It can also keep them from being bored when all the Utopians do every day is read, work, A utopia, an alternative place envisioned as being the epitome of perfection, is desired by the masses. Bound by politics, social and economic interactions, and personal preferences, utopias are attempted, however, they will always fail for those exact terms under which they were created. Thomas More’s idea of a utopia is impossible to build and manage, no matter how beautiful and worked out the ideas are, for maintaining an equilibrium that is deemed perfect to every citizen’s happiness is impossible. In reality, More’s “perfect” Utopian society should be compared to a dystopia, for it lacks the diversity and individual drive that characterizes Earth …show more content…
In modern nations, individuality is encouraged, for it brings new discoveries (Farmer np). However, many attributes of its modern life are at a fixed standard in the land that More describes. It should be open to more individualism, for diversity allows for people to live their life with more joy and inspires those around them (Farmer np). One of the most imperfect assets of their society is that family lives are very controlled, for “no family may have less than ten, and more than sixteen persons in it” (More 37). This takes away the freedoms of women who should have control over their own body, rather than being forced into giving birth to support the state. Equality, in terms of Utopians, must mean that the men are dominant. Otherwise, men would not be served first and viewed with distinguished respect at meals, nor would they be able to chastise their children or correct their wives (More 40, 60). Along the terms of women's’ rights, divorce is not allowed unless in “the case of adultery, or insufferable perverseness” (More 59). The right to divorce should be available, for denying it depletes both human rights and happiness. There are precautions made to make sure divorce does not happen, however they are not efficient. Presenting their …show more content…
Utopia, however, is extremely out of touch both with its legal and social systems. While the prince and lower levels of office have all the intent for keeping people safe and wanting the best for Utopia, they can only determine what they think the people need. The council-chamber can proclaim that monogamy is best suited for their land and that money is useless, and it can teach about the fundamentals of agriculture to every child. It can also have its resources “distributed evenly among the halls” according to the government’s wishes (More 39). What the government of Utopia can not do, however, is take away natural human urges. A government can control its land and resources, but it can not control the free will of the mind. Thus meaning, if a person wants to leave their city without permission, they will accept being punished and kept fugitive if caught, because their desire to leave does not compare to their lack of fear of breaking the law (More 41). Punishing someone for leaving their city is an outrage, for if Utopia is so beautiful and grand, why is a man not able to explore it without meeting consequences? The answer is that Utopia limits individuality and human curiosity. Limiting teaching to having “all their learning in their own tongue” can be harmful and inefficient, as well (More 46). Learning in different languages or about different cultures would be beneficial to their brains, for it
In all aspects a utopian society is a society that is place to achieve perfection, and that is the society that both the “Uglies”, by Scott Westfield and “Harrison Bergeron”, by Kurt Vonnegut, was striving for. In both of these stories, the government had control over the people’s choices, freedoms, and their natural abilities. Yet both government strive for a perfect society, the methods they use to achieve this goal were different from each other.
it should be learnt that the search for „utopia‟ is a contemplative one, and can never be
The authors therefor saw the ‘utopian’ societies to be a trap for weak minded publics, and that once in place, such systems would be able to perpetuate indefinitely due to the efficiency at which they protect and propagate themselves. Through fear, diversion and sedation the utopia can maintain a strong grip on the people it encompasses before anyone realizes the sacrifices made. The popularity of these books does rule out the possibility of such a society coming into existence in the future, however. The state of people is not about to change, and their ignorance will continue regardless of the harshness of the wake up calls issued.
Rollo May, a psychologist, once said that, “in the utopian aim of removing all power and aggression from human behavior, we run the risk of removing self-assertion, self-affirmation, and even the power to be”. As a contemporary population, daily life has advanced from a comprehension; introducing utopian qualities would have domino effects on different human rights of a hindsight apparistic nation. Modern societies similar to a utopia has a larger entity that undermines the community within different aspects but nevertheless runs the risk of becoming a society with dystopian features by illusions of authoritarian rule.
The definition of Utopia is, “an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.” The rules and controls listed above and the many more that are in the book “Anthem” describe a society trying to become collective but in a utopian way. The purpose of these rules and controls is to keep the society collectivist. Fear is what runs this society. “.
There are many elements that are required to maintain a utopian society such as equal chores of an everyday household. There are responsibilities of every resident from cooking food to keeping the house clean. These chores have to be just otherwise the purpose of the utopian society is corrupted. All residents have the same right as any other member of the society yet there are some rules that are to be followed to help maintain the community. This is when a form of self-government comes into action.
One of the reasons, the so called Utopia fails to exist time and again when attempts are taken solely on the ground of equity is that, even the most idyllic society is somewhat built on the foundation of pain, sacrifice of the weak for the benefits of strong. From the analysis of Omelas and the contemporary North American societies it is clear that there is no Utopia.
As a result, nineteenth marriage forced women to be completely dependent and compliant with the husband 's as they held all the means of sustenance, and if deserted by the husband, they were often left with very meagre means of sustenance. Subsequently, as the shortfalls of marriage became apparent, many activists through the nineteenth century and onwards have supported reform of the institution of marriage, and the empowerment of women, which allows us to move towards an egalitarian
In order to create structure in a society, one must ensure the care of its people. In the imaginary civilization of Utopia, the main strategy is to "get through life as comfortably and cheerfully as we can, and help other members of our species to do so too" (More 92). More focuses on the well being of its citizens to create happiness and order within the society. He does this by initiating the idea of human rights and equality. With the sense of equality in society people can help each other to live blissfully, and stop trying to become better than their neighbors.
Utopia is an imaginary state, which consists of people who believe they are more capable to live in a group than alone. In such a community, the welfare of the group is the primary interest comparing to the comfort of individuals. The purpose of this society is to allow people to live in equality and freedom. Their social and economical status would be the same. An example of such a society was established in 1848, by John Humphrey Noyes. It soon dissolved at 1880 because of the oppositions aroused among the people about the system of "complex marriage". This system is different from the one in The Giver, whereby all adults in the community were considered married to one another.
The freedom taken from some is of course given to some others. In the hierarchical structure of Utopia, above is free and assigned to penalize the below, within the frame of certain rules of who will punish who: “Husbands are responsible for punishing their wives, and parents for punishing their children.”¹⁵ If the case is so much more important that you cannot cope with it at home, you take it to the Council which, due to the dearth of a constitution or any other common and collective set of laws, has the freedom to act however ...
Before reading Utopia, it is essential that the reader understand that like Jonathan Swift’s, A Modest Proposal, Utopia is satirical. More creates a frame narrative in which Raphael Hythloday, the novel’s main character, recollects his observations of Utopia during his five-year stay. Hythloday spares no detail in his descriptions of Utopia, as he discusses everything from their military practices, foreign relations, religion, philosophy, and marriage customs. Interestingly enough, everything Hythloday discusses in Book II seems to be a direct response to of all of t...
The utopian efforts of an authoritarian government often fail in practice because selfish interests often blindside the original goal. In Plato’s republic, there is a focus on the morality of those in power during utopian efforts. The debate encompasses creating a just leader and defining the depth of justice, in relation to breeding future authority for a utopia. The breeding process includes the strict implementation of certain principals, with hopes that those in power will be conditioned to be selfless. However, it must be noted that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Acton).
Because they are described in a detailed manner, the Utopia book itself seems to be enough to be a blueprint for the future. However, Thomas More clearly stated that he just wishes Europeans to follow some good qualities of the Utopian society—“there are many things in the Utopian commonwealth that in our own societies I would wish rather than expect to see” (97)—because he himself knows that it is impossible for any country to be like Utopia. This is apparent, because Utopia is possible on the premise that every factor comes together to create this ideal society. Even the geography has to contribute to this premise, as Hythloday explains the geography of Utopia as the place where strangers cannot enter without one of them (39). Moreover, from diligent and compassionate Utopians’ characteristics and their ways of life, they seem to be successful in reaching the fullest of every aspect of their life including physical, intellectual, social, spiritual, and emotional, when it is hardly possible to even have one person like that in real life.
Manuel, Frank E. and Fritzie P. Manuel. Utopian Thought in the Western World. Cambridge, MA: Belknap-Harvard Press, 1979.