Man's Quest for Utopia

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Man's Quest for Utopia In 1516, Sir Thomas Moore published his Utopia. He wrote of a perfect world, one where optimal common wealth was acheived, and there was a common satisfaction with the system. Though Moore may have coined the owrd "utopia," this was by no means a new concept. Ever since the dawn of time, man has dreamed of a better world.There has always been a desire to make things better, to create a happier and more peaceful existence. Throughout history, various leaders, terrorists, and commoners have strived to create their own perfect world. However, one conflict has always arisen: everyone holds their own image of utopia. And when these images clash, problems arise that make utopia harder to grasp. By examining history as the documentation of man's quest for utopia, we see man striving for utopia in three ways: conquest, reform, and isolation. Hitler, Napoleon, Caesar, and Ghengis Khan all saw their own personal utopia as a world in which they were in control of a vast empire. For Hitler it was an arian society where the world was cleansed of the "impurities" that had "infected" society. For Napoleon is was simply a large France that followed his Napoleonic code. Caesar was more interested in the military side of things and wanted a large militaristic empire that would be more powerful than anything the world had ever seen. Ghengis Khan was interested in many of the same things as Caesar in that he was interested in militaristic matters. All of these great men used conquest as their vehicle to their personal utopia. Most of them succeeded, even if only for a small period of time. Hundreds of other leaders through history have used conquest as well. Conquest is a common tool for those who wish to obtain some sort... ... middle of paper ... ...g without it would put us into a modern dark ages. New conglomerates may arise, and we may face new rivalries, but not the extent that we saw in the era of buisness conquest. We will have learned from our mistakes before, and conglomerates will remain relatively small and prosperous. History is a curious thing. It seems to come in cycles, but whenever we return to the beginning of the circle, we seem to be in a different place than we were when we were there last. But despite the curiosities that plague historians about the meaning of history, there will always be the search for utopia. It will always be there, on an unreachable pedastle, and perhaps it will never be reached. " All historical experience confirms the truth that man would not have attained the possible unless time and again he had reached out for the impossible." - Max Weber (1918)

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