violent state of nature, people engage in a "social contract", in which individuals band together in a "common-wealth", pooling their resources for common security. This necessarily involves a tacit agreement from the strong to give up their natural advantage over the weak, and all members surrendering some degree of freedom to the sovereign (be it a literal sovereign or a sovereign state).

Judy's first name, by the way, comes from the Biblical character, Judith, a daring warrior woman who sets out on a lone mission to save her people from danger.

Nick is literally "Wilde", and represents the Hobbesian state of nature: he is solitary and selfish, waging a one-fox war against all. This is not because Nick is innately savage or evil but because, as Hobbes observed, in the state of nature, even when individuals are not actually fighting, they cannot be sure that others will not try and attack them - thus they live their lives in a constant state of mistrust and on guard against one another.

"Zootopia" also references another 17th century work of political philosophy: Machiavelli's "The Prince". Machiavelli dedicated his book to Lorenzo de Medici, whose uncle was Pope Leo - thus it is no accident that it is Mayor Lionheart who makes the Machiavellian judgement to "do the wrong thing for the right reasons". The theme of Machiavelli's work was political realism: princes should do what is necessary - even if it betrays conventional morality - to hold the state together.

Deputy Mayor Bellwether's name is derived from a term for the leading sheep of a flock, which wears a bell on its neck (as she literally does in the movie), and in political parlance, means something that leads or indicates a trend. Bellwether thus represents contemporary poll-driven politics, or populism.

Yet Mayor Lionheart's actions lead to disaster. So do Judy's. Nick's life is nasty, brutish and short. Bellwether is the most obvious villain of the piece.

So what does the film suggest as the ideal society?

The answer, it seems to me, lies in the work which Thomas More based "Utopia" on: Plato's "Republic".

Plato thought that the ideal society should consist of three classes: the Guardians or Rulers, the Auxilliaries or Warriors, and the Commoners or Producers. At the conclusion of "Zootopia", we see exactly that: Mayor Lionheart resumes his natural place as leader, the Nick and Judy assume their role as Warriors enforcing his rule, and the hoi polloi contentedly take their place as Producers.

Although Plato's society was hierarchical, he also assumed that (a very few) people could, on merit, move between classes. Thus Judy, by virtue of her bravery and intelligence, is able to move from being a Producer to being a Warrior.

However, Plato also believed that most people were simply born to stay in their class. Rulers were born to rule. Producers were born to be common people and nothing else. Plato also believed that people were happiest when they stayed were they were born to be: Judy's parents are happy being simple farmers. The very idea of social mobility is frightening to them.

This is where Plato's ideas - the "spell of Plato" as Karl Popper put it, in "The Open Society and its enemies" - have been so dangerously seductive. The idea that only a very special, selected few (naturally, "us") are born to lead, while the great common herd ("them", of course) are just born to do what they're told has been enormously appealing to would-be authoritarians for thousands of years. Plato has been the well-spring of nearly every authoritarian political creed, from Marxism to Fascism.

Which is why we should remember what Thomas More tried to tell us: "Utopia" is "no-place".

The perfect society doesn't exist.

See? Told you philosophy makes you think too much.

IT'S ALIVE!! as Victor Frankenstein would say ...

According to my journals, it's been 7 months since I last posted anything. Good lord.

Anyway, I'm back, and as it happens a very special friend of mine who also took a long break from FA has also just returned:

 foxiefang is a long-time art fan, and is finally dipping her toes into creating art herself. She's just posted her first for-sale efforts here, some cute lil' chibis: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/19418127/

Go have a look!

I keep trying to catch up on submissions, but ... 1989?!!

I refuse to nuke them, though. I WILL troll through them all! Every damn one of them!

Hi all, I realise I haven't posted anything, and barely commented, etc., in ages, but I AM still alive.

Just going through a difficult period, overwhelmed with university work, and heath/medication issues, as well as just ordinary family/work/life balance.

Because Australia is ahead of just about everyone else!

Hi everyone. Just thought I'd pop in a quick journal explaining my virtual absence of late.

Well, firstly, study: as well as working full-time, I study full-time. It's getting to the end of semester, so the work's been piled on. Over had an arseload of papers to write; and philosophy papers don't come easy. I have exams in a week and a half, so at least that will be off my plate. Till next (and last) year.

The other issue has been medical: I've had two major diagnoses. One is a sleep disorder. Which explains why I've been so tired for the past six months or so, as well as other issues. The other is an endocrine problem, which as it happens produces the same symptoms as the other: extreme tiredness, lack of motivation, no energy, weight gain, inability to concentrate, as well as mood issues and migraines.

All in all, both diagnoses explain a great deal. So the thing now is to get to, and sort them out!

But in the meantime, most of my time is spent sleeping or trying to keep awake: today I slept till 8am - a late sleep for me - had breakfast, went back to bed till ten. Got up, did some stuff. Tried to study in the afternoon, napped twice, for about an hour each.

I seriously can't wait to be back to feeling normal and actually having energy again!

And I can't wait to get this semester finished, so I can spend some spare time drawing and maybe writing again!

Thanks for putting up with my extended whining.

Are you afraid of:

[ ] the dark
[ ] staying single forever
[ ] being a parent
[ ] giving birth
[ ] being myself in front of others
[ ] open spaces
[ ] closed spaces
[x] heights. At first. Given time, I acclimatise.
[ ] dogs
[ ] birds
[ ] fish
[x] spiders
[ ] flowers or other plants
Total so far: 2

[ ] being touched/touching
[ ] fire
[ ] deep water
[ ] snakes
[ ] silk
[x] failure
[ ] success
[ ] thunder/lightning
[ ] frogs/toads
[ ] girlfriends/boyfriend's dad
[ ] girlfriends/boyfriend's mom
[ ] rats
[x] jumping from high places
[ ] snow
Total so far: 4

[ ] rain
[ ] wind
[ ] crossing hanging bridges.
[ ] death
[ ] heaven
[ ] being robbed
[ ] falling
[ ] clown
[ ] dolls
[ ] large crowds of people
[ ] men
[ ] women
[ ] having great responsibilities
[ ] doctors, including dentists
[ ] tornadoes
Total so far: 4

[ ] hurricanes
[ ] incurable diseases
[x] sharks
[ ] Friday the 13th
[ ] ghosts
[ ] poverty
[ ] Halloween
[ ] school
[ ] trains
[ ] odd numbers
[ ] even numbers
[x] becoming blind
[x] becoming deaf. Because I'm already halfway there, and I dread losing what I have left.
[ ] growing up
Total so far: 7

[ ] creepy noises in the night. They make me more curious than anything.
[ ] bee stings
[x] not accomplishing my dreams/goals
[ ] blood
[ ] dinosaurs
[ ] the welcome mat
[ ] high speed
[ ] throwing up
[ ] falling in love
[ ] super secrets
Total: 8

If you wish to post this journal, it's been requested that you title it, "I'm afraid of __ out of 72 fears"

if you get more than 30, I highly suggest counseling
if you get more than 20, you're paranoid
if you get 10-20, you're normal.

I just noticed I have exactly 1000 page views!

I should do something to celebrate, I guess.

Fun Fact: when I have my lunch, i eat my fruit first.

I live in a little town in Tasmania: last night we had dinner at the local pub. Walking home across the footy oval, we noticed a little creature browsing under the cypress trees - a bandicoot!

An eastern barred bandicoot, to be precise: http://www.zoo.org.au/sites/default.....?itok=EcOcdgYQ (Ours tend to be grey-whiter than this, btw). They're only small - about the size of a small rabbit.

This little fellow was quite happy to graze away while we were less than a metre away from him.

Then we saw another just outside our house, just around the corner from the oval. This one a bit more wary.

I'm glad we keep the cat indoors at night, now that I know they're about so much.

Fun fact: our cat won't eat when he comes in, until he's been picked up for a cuddle.

I was very saddened to read, this morning, that James Hardiman has passed away.

While I must confess to not being a particular fan of his style, he was a talented artist and huge part of, and contributor to, the fandom for many years. For those, like me, whose first introduction to the fandom proper was in the great rush to the web of the mid-90s, James Hardiman and Skunkworks were a big part of that.

I'd known, vaguely, that he was gravely ill for a long time, nonetheless his death at such a young age has come as a huge shock to me. I am deeply saddened by his passing.

Many condolences to his family.

http://www.barnesfamilyfunerals.com.....aries/view/304

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/skunkworks

If anyone wants to chat, natter, chunter, chew the fat, gossip, jabber, ramble, chinwag, etc., I'm on Skype as uisgebear.

I leave it open most days, although I might take a while to respond to messages.

Say 'hi'!

I'm usually very reluctant to pass on, well, 'begging letters', but in this case I think it's for a worthy cause.

puddingpaw has an injured cat she had to hand over to a shelter, who are now threatening to sell the cat off if she can't pay the bills.

Details here: http://www.gofundme.com/dsuvok

I woke up the other morning, and this idea popped straight into my head: a furry comic strip called 'Switch', based around a little catgirl growing up in a world where humans are still adapting to the idea of furries living amongst them. She is the progeny of a human male and a feline female. The story would mainly deal with her interacting with neighbourhood children, starting school, etc.

The first strip was just there in my head, fully formed:

A little girl lying in long grass, with a book obscuring her face. She looks totally normal from what we can see. The last day of summer: soft breeze, butterfly flits past. We hear a voice call, 'Switch!' and her eyes fly open. They have slitted pupils. She sits up and calls back. Now we see her large, pointed ears prick up, and her tail sticking out.

I solemnly swear to spend this weekend (mostly) away from the internet, and finally knuckle down to that homework!

Woke up this morning with a migraine.

So much for all the study I was going to do today. Going back to bed.

I've been getting these a lot, lately. If I sleep past about 7am, wake up with a headache. I've had a couple so bad they've made me puke.

Ok - I THINK I've figured this thing out. This could be amusing - in a car crash kind of way ...

EDIT: A URL would help ... https://www.tigerdile.com/stream/uisgebear/

Trying to set up for my first ever live stream.

'Cept I have no idea what I'm doing, and I've probably had too much to drink anway.

I hereby declare FUN FACT FRIDAY!

I think I made that up, but anyway ... Friday it is, here in Australia, so here's your Fun Fact:

I am currently (as I write this) wearing a white tiger onesie.

It belongs to my wife, as it happens, but I'm home alone for a week, it's winter in Tasmania (COLD!) and all my pjs are in the wash.

Is it possible to stream under different names using the same account?

For instance, if I wanted to do a SFW stream as 'Uisgebear', but then I wanted to do a NSFW stream as another FA account?

I'm guessing not.

I must be a furry cos I'm drunk as a skunk

I must be a furry cos I'm drunk as a skunk

I grow old, I grow old. I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

Working tonight with headphones, I can foresee one big problem with the idea of streaming ...

I'm liable to burst into song ...