Communism, the only way to achieve a Utopia

Everyone in this world tries to make it better. If we want to have a world like Utopia, which in relality, can't really be achieved. The closest thing that this world will ever get to a Utopia is a communists society. As bad as communism is, it is the only one with the closest principles to a Utopia. Communism eliminates social class, so that everyone is theoretically equal, socially. Which is close to a utopia which does the same thing. Now with the exception of religion, which in communism, their is no religious toleration.

What are your thoughts? Is Communism the only way to have a utopia?

More on "The Perfect world"

As I have mention in earlier posts, Utopia is the perfect world. In Utopia, everyone is payed the same amount of money regardless of job status. For example, a doctor gets payed the same as a peasant does. This leads to a whole bunch of questions. In todays world, there are pay differences between different jobs,   which creates different social classes. But in Utopia, there are no social classes. So one of the way to eliminate the social classes is to have everyone get payed the same. 


Do you think that social classes should be eliminated? if so, should it be done by paying everyone the same amount of money?

Summary of the End.

The end basically just sums up much of the book. The conclusion is one last letter to Peter Giles including what an anonymous critic thought of the country.

If you were this critic, what would you say about Utopia?
I would probably agree with what the critic had to say because it is practically impossible to have such a perfect world. It's rather far-fetched that the rules that were assigned would keep a country such as this one under control. Since Utopia means "no where," it means that the place does not exist. Therefore, it seems like just an idea of what would happen if the world or a country were like this one.

Illustrator #5

I chose to draw this because the way they described the church shows that they had a very itelligent way of setting up the religion, the way they did because they took into consideration that when there is darker lighting, people have stronger religious feeling, which was why they made the walls thick and the insight somewhat dark. I also made sure to make the chuch looked really big because in the book, they mentioned how big it was, which tells me that they cared a lot about religion.

(Pg 106)

Illustrator #4

I chose to draw this because it shows how people are ranked in their communities. The fact that everybody on the entire block, shows the unity and selflessness everybody in the community has. When they describe supper time, they are sure to mention where everybody sits. The styward and his wife sit in the middle of the table together and if there is a priest, he sits across from them. Then on either side of them, sits four younger children and next to them, are four older people. These seating arrangements come about because they believe that by the younger children sitting next to the older people, they would want to impress them and show them that they are mature, so they are always on their best behavior at the table.

(Pg 63)

Illustrator #3

I drew this picture to stress the format of Utopia. I think that the way the houses weren described really makes it sound like they have no privacy or anyt kind of individual personality. Raphael described the houses with swinging doors, because nobody has any reason to lock their doors and everybody can just stroll into other people's houses. I made sure to include the flowers in the garden behind the house and I made the double sided street just like the book said. I think that this really represents the way Utopia is run because everybody shares everything, especially food and goods. This is because they do not have to pay for anything, because they pretty much have no money and everything in the country is distributed evenly.

(Pg 53)

The Utopia Theme

In the book Utopia the idea of a perfect world is presented to us the readers. It's an idea that most of us know already. But when this book came out in 1516, this was a totaly new idea. No one had ever thought of the idea that a perfect world could exist. As humans, we tend to try and strive towards this idea. But the problem with that is everyone has different ideas on just what that world consists of. Utopia is just one persons idea of that vision. From this book, Thomas More planted the seeds for many other classic books that take on the idea of a utopia. Books like 1984 and Brave New World take on the ideas of a distopia, the idea of a non-perfect world, and all of them lead back to what the book started. The idea of a perfect one.

Illustrator #2

This picture illustrates the difference of opinion and customs in the two countries Utopia and England. This shows one of the ways that Utopia funtions so well, which is the citizens are always contributing to their community. By the theif contributing back to society, the community benefit and he will be forced to repay the victims (Which is also shown in my picture.), which makes them happy too. After discussing this with the king of England, he took it as his own idea and presented it to his men, and took credit for the idea. Raphael also talked about why the system that England was already using was not working was because people had the same punishment for killing someone and stealing, so there would really be no reason for them not to kill the person, because if they get caught they will still suffer the same way. Also, by just killing the theif, the victim and the society does not benefit at all.

Which way do you think is better, or more effective?

(Pgs 30-32)

Vocabulary pg. 17

garrison: a body of troops stationed in a fortified place

Anyway, when Vespucci had gone, Raphael did a lot of exploring with five other members of the garrison. Finally, by an amazing stroke of luck, they turned up in Ceylon. From there he made his way to Calicut, where he was fortunate enough to find some Portuguese ships, and so, quite unexpectedly, got a passage home.

I chose this passage because it shows the bases of Raphael's character. Shows that he was a traveler and that he found ways to get from place to place in whatever way possible.

Illustrator #1

I drew this picture to represent Giles and More's feelings toward Raphael. They thought he was very wise and Peter even encouraged him to become a king. In the picture I drew, you can see that Peter likes the idea of Raphael becoming king, but Raphael's face makes him look like he is really nervous and like he would not enjoy the position of being a king. Raphael said that he does not think he is wise enough and he does not want to put himself through that kind of trouble.

Do you think that it was wrong for Raphael to turn down the position or do you think he has any kind of obligation?

(Pgs 19-20)

Vocabulary pg.29

autonomous: self-governing; independent; subject to its own laws only.

'However, the best arrangement I know is one I came across while traveling through Persia, in a district generally known as Tallstoria. The Tallstorians form quie a large and well organized community, which is completly autonomous, except for having to pay taxes to the King of Persia.

I choose this passage because it shows that people always want to be individuals and it is very hard to think as a community for the community which Utopia does.

Vocabulary pg.26

Oligopoly: the market condition that exists when there are few sellers, as a result of which they can greatly influence price and other market factors. You should compare this to a form of duopoly or monopolizing.

'Not that prices would fall, however many sheep there were, for the sheep market has become, if not strictly a monopoly-for that implies only one seller-then at least and oligopoly.

I choose this because we learned about Monopolies last year and I thought this would give everyone another view about having total control of a business but as a group

Summary of Book Two. (con't.)

It is pretty much evident that the Utopians are skilled and educated in many, many subjects whether it be science (medicine), agriculture, carpentry, religion, etc.

Some other customs of the Utopians were that women are not allowed to marry until they are eighteen and men aren't allowed until the age of twenty-two. Abstinence is greatly valued and if you disobeyed the law, you would be punished. One of the punishments was to be put into slavery if you had committed a crime. If the crime was done repeatedly, the consequences normally led to severe punishments, but not quite death.

Women were treated fairly equally in this utopia as they were allowed to fight side-by-side with men in the army even though this was mainly for the territory's benefit to be more protected. Though Utopia was not one to start a war, they would definitely fight to defend what they felt was rightfully theirs if it came down to it.

One of the final topics that Raphael rambles on about is the religion of the utopia. Other religions were tolerated, but it seems as though Christianity was one of the more major religions at the time.

Summary of Book Two.

In Book Two, Raphael actually begins to talk about what he views of Utopia. He starts to go into the "history" and geography of the perfect world. Basically, he describes the living conditions of the people which weren't as bad seeing as everyone was taught the same, necessary agricultural skills which lead to a surplus in food that made the people more generous with what they traded.

The circular island surrounded by many bodies of water had fifty four cities which shared many things in common. They spoke the same language, had the same customs and laws as well as practically the same format or layout to make it easier to navigate through/around. Since the island was surrounded by many bodies of water, trade was easily accessible for those who knew the waterways. Amaurot was the the capital of the island which was located right in the center of it all.

If you were to compare the idea of a utopia in More's point of view to the kind of world we actually live in today, you'd realize that there are many differences. For example, in this utopia created by More, the Utopians worked only six hours a day, slept for eight hours and were able to eat and relax or do what they pleased with the remaining time. There are no beggars, religious laws, or guilds to keep everything somewhat organized such as items and goods. Each city is divided into four quarters with the marketplaces in the center and six thousand houses surrounding it. The utopia is not a money or barter economy because there is simply "plenty of everything."

Knowing what we know about this utopia created by More and the kind of civilization we live in now, which place would you prefer to live and why?

Utopia, a Christian's Point of view

With Utopia being written at a time where Christianity was the major religion, it's no surprise that the book's view on "a perfect world" is a christians vision. First off, Sir Thomas More is recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, and he also served chancellor to Henry VIII. But Utopia is also a book that points out the different faults in the world, so it's hard to tell if it's a complete Christian view, as for example, they allow religious toleration.

What do you think? Is the book from a Christian's pov? Or are the ideas not influenced by Christianity?

Summary of Book One.

Book One is basically just a conversation between More, Raphael Hythloday and Peter Giles.

With a man named Cuthbert Tunstall, More visited Flanders as well as places that are now in present-day Belgium. More and Raphael meet through Peter Giles who More encounters in Antwerp. Raphael has befriended many of the natives he had encountered in the past and therefore they can depend on him as well as vice versa. Although he met all these wonderful people, Raphael did have some pretty terrible judgments on England after spending numerous months in the country. As Raphael beings to retell his journeys, he tends to focus more on the political aspects rather than the details in themselves. He seems very well educated as he goes on and goes telling the eager Thomas More about where he's been, who he's encountered and what he's learned. His opinions are very strong and it seems like he "knows what he's talking about."

"Raphael" (which many may know of) is the name of a guardian angel and the last name, "Hythloday," means "peddler of nonsense." I feel like this relates to Raphael's personality and character greatly and that there was probably a purpose behind this when More was writing the tale.

Just Getting Started...

The book Utopia by Thomas More was originally written in Latin in 1516 and in the form of two books. Eventually, the book had gone through various translations which is what we now read as the modern version of the story.

In general, this story is based on a world where everything is perfect and nothing is wrong or unjust. (Hence the name Utopia which means "no place.") Hythlodaeus' — or, the main character's — name means "dispenser of nonsense." How do you think this relates to the story? Is it significant in any way?

As well, the story is based on Catholic traditions and culture because of the fact that Thomas More had been a Catholic Humanist. It has also been discussed that this story is one of satire as it, in a way, "mocks" or criticizes Europe's creed.

Do you agree? Explain.