Introduction
Utopia refers to an ideal, flawless society or state. The word is derived from a book written in the 16th century by Sir Thomas Moore. The book titled “The Best State of a Republic and the New Island Utopia” described a fictional island based in the Atlantic which seemed to have an almost perfect social, political and legal set up. This is something that has never been witnessed in the actual world. Utopia’s foundations are in the Plato’s Republic where there is a very beautiful society that has a pacific attitude and all forms of social, political, and economic equality. In the utopian society depicted by both Moore and Plato, there are no social evils and the society is free from misery and poverty. The society has no laws because there are no evils that would warrant the use of laws. This utopian society has no lawyers neither does it go into war with other societies. There is religious tolerance and all forms of freedom. The society does not have monetary units, there are no taxes paid and there is communal ownership of property (Moore 8). No person is richer than another in this society, which appears to be an imaginary society that cannot exist in the real world. People usually link utopia to systems that are working properly though not as perfect as the one depicted by Moore. These systems could be the economy, a nation or even a social system. The area that commonly applies the utopian standard is the economics.
Economic Utopia
Most communities have been trying to create economic utopia. This attempt gained credence in the 19th century especially in times of economic crisis. The development of capitalism and commercialization concepts gave rise to a variety of utopian ideas. This is because the two concepts disrupted the society very much leading to inclination towards utopian socialism that emphasized on an egalitarian society that had no money. The egalitarian society would also have people working for the common good and not for individual gain and goods would be distributed equally among people. This form of socialism, advocated by Edward Bellamy in his book looking backwards, received harsh criticism from William Morris and Karl Marx because of its high levels of bureaucracy (Sullivan 34). These two argued in favor of libertarian utopia that would ensure that bureaucracies were removed in socialistic movements. They also called for certain levels of individualism, thus advocating for individual utopia. In the modern setting that is being controlled by globalization and its influences, there have been attempts to create capitalist utopia focusing on free market economy.
The utopian idea presupposes that there should be private enterprises and individual efforts without the use of force or coercion. For this utopian free market economy to be achieved, the governments would be charged with the responsibility of creating opportunities for the individuals and the whole society to achieve and advance. This is contrary to Moore’s and Plato’s utopia which did not have the provision for individual achievement and progress. The big problem with capitalistic utopia is that there is no provision for cases of market failure. This was the same problem with the socialistic utopia created by Moore and Plato, because theirs did not provide for cases of planning failure. This means that any economic utopia must have a blend of socialism and capitalism because planning and free markets are capable of creating ideal economies the have near perfection in performance. However, no real economy has ever reached a point of having small enterprises operating under free market economic models because this would only work in societies that are classless.
Importance of the Moore Story on Utopia
Questions have emerged on the motives that Thomas Moore had while writing the story on the utopian island. This is because some of the ideals in the island seem to be opposite of what he believed. The utopian values condoned euthanasia, divorce, female priests and marriage for priests. These are things that Moore, a staunch Catholic was against. Analysts claim that the story was an attack on the social, political and economic systems of the 16th century that were divisive and humiliating. Moore was very much against the religious intolerance that existed during his time especially the persecution of Heretics and the Protestants. That is why the utopians used to recite the below prayer every day.
“If they are mistaken, and if there is either a better government, or a religion more acceptable to God, they implore His goodness to let them know it.” (Moore 29).
The utopian island had a strange communal lifestyle that one does not expect to be encouraged by a person like Moore who was a rich landowner. However, the most probable motivation for encouraging such a communistic style of life was the Spanish conquest of America, where the Europeans came back with stories of near perfect communistic lifestyle of the people of the Inca Empire of Peru. Moore was advocating for simple uncomplicated societies that were free from enslaving complexities like religious intolerance, social classes, and economic inequalities. The utopian literature was therefore a criticism of the European society that had enslaving and rigid concepts which denied human beings a chance to live perfect lives. Moore distanced himself from the story he was telling about an imaginary place by creating an imaginary character called Raphael. The use of the name Raphael in this work is symbolic because in the bible, Raphael means Gods healing. This may imply that the story has a healing effect on the public by opening the readers to the truth that had been hidden from them for ages. The story on the island of utopia therefore serves to illustrate that perfection and happiness in life can only be achieved if human beings got rid of all the complexities that they have put in their lives. Human beings are bound by things that they themselves have made. They make laws that trap them. They created money, which given rise to social and economic inequalities. This has led to crimes which necessitate the use of laws that end up tying the people who made them. All these scenarios create complications that deny the human beings a chance to be happy. Moore asserts that humans can only be happy in a utopian society that is free of evil, free of inequalities, prejudice and laws.
The utopian ideas expressed by Moore may have been criticized during his time, but more than 300 years later, Karl Marx re emphasized most of these ideas in his communistic views. It is important to note that the communistic vies expressed by Marx and Moore are akin to the communistic views held in the bible, in the book Acts chapter two verse forty four to forty five (Acts 2;44-45).
“They all had a belief that they were together, and had commonalities. They sold all what they owned, and shared the money with all the men, as it was needed to each. “
The biblical verse refers to the ancient Jerusalem church which is a microcosm of the entire society. Though the communism in utopia had elements of compulsion, the one depicted in the bible was voluntary. However, it is this kind of utopian society that existed in Jerusalem that shaped the views that this author had (Sullivan 89).
Conclusion
The story of the island of utopia is a satire on the complicated society that human beings live in. The author assert that, the more complicated the society becomes, the more problems it faces. The postulation here is that most of the problems that most of the problems that people face in the society are man made and they arise as people attempt to become complex and more sophisticated. According to Moore, human beings can make the world a perfect place if they embrace simplicity in their lives. This simplicity would bring soil, political, and economic equality. It would also create a society that I free of evil and a society where there are no worries or stresses. However, this kind of a society can hardly exist. It is an ideal society that does not address the realities on the ground. That is why the utopian island was just a figment of imagination, though the works of Moore has been carried over to many other applications where perfection is addressed. Therefore, achieving a political, social, religious and economic utopia is highly impossible, and Moore himself can assert that. The point he wanted to make is that, with utmost levels of simplicity, most of the problems that human beings face would disappear.
Works Cited
Moore, Thomas. Utopia. New York: Cambridge University Press. 2002.
Sullivan, Edward. The Utopian Vision: Seven Essays on the Quincentennial of Sir Thomas More San Diego: State University Press. 1983.