Utopia Essay -- essays research papers

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... ...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.