Utopia
Sir Thomas More’s Utopia is still relevant, and I guess that should in some way make us all glad that the human condition hasn’t really changed in spite of the fact that great writers have been saying the same things for centuries.
More recounts the description of Utopia given by a traveler named Raphael. Raphael has returned to his native land after living in Utopia for five years. He sees the same problems of avarice and concentrated wealth in the 1500s that still plague western society today.
“A few dividing the wealth of it among themselves; the rest must fall into indigence.”
Like Hugo’s Jean Valjean example, Raphael says that poverty leads to thievery and that the punishment does not fit the crime. (At the time, thieves were hanged, sometimes 20 to the gibbet.)
“It seems to me a very unjust thing to take a man’s life for a little money; for nothing in the world can be of equal value with a man’s life…” If only everyone thought that way and corporations followed the rule.
The Utopians hold everything in common, creating a true commonwealth, and every man works for about six hours a day. No one feels the need to horde because he or she knows that the basic human needs will always be taken care of. These six hours provide more than everything that everyone needs because everyone works – there is no nobility, and even the elected prince and magistrates work at their original occupations.
The Utopians also content themselves with fewer things. This means that the demands that need to be met are fewer. Food, clothing and time to improve the mind are all that they require.
“Nature has freely given us all the best things in great abundance, such as water and earth, but has laid up and hid from us the things that are vain and useless.”
One indictment that Raphael makes against his society that may also be made against ours is that those that work the hardest have no reward, and those that idle or provide folly have the most. He cites nobles and goldsmiths; we may also look to politicians, moguls, sports stars and actors.
One last important point is that the Utopians believe that humanity should be united by the fact that we are all human. If that is not enough to bind us together, there is no hope for humanity.
More recounts the description of Utopia given by a traveler named Raphael. Raphael has returned to his native land after living in Utopia for five years. He sees the same problems of avarice and concentrated wealth in the 1500s that still plague western society today.
“A few dividing the wealth of it among themselves; the rest must fall into indigence.”
Like Hugo’s Jean Valjean example, Raphael says that poverty leads to thievery and that the punishment does not fit the crime. (At the time, thieves were hanged, sometimes 20 to the gibbet.)
“It seems to me a very unjust thing to take a man’s life for a little money; for nothing in the world can be of equal value with a man’s life…” If only everyone thought that way and corporations followed the rule.
The Utopians hold everything in common, creating a true commonwealth, and every man works for about six hours a day. No one feels the need to horde because he or she knows that the basic human needs will always be taken care of. These six hours provide more than everything that everyone needs because everyone works – there is no nobility, and even the elected prince and magistrates work at their original occupations.
The Utopians also content themselves with fewer things. This means that the demands that need to be met are fewer. Food, clothing and time to improve the mind are all that they require.
“Nature has freely given us all the best things in great abundance, such as water and earth, but has laid up and hid from us the things that are vain and useless.”
One indictment that Raphael makes against his society that may also be made against ours is that those that work the hardest have no reward, and those that idle or provide folly have the most. He cites nobles and goldsmiths; we may also look to politicians, moguls, sports stars and actors.
One last important point is that the Utopians believe that humanity should be united by the fact that we are all human. If that is not enough to bind us together, there is no hope for humanity.