Why Do Utopians Hate War

One of the main points More focuses on in Utopia is the kings powers and how he uses them. Kings have the ability to make war, but More questions why anyone would want to go to war in the first place by saying "I don't see how it can be in the public interest to prepare for war, which you needn't have unless you want to, by maintaining innumerable disturbers of the

A utopia sounds like a wonderful thing. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “utopia” as an “imagined or hypothetical place, system, or state of existence in which everything is perfect, esp. in respect of social structure, laws, and politics.” (OED, 2015, entry 2) But what happens when someone tries to bring this imagined land of perfection into reality? Both in fictional literature and in real life applications, utopian dreams destroy societies.

Instead of this injustice of jailing, the Utopians choose to take slaves. The fate facing slaves in Utopia is to be "kept constantly at work, and are always fettered" (70). Considering the premise in Book I of the Polylerites' constant work, Utopian slavery sounds vaguely tolerable, aside from the fetters, and the fact that the Utopians do not need to work full days. The Utopians excuse slavery by claiming they "deal with their own people more harshly" because they had "the best of moral training" (70). In this case, the criminal is punished for moral delinquency in the form of slavery's high moral standing. But perhaps the most remarkable and revealing of justifications is that "A third class of slaves consists of hardworking penniless drudges from other nations who voluntarily choose to become slaves in Utopia" (71). The appeal here, beyond the hilarity, is the existence of a third class of slaves. Not only do Utopians believe in and use slavery, but also they take no issue with the concept of a class system: not only to have slaves, but to have classes thereof. With slavery considered voluntary for some, punishment for others, and simply the luck of the draw for the rest, it appears the Utopians cannot reach the rationality they claim to behold.

War leads to oppression and leaves negative implications on all people and societies by impacting the poor, women, children, and nations as a whole. "War is a state of violent conflict between one or more groups" (Rasenberger 3). Rasenberger defines war as a state of conflict between one group within itself or several groups in combat with each other, what is not mentioned are the after-effects of war. War itself leads to many civilian and military deaths, an estimated 1.5-3.8 million people died during the Vietnam War and an approximate 500,000 people died in the Iraq war. The biggest tragedy of War is that it always results in fatality, but another key, negative, factor to understand is that after the War many adverse implications arise. Post-war ramifications in the nation fall upon the poor, women, and children, making them weaker and less motivated leading to the downfall of a society. Regardless if a nation wins or is defeated in war they have to deal with consequences of war and find solutions to the impacted people and society. It is essential to understand that there is never a true victor in war because regardless of the outcome, fatality and a fall of morale within society on both sides are inevitable. War has often been the solution to situations that required force or violence, but in recent times this has

In the book Anthem by Ayn Rand the story takes place in a setting where the main character and supposably the entire world for all they know lives in a city full of rules and controls. The book is about a society in where people don’t have their own names and where they go by numbers like the main character who’s name is Equality 7-2521. The book is also about the main character Equality 7-2521 and how he goes about finding essentially a battery that he has created and brings it to the world council where he is turned down and from that point on he realizes how bad their society really is and how he reacts to it. The reasons the society full of rules and controls exists and what the purpose is for them is because of a government trying to make a utopia, to forget the past, and to forget about a singular world as a whole.

Throughout history, many utopian societies have been established in hopes of creating a protected and uniform environment. In order to maintain a perfectly equal and errorless environment, some basic human rights are often violated. Many of the utopian principles put in place are based on the fear that the citizens will gain knowledge and notice the absence of their basic human rights. Unfortunately, once the citizens figure out that the government has infringed on their civil liberties they become disillusioned and want to revolt. This ultimately causes dissention and unhappiness throughout the utopia, which defeats the sole intention the leaders had when creating it. To avoid the rebellion, leaders of utopian experiments infringe on

Pacifism covers an array of views and there are many subcategories of pacifism, some of which I will cover, but the main definition of the word pacifism is the opposition to war and/or violence. Perhaps the most famous use of the word pacifism is found in the “Sermon on the Mount”, where Jesus claims the “peacemakers” are blessed. In this passage, the Greek word eirenopoios is translated into Latin as pacifici, which means those who work for peace. One common and simple argument for pacifism among religious groups or god fearing people is the argument that god’s revealed words says, through the bible, “Thou shalt not kill.”

Parity of basic needs, elimination of poverty, and balance of power within society are features of Utopia. However, current culture may find the manipulation of the individual for the good of the commonwealth and the indifferent attitude towards women to be dystopic features of Utopia that hinder it from being an idyllic place.

This society is full of violence and drugs which affect innocent people every day. This society is so corrupted it is really hard to trust anyone. The society of Bluefield is different from any other society. Bluefield was founded to make a difference and to encourage the rest of the world to change. Bluefield offers peace, comfort and a lot of happiness, it is different because it also offers free beds and free insurance. Bluefield will be different from this society.

The Utopians live in a society that is free from the grips of money and hoarding, one that is as close to perfect as one can feasibly imagine. It is a world where people get along together in harmony, with “nothing private anywhere” (More 231). The only have gardening competitions, and even their gardens are not permanent, dying with each passing year. They “change houses by lot” every ten years to keep people from hoarding earthly goods, and by doing this create a society where not only does everyone contribute, and everyone also communicates and relates to those around them (More 231). This happens in large part, according to More, because of “communal living and their moneyless economy” (More 269). Through this revolutionary and ideal living, they create a place where there is no bribery because there is no money, with

In our lives today, we take advantage of all the luxuries that are presented daily. Freedom alone is one of the greatest luxuries we possess as an American nation. In Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs and Utopia by Thomas Moore, we are presented two life styles, which some might consider very similar in various ways. Both authors focus on a peaceful living lifestyle, to better the people of the nation. Although some of their specific details are different, I believe that Jacobs would definitely approve of the features that More develops in Utopia.

     Sir Thomas More writes, in his book Utopia, about a society that is perfect in practically ever sense. The people all work an equal amount and everything they need for survival is provided. Most importantly is that everyone living in this perfect society is happy and content with their everyday lives. In this society everybody supports everyone. The community is only as strong as its weakest link. For society to progress everyone must work together. Opponents of the Utopian system, however, feel that the strong should not have to look after the weak. Progress would be maximized if all the resources are spent on the people most qualified to help society. A Utopian society, as perfect as the one

     In Utopia, the distribution of work is intended to be as equal as possible and “agriculture is the one occupation at which everyone works” (36). Equal labor is successful in the sense that everyone puts in the same amount of time for an important cause—food production for consumption and trade. Because property is public, there is no need to have more than what is necessary, creating a low “demand”. Low “demand” means limited supply and limited supply equals less work. When not working, Utopians have leisure time to do as they please without being idle. The division of work and leisure creates a successful balance for the members of Utopia.

Another thing I would like to mention in this letter is that these people have little to no fortitude. In times of trouble, they try to avoid war and violence. If they can not, then they would hire mercenary arms to fight for them. The only reason why I mention that they have some fortitude is that they would only fight during times of absolute trouble when all other options are gone, and if that time does come, they will be ready because they train. However, even in battle, the Utopians say that they try to avoid killing as many men as possible. They would instead capture them as

Hythlodaeus goes on to talk about the self defense and the non-imperial nature of Utopian society. Utopians abhor war and attempt to avoid fighting except to protect themselves, their neighbors, or to free oppressed people. This is partly due to the fact that there is communal land in Utopia. Utopians, as completely self sufficient people, have no need to take over neighboring countries. At this time in history, countries not only in Europe, but all over the world were in constant conflict to expand their empires. More