About How Things Should Be

“A little, true book, not less beneficial than enjoyable, about how things should be in a state and about the new island Utopia.” Sir Thomas More wrote these words in 1516 about his book Utopia, “a work of fiction and sociopolitical satire.” We have since co-opted his title, converting it to a lower-case noun that describes “an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its citizens.”

The opposite of a utopia is a dystopia, “a fictional community or society that is undesirable or frightening.” Dystopias often comprise worlds of “rampant fear or distress, tyrannical governments, environmental disasters, or other characteristics associated with a cataclysmic decline in society.” On today’s Topiameter (which measures how close or far the world is from perfection [patent not pending]), there’s little question as to which direction the needle is pointing. In fact, if you imagine the meter with Utopia on the left (green), Notopia in the middle (yellow), and Dystopia on the right (red), we are way in the red.

But let’s not talk about how bad things are. This can and does lead to dsytopophrenia (the inordinate fear of everything going to hell in a handbasket, also called dementia itsucks). Let’s talk instead, to borrow from More, “about how things should be.”

More begins Utopia with a section called “Dialogue of the Counsel.” In it, he criticizes everything he sees as being wrong with English society at the time. These things include “the tendency of kings to start wars and the subsequent loss of money on fruitless endeavors.” We can skip this section here as we only need to tune in to the news outlet of our preference to see everything that’s wrong with the world.

The second section of Utopia is labeled “Discourse on Utopia.” In it, More’s fictional traveler Raphael Hythlodaeus relates the structure and practices of the island of Utopia. Here’s a small taste courtesy of Wikipedia:

There is no private property on Utopia, with goods being stored in warehouses and people requesting what they need. There are also no locks on the doors of the houses, and the houses are rotated between the citizens every ten years. Agriculture provides the most important occupation on the island. Every person is taught it and must live in the countryside, farming for two years at a time, with women doing the same work as men. Parallel to this, every citizen must learn at least one of the other essential trades: weaving (mainly done by the women), carpentry, metalsmithing, and masonry. There is deliberate simplicity about these trades; for instance, all people wear the same types of simple clothes and there are no dressmakers making fine apparel. All able-bodied citizens must work; thus unemployment is eradicated, and the length of the working day can be minimized: the people only have to work six hours a day (although many willingly work for longer).

If More were writing today, he would no doubt update Utopia to eliminate a few “minor” things like slavery, making chamber pots out of gold to encourage citizens to shun the precious metal, and restricting travel on the island using “internal passports.” He would likely keep some things that were radical suggestions for his day, e.g., euthanasia, marriage for priests, female priests, divorce, free health care, religious tolerance (except for atheists, who were “encouraged to talk out their erroneous beliefs with the priests until they are convinced of their error”), and sufficient food for all.

It’s obvious that More’s perfect island was far from perfect, but one can’t (at least I can’t) criticize his motivation for writing the book, assuming it was sincere and not cynical. He wanted, it seemed, a world of equality and plenty without conflict, one where, to alter the dictionary definition by leaving out “an imaginary place,” “government, laws, and social conditions are perfect.”

We very much need our own Thomas More today, someone with a utopian vision that’s brilliant and innovative yet practical enough to work for everyone. They could use John Lennon’s “Imagine” as a template, for example. I might volunteer to take this on. The first edict of my Utopia would be “the free community dining halls must be Waffle Houses.” After all, if everyone started their day with the All-Star Special (waffle, bacon, eggs, grits, and toast), how could the world not be perfect?

Image: Title woodcut for Utopia written by Thomas More. Public domain.

(Published originally on RatBlurt™, October 7, 2021.)