Mores Utopia
In Thomas MoreÕs book Utopia, there is a great deal of irony in the waythe people of this mystical place live and prosper. Much of what the people oftodayÕs society assume to be universal truths of life are completely oppositefrom the Utopian perspective of the way things should be done. Some of thesedifferences include the way they protect themselves from other nations, theireconomy, their system of land rights, and the nature of their relationships andmarriages. In all of these areas Utopians differ greatly from the norm ofwestern society. These differences serve as a commentary on the world whichwesterns take for granted. In the book Utopia, More uses irony to demonstratesome of the positive and negative aspects of western society. In comparison with the ways of the western world where vast amounts ofthe tax money is spent on the protection of the nations in terms of weapons andtraining of armies, the Utopians have a much different system of nationprotection. Rather than fight themselves, they hire mercenaries to do theirbattling for them. It is a very strange policy to adopt, and history has shownthat this is not the most effective way to protect a nation. Their stand on the
Of coursethis completely opposite to the western system of capitalism which allowspeople to work for what they have and also allows them to fulfill that naturaldesire to acquire wealth and personal security. The most significant difference that More presents in theUtopian society is their economy. There is an underlying element of control in this societyof Utopia that resembles something close to hell for a person who likes to dohis own thinking and decision making. The basicideas of property ownership are unheard of to the people of Utopia. hese soldiers are all out for money, and since the gold andsilver which they possess in vast amounts is available, they have nothing toworry about. In other words if not for the conjugalright marriages would not exist. MoreÕs description of their methods shows themto be perfect, but the underlying suggestion is that they are far from perfect,and that there is no possible way a system like this could prosper. It is almost as thought they exist only because ofsex, and the idea of love is not even a factor. Another area where the people of Utopia differ greatly form the way ofthe western world is the way in which the land rights are controlled. These included their methods ofwaging war, their religious practices, as well as others of their customs; butmy chief objection was the basis of their whole system, that is trier communalliving and their moneyless economy. This one thing alone takes away all of thenobility. Clearly More sees the flaws inthis entire system, and this is evident in his closing statements. (431)This shows that even though this entire concept comes from More's imagination,he still sees its ultimate flaws and that it is not a utopia at all, but ratherjustification for the continuation of the present system flawed as it may be. All of theland is owned jointly, and the entire community works the land in shifts. This is truly an ideal way of life, but the reality is that nomercenary will fight as hard as a man who is protection his homeland.
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Acceptance Essays
