Comparing More's Utopia and Our Modern Dystopia

Thomas More was born in London in 1478. He studied at Oxford where he took a profound love of classical literature. In Utopia, More shows his own skills in humanism. In this story, modeled after Plato's Republic, More examines his culture against a hypothetical culture he invents. His Utopia varies greatly from both his society and our society today. Four ways Utopia differs from our society are social system, attitude towards jewelry, marriage customs, and religion.

First, the people of More's Utopia have a complex communism compared to our modern neo-fascist culture. In Utopia, the government owns the business world. The government forces men to work the land in two-year stints. In modern society, the government does not own the economy but it does control the economy. The government does not make men be farmers but it does tell farmers how much to grow. Furthermore, it penalizes those who disobey its command.

Second, Utopians treat precious metals and jewels radically different than modern society. Today people adorn all sorts of jewelry to beautify themselves or attract attention to them. These precious metals are golden calves to many people. People today are like the Anemolian ambassadors, they strut their fine jewels because they are "more proud than wise, they decide, they decide to dress as splendidly as the very gods."

Third, the Utopian attitude towards money differs from modern society. The Utopians highly prize virginity. The government forbids marriage for life those who commit premarital intercourse. Yet the percentage of people marrying without premarital intercourse in our society is minute. In most cases, the couple has a long-standing sexual relationship.

Fourth, the religion of the Utopians is much like modern religion with one major exception. The religious beliefs of both societies are pluralistic. Utopia allows all religion except our most dominant religion: secular humanism (i.e. "atheism"). A man, who believes blind chance not divine providence, determines actions, is less than a man. In our culture of neo-Darwinism and "man is pure matter," everything is by chance.