To fully understand the pitfalls and offensive applications of government, Utopia is a must read. To understand the futility of honest governance and the dangers to humanity the social contract engenders us; one must look no further than Utopia. The story of Raphael Hythloday’s journey to the land of Utopia and the perfect society and government encountered there is infuriating for its simplicity and breadth of analysis. The world imagined by Sir Thomas More is perfect in many ways, maybe even a stoic paradise. However, the infuriating part is its impossibility in the real world.
Utopia is what Karl Marx hoped of for the future. No personal property and cooperation of all inhabitants. This is possible because the Utopians discredit the value of such things as jewels, and precious metals, because they have no utility. Why should one place value on an object just because it is so rare? “ Nature, as an indulgent parent, 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 (p.43)” Utopia goes so far as to make their chamber pots out of gold and silver so as to further devalue these metals in the eyes of their citizens.
Consider any year that has been so unfruitful that many thousands have died of hunger; and yet if at the end of that year a survey was made of the granaries of all the rich men that have hoarded up the corn, it would be found that there was enough among them to have prevented all that consumption of men that perished in misery; and that if it had been distributed among them, none would have felt the terrible effects of that scarcity; so easy a thing would it be to supply all the necessities of life , if that blessed thing called money, which is pretended to be invented for procuring them, was not really the only thing that obstructed their being procured (83.)
Utopians live a simple life, full of work and devotion. They are not accustomed to frivolity or luxury. There is no need. The community provides for each other and all know that they are equal. All houses are the same as any other, and are switched often. Whatever one needs is provided for, but since no man or woman needs a lot little is taken. “It is the fear of want that makes any of the whole race of animals greedy or ravenous; but besides fear, there is in man a pride that makes him fancy it a particular glory to excel others in pomp and excess (p. 38.)” Truer words are rarely spoken.
Utopia also has a simple view of religion that makes society congenial.
“[Utopus, the founder] judged it not fit to determine anything rashly, and seemed to doubt whether those forms of religion might not all come from God, who might inspire men in a different manner, and be pleased with his variety; he therefore thought it indecent and foolish for any many to threaten and terrify another to make him believe what did not appear to him to be true (p.73.)
This honest look at freedom of religion would ultimately be used and applied by the founding fathers of America. Many would argue that same freedom is being challenged today. (I refrain from forming an opinion.)
More, through Hythloday, had many grievances with the time and world that he lived in. Especially with the aristocracy and the king under whom he lived, Henry VIII, More showed great disgust. “For most princes apply themselves more to affairs of war than to the useful arts of peace… they are generally more set on acquiring new kingdoms, right or wrong, than on governing well those they possess (p.5)” This is a view of governance that could be applied to almost any time in history, even today (Iraq or Afghanistan.)
My main gripe with this book is the ultimate impossibility of such a world. Utopia itself means nowhere in Greek. The problem is that a society like Utopia needs to be closed off from most of the world in a remote place. It must be able to form a populace that wishes no more than for the peaceful coexistence of all men. It needs to devalue scarcity, and value the community over the individual. I fear that a world like this is impossible to imagine truthfully. Even if this world were possible, it would become its own prison for its inhabitants, stifling the need for exploration and improvement.
Many of the ideas in this book are powerful and worthy of further study. However, I know that Utopia will remain a distant dream that will never be reached. This is okay because it is often found that dreams such as this turn into real life nightmares.
2ndhandwisdom 