The potential of Humanity in a future Utopia practically given to us; is it worth it?

In this week’s reading of Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke, I believe Clarke, like Wells in the Time Machine, make’s heavy statements on humanity’s capacity to become lazy, as well as comments on labor and such in his novel. When the Overlords revealed themselves in book II and usher in the Golden Age of humanity, people just cease to work, only for “luxuries, or they did not work at all.” (64). Again, in a future like this, most production is said to be automatic and humans have all their necessities practically given to them. This alludes to the Marxist theory of “means of subsistence” in which humans have what they need (food, clothing, water, etc.) and need nothing else. If this is just practically given to them, is it really deserved? This may seem like just an American blue collar way to think about things, but I believe that the Utopia depicted in the novel isn’t just. One of the definitions of Utopia is an imaginary, indefinite region that is remote and ideally perfect. Now according to this definition, this is a Utopia, but shouldn’t a Utopia be a product, or the reward, of a race that worked hard to achieve it? Now the Overlord’s do not interfere much (specifically only twice in response to animal cruelty and racial relations in Africa) but I believe they do more behind the scenes work than presented. One could argue that they don’t really usher in the utopia and humans do most of the “work,” but I would say that since most things are given to them by the Overlord’s, there wasn’t much to be done. Now that isn’t to say that people still don’t believe in hard work or overachieving (such as Jan Rodricks sneaking away to try and find the Overlord’s homeworld out of pure curiosity) but I would say that people like Jan, or Sullivan who researches the ocean for the Overlord’s, are dwindling. This is alluded to at the end of book II, “And only Karellen knew with what inexorable swiftness the Golden Age was rushing to its close” (130). After the human race ceases to be curious, and is inevitably held back by the Overlord’s, with not being allowed to explore outside the Solar System, what’s next? Humans should be allowed to leave and discover what’s out there for themselves, to make mistakes and eventually reach equality with the Overlords. I would even liken them to a dictatorship, with a false sense of freedom. We are stuck like rats in a cage, not able to go anywhere and develop and go further, we’ve just hit the peak and after that there is nothing. Now it’s possible to assume the second half of the book delves more into this, but for then it could already be too late.

Clarke, Arthur C. Childhood's End. New York: The Random House Publishing Group. 1990. Print.