Utopia
Utopias are generally said to be societies in which the political, social and economic troubles hampering its inhabitants has been done away with.
Instead the state is there to serve the people and ensure the peacefulness and happiness of everyone. The word utopia, which means "no place" in Greek, was first used to mean a perfect society in 1516 in the publication of Saint Thomas
More's story "Utopia". The story depicted life as it was with its people and social institutions on an imaginary island. More's Utopia gained critical acclaim and a wide audience. The term was subsequently used by all prominent social thinkers and visionaries to define other concepts of this kind.
During the 19th century many attempts were made to actually establish communities which followed the beliefs of a utopian society. Most were experiments in utopian socialism. Although they differed considerably in their specific views, most of them agreed that ideal societies could be created without much difficulty. They felt all that was needed was to have the formation of a few small, cooperative communities made up of their followers.
The comte de Saint-Simon regarded technological progress and large scale economic organization as being the most important keys to the establishment of these communities. It was felt that industrial growth was the key to happiness for people in the future.
Another visionary, Fourier, was quite the opposite of Saint-Simon. He
Spoke strongly against the use of industry. His opinion was that agricultural communities would be better suited for this situation. He favored these communities as he saw them as small, self-sufficient and more importantly, free from the restraints that were being imposed by civilization.
Experimental societies based on the theories of the utopians were also set up in Europe and the Unites States. They included Robert Owen's cooperative communities in New Harmony, lnd., and New Lanark, Scotland. Most of these did not survive long. One of the longer lasting of these communities was the Oneida
Community. It lasted from 1848 to 1881. By the middle of the 19th century the utopian socialists were beginning to be eclipsed by more militant radical movements. These...
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...eat big leather lazyboy in front of the t.v. would also be required. Electronic gizmos of all shapes and sizes would surround me.
Then as my children grew older, I'd hope to be able to provide them with the opportunity to receive a college education, as this is key to success. To see them go on to do well for themselves would make me very proud.
By then I would start to contemplate retirement. I'd hope to have a nice little nest egg stashed away so that I may live comfortably for the rest of my life. I hope to grow old peacefully, and as gruesome as this may sound, I hope that when my time does come, I die in my sleep. Never felling a thing.
I know that many of the things I just mentioned may never happen. Many of my wishes are just that, wishful thinking. It is just a concept of a type of life I would like to live. Real or not. But after all, its MY private utopia.
Plus we must remember that utopias in these times in their most technical definition do not exist. They are merely ideas and concepts of the world as man would wish it were. Being a man in this world of ours, I have my wishes too.
My only life time ambition I have for myself is to be able to help each and every individual who comes my way needing help, becoming a social worker, a foster mom, and to adopt a child with Down Sydrome. I know and understand that my dreams might be a bit over my head for the average person, but I will accomplish them. At the end of my life when I am old, have gray hair, and my eye sight is even worse that it is now, I want to look back at my life knowing I was able to help everyone I possibly could.
From the American Revolution to independence movements in Latin America, the forming a commonwealth free of vice, tyranny, and inequality has always been one of man’s greatest intentions. In this commonwealth, everyone’s needs are met, society is free of all hierarchies, and everyone works for the common good. However, history has proved that this commonwealth can never truly exist. On a rudimentary level, it is impossible for any large group to properly function without someone or a group of people creating and enforcing the necessary laws and customs. On a deeper level, it seems impossible to eschew avarice, inequality, war, and many other aspects commonwealths face. Sir Thomas More, a lawyer, statesman, and philosopher imagined this perfect commonwealth and dubbed it, Utopia. In Utopia, Sir Thomas More describes a place where all citizens are content with their lives and there is no social inequality. However, readers easily notice contradictions that are present in this seemingly perfect place. In their treatment of gold and iron, slaves, and gender roles, Utopians prove to readers that a commonwealth free of hierarchies, vice, and tyranny can never truly exist.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exhalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together”.
Ben Franklin himself said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Since the dawn of mankind, humans have always expressed a desire to understand natural phenomenon and to answer questions regarding their way of life, their birth and what happens after death. These needs resulted in the development of a variety of philosophies and theories that can be found all around the world today. These beliefs soon became more and more superstitious. Once these beliefs became part of the social structure like castes and race, these caused a social divide - A divide that affected the economic status of the livelihood in a society. If this trend of religious discrimination around the world is observed and analysed, I felt that this question might be the key to predict how bright our future as a united utopia will prevail.
Utopia is a society that you really can’t wrap your head around. In Utopia it talks about Thomas, Raphael, Peter how they met and what they think they about the society. It ask you questions that really makes you think, would I want to live in this society? Utopia talks about how they are a perfect society but it makes you wonder if they really are. (More, 2011)
The text Utopia was written by Sir Thomas Moore in 1516, just before the outbreak of the Reformation. More’s life flourished through the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, which were influential years in the Renaissance, a flowering of art and thought that began in Italy and flooded through Europe and England. Humanists often stressed the dignity of man and the power of reason while remaining deeply committed to Christianity. Their thought and writings helped to break the strict religious orthodoxy that had forced itself through the Middle Ages. Humanists often argued against feudalism as it promoted a society dominated by the rich and unfair on everyone else. Further, they saw feudal society as irrational.
The concept of Utopia has been around for many years, tracing back to ancient Greece. The word for Utopia came from the Greek words ou and topos, meaning no place. Even from the beginning, the concept of Utopia was not seemed to be possible.
my life the best it could be, and also knowing that it could come true, and
In 1516, Sir Thomas Moore published his Utopia. He wrote of a perfect world, one where optimal common wealth was acheived, and there was a common satisfaction with the system. Though Moore may have coined the owrd "utopia," this was by no means a new concept. Ever since the dawn of time, man has dreamed of a better world.There has always been a desire to make things better, to create a happier and more peaceful existence. Throughout history, various leaders, terrorists, and commoners have strived to create their own perfect world. However, one conflict has always arisen: everyone holds their own image of utopia. And when these images clash, problems arise that make utopia harder to grasp. By examining history as the documentation of man's quest for utopia, we see man striving for utopia in three ways: conquest, reform, and isolation.
In the year 1515, a book in Latin text was published which became the most significant and controversial text ever written in the field of political science. Entitled, ‘DE OPTIMO REIPUBLICATE STATU DEQUE NOVA INSULA UTOPIA, clarissimi disertissimique viri THOMAE MORI inclutae civitatis Londinensis civis et Vicecomitis’, translated into English would read, ‘ON THE BEST STATE OF A COMMONWEALTH AND ON THE NEW ISLAND OF UTOPIA, by the Most Distinguished and Eloquent Author THOMAS MORE Citizen and Undersheriff of the Famous City of London.’.
your life, acknowledging all that He has done for you, believing in Him and His word to
There are many things that I hope to accomplish and do when I get older. I want to improve and accomplish different things for myself in my career that I choose, in my material goals, and spiritually. I'm looking at the year of 2009, I will be out of college and be on my feet, hopefully. I have high expectations for myself and hope to accomplish as many of my dreams and goals as I can throughout my life.
Though, as has been mentioned earlier, only certain accomplished people are allowed to give up manual labor for intellectual studies, every Utopian child receives a thorough education. The Utopians believe that it is through education that the values and dispositions of citizens are molded. The success of the Utopian educational system is evident in the fact that while most Utopians are engaged in manual labor as a career, in their free time Utopians choose to follow intellectual pursuits. Utopians conduct all of their studies in their native language.
In 1516 Thomas More published Utopia, thereby kindling for the Renaissance as well as four our own times a literary ritual designating an idyllic future society and by outcome evaluating the society already in existence. Throughout history, humans have obsessed with projected Utopias of the world that revealed their perception of it. These multidimensional projections can be viewed as naiveties that leaked to the peripheral world nothing more than subjective thoughts. Half a century after More, Leon Battista Alberti promoted a parallel Utopian tradition of designing the Utopian city, one dedicated to Francesco Sforza. This utopian urban planning initiated a multitude of efforts to install a desirable geometrical pattern for future living without narrating how to achieve it. Another few centuries into the future and we view how this obsession with planning for a Utopia still lives through Le Corbusier’s Villa Radieuse master plan. A master plan proposed as the resolution to the enigma of human existence in an industrialized world. Nonetheless with the acknowledgment of the concept of Utopia and the designing for this we come to ponder even more on whether a Utopia can truly exist aside from within ones mind and whether it turns to dystopia when physically established. Can one collective Utopian vision exist or does a Utopic city stem from the coexistence of a variety of utopian thoughts and ideas.