The Perfect Utopian Society

Imaging a world without turmoil, suffering, war, famine, etc. isn’t a new dream for humanity, but instead one that has been contemplated for centuries, perhaps even millennia. Ever since the first human suffered through hardships, would it not have been natural for them to have desired a world in which such struggles wouldn’t have occurred? Due to the human nature, we as a group tend to desire more fulfilling and satisfying lives, so why not simply construct the perfect society: a world in which everyone is contempt, free of suffering, in which we live in harmony. Implementing such a solution is where the problem lies, as the entirety of humanity would have to agree on the boundaries of the new world, a task that’s been troubling world leaders

Attempting to find early examples of utopian theories may lead one to the Bible, more specifically the portion of the Book of Genesis regarding the Garden of Eden. It’s here that the creation of humanity is explained when “God said, 'Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ “(Genesis 1:26). Having been created in God’s perfect image, an argument can be made that humanity was initially fostered in a seemingly utopian world. Control over all living creatures besides each other, fruitful land’s, and an environment in which they could exist with little to no hardship. This was all of course until the curious and ambitious nature of humanity ruined the only perfect utopia we ever knew. By incurring the wrath of God (eating the forbidden fruit), evil was unleashed upon the Earth, and in a single moment, utopia was lost. Even in biblical times perfection eluded humanity, so what hope does the spark for modern day

That is until Sir Thomas More outlined the first Utopian society, coining the word and setting guidelines for how he imagined a realistic utopia to function. Deriving the word “Utopia” from the Greek ou-topos, which translates roughly to ‘no-place’ or ‘nowhere’, instead of drawing inspiration from a similar word eu-topos, meaning a ‘good place’ (Learning). This distinction signifies a potential initial belief that the creator the first world defined as utopia believed it to be something that could not or did not exist. Instead of naming it after the concept of “a good place”, he instead chose to derive utopia from an idea that implies it existed nowhere. Furthermore, More’s utopia was set in an island completely isolated from the rest of the world around it: comprised of 200 cities, each having an elected senate that are simply there in order to discuss potential change in the few regulations of the world. The culture of humanity has shifted to on that despises those who needlessly splurge money in an attempt to flaunt their wealth. People dress modestly, even those in positions of power as they understand their titles hold more meaning in name then in terms of power over the people. Exceptionally wise people are allowed to focus on their studies, while most men will instead choose a craft to master. Two controversial points of note are that slavery is