Utopia - 2 - Communist Paradise
Book Two (Part One)
Quote
There be neither wine-taverns, nor ale-houses, nor stews, nor any occasion of vice or wickedness, no lurking corners, no places of wicked counsels or unlawful assemblies. But they be in the present sight, and under the eyes of every man.
Notes
🔥 The island of Utopia is well defended. You have to enter by a narrow channel, so an invading navy fleet could be destroyed one boat at a time. A lot of this was set up by the founding king, Utopus.
🔥 Most citizens are farmers and they have a rotation system where a group works a farm for some time, then they move into the city and help to train the next group. This also gives them a break from the hard labour.
🔥 All cities are similar. If you've seen one you've seen them all. None of the houses are locked: "Whoso will may go in, for there is nothing within the houses that is private, or any man's own. And every tenth year they change houses by lot." They also all have beautiful, fruitful gardens.
🔥 They have a system of government representatives — Syphogrants who represent families, and Tranibors. The Syphogrants also elect a Prince. They hold council to settle any issues and it's done in such a way to prevent tyranny and to uphold reason and caution.
🔥 Everyone learns farming, plus one other trade, for their education. And everyone's clothes are the same, except that there's one set for women, one for men, and a different set between those who are married and not.
🔥 The main job of the Syphogrants is to make sure no man is idle, but that everyone has honest work to keep them busy. Work hours are the same for everyone, and with lots of time set for breaks and for sleep.
🔥 Many people attend lectures in their spare time, or learn another trade. They hold learning very highly: "For herein they suppose the felicity of this life to consist." Plus there's music and a few games.
🔥 Labour is efficient and everything is produced well which prevents too much time having to repair or replace their stuff.
🔥 They have a traditional family structure, with the eldest son as the authority. There are also some regulations around population. If it gets too big in one city, they split off and start a new one somewhere else on the island. And if other people occupy it they either join with those people or take them over, depending on if those people are okay with living by the Utopians way of life.
🔥 All supplies and food are held in storehouses that people can take from. There's no fear that people will take too much because there's always an abundance. There's also a meat market, but the work of cutting and preparing the meat is done by bondmen since it's too dirty for the citizens. Utopians believe hunting itself is cruel, too, not a respectable pasttime.
🔥 They all eat in a common dining hall, but not by force. Bondmen do all the toilsome work there, and the women do the cooking and serving. People who live in the country eat at home with their families.
🔥 They do some readings on virtue at dinner as well as conversation among the elders who also engage the younger men and give them opportunity to speak.
🔥 Travel is regulated. And within the city there are no "lurking corners" or places to hide or indulge in any vice. Wherever you go in Utopia, people see you.
🔥 Whatever excess of resources they have, after they all have enough for approximately two years, they freely give the rest away to other countries, or sell it.
🔥 The Utopians never send their own men off to war. They always hire foreign soldiers to fight for them.
🔥 They don't value gold or silver the same way other countries do. They in fact use it to make their chamber-pots (ie to poop and pee in). Gold is also used to chain up their bondmen. It's a symbol of reproach. This can lead to some interesting situations such as when foreign dignitaries come to visit and they dress themselves up in gold and jewels. The Utopians look at them as though they were fools to dress up that way.
🔥 They are actually amazed that anyone could value gold, since it has no inherent worth or usefulness. Any idiot could have tons of competent people serving him simply because he has lots of gold. This makes no sense for the Utopians.
🔥 They do have a more advanced, though similar, philosophy to ours. They also have a more pragmatic religion. They say pleasure is okay and suffering should not be tolerated too much if it's only for the sake of demonstrating virtue.
🔥 "Therefore even very nature (they say) prescribeth to us a joyful life, that is to say, pleasure as the end of all our operations. And they define virtue to be life ordered according to the prescript of nature."
🔥 But there are "untruthful", or unnatural, pleasures as well. Such as taking pleasure in having nicer clothes, jewels, or riches, and thinking that having those things makes you a better person.
🔥 Everyone in Utopia is healthy, strong and pleasant. They value good health and hard work. They are curious and eager to learn as well. When Raphael shows them his books by ancient Greek authors, they soaked them up.
Thoughts
Interesting to speculate what parts of this description of Utopia would have got Thomas More in trouble.
Could be the comments about gold and how silly it is to value it so much. The Catholic church was very wealthy and not shy about showing it off.
Could also be the comments about pleasure and the idea that nature prescribes joy, not suffering, for all of life, and people should embrace that. This would likely clash with the Christian view of noble suffering and that the nature of this world is that it is fallen and sinful. Indulging in pleasure is seen as a vice.
It also seems a bit convenient how it seems like there are simply no problems in Utopia. They have enough food and no private property and so everyone lives in harmony and goes to philosophical lectures in their spare time. Right...