Utopia by Thomas More From the Set

Utopia by Thomas More

From the set of attributes that Thomas More employs to describe Utopia, the most likely to be the target of significant social critique is that of communal property. Indeed, the issue of property was a major tenant in the development of British law -- and ultimately, in systems of law established in many other lands. Moreover, property ownership has been a key point of departure with regard to the demarcations of economic and political difference in 20th and 21st century. The tension between the social nature of production and the private accumulation of wealth is an enduring and common thread of puzzlement to rational beings, for which no universally satisfactory remedy has been devised.

It is no longer possible to argue that one approach or the other to dealing with issues of property -- say, capitalism or socialism -- produces superior economic results at the macroeconomic level. Robust examples of healthy economic systems that can't toward socialism or capitalism can be found in the contemporary arena. Scandinavian socialist countries continue to thrive and -- by popular report -- produce notably happy citizens. Examples of various forms of governance are readily identifiable throughout the world in countries that embrace capitalism. At the microeconomic level, however, philosophical kinship between egalitarian social structure and capitalism exists, but a practical relationship does not. While a country may benefit as a whole from capitalism -- for example, with respect to gross national product (GDP) -- many individual citizens within that country do not benefit. The reality is that class lines thrive in developed countries, but those lines of distinction are now drawn more in terms of absolute wealth rather than in terms of bloodlines. The issue of the "new rich," that once caused "the old guard" to fret, has reached an apex of irrelevancy in contemporary society.

Hythloday's island of Utopia. The actions of the inhabitants of Utopia are governed by rational thought, a practice that goes a long way toward establishing and maintaining many of the dominant attributes of the island's society. The people are not motivated by an interest is being individually wealth, as evidenced by the possession of gold, or being distinguished by privilege or class. Productivity is highly valued such that all people are industrious and property is communal -- shared equally by all people in the society. The economic outcomes of their rational, equitable approach to industry and property are an absence of poverty and very little crime. Religious tolerance is practiced and immoral behavior is minimal. Since greed and inequality are foreign to the members of this society, they are not inclined to engage in war. All these many positive attributes are fostered -- if not made possible -- by the geographic isolation of Utopia. General Utopus, the founded of Utopia, conquered the isthmus that is the topographical foundation upon which Utopia stands, and set about organizing the people to cut away and redistribute sufficient landmass so as to create an island where there had been a peninsula.

Cardinal Morton's England. Hythloday enjoys relating stories and conversations, and one particular conversation that occurred during a dinner with Cardinal Morton -- the esteemed Chancellor to Henry VII -- reveals a great deal about 16th century English society. A lawyer in attendance at the dinner puts forth his rational defense of capital punishment for theft crimes. Still, the lawyer is confused because so many people continue to steal despite the horrific punishment. Hythloday, enjoying the independence of his perspective, points out that -- if the lawyer would only think about it -- the problem is not at all surprising. According to Hythloday, capital punishment for thievery is too extreme a punishment for the crime, is not an effective deterrent anyway, and so does not provide any social benefit. Hythloday argues that a threat of death will not prevent people from stealing food to eat. In Hythloday's endearing rational manner, he suggests that the remedy is simply to make certain that everyone has enough to eat. In a manner that is thoroughly confounding -- yet startling familiar with some contemporary partisan rhetoric -- the lawyer says that is not a real problem because people are free to decide: choose to work or choose to steal. At this point, aware of the level of cognitive confusion the lawyer is exhibiting, Hythloday tries to simplify the behavioral chain of events. Here are the realities of life in England today -- economic, political, and social -- that generate an endless supply of thieves. Beginning with war, and the problem of a standing army, Hythloday argues that when times are hard, soldiers excel at thievery, applying their cold-blooded mentality to accomplish a crime. The nobility in English society deprive the peasants of a reasonable livelihood, in essence, causing peasants to resort to thievery, banditry, and petty crimes to survive. As if that were not enough, the nobility engages in the practice of enclosure, in which arable land is converted to private pastures or enclosures that prevent peasants from making a living from the land, and that cause the price of basic goods such as grain, wool, and meat to rise beyond the means of the common people. Moreover, Hythloday (who is presumably now "on a roll") says the whole system is geared to enable the creation of an oligopoly -- ownership (of practically everything) by the wealthy few. To further assist the lawyer toward correct thinking, Hythloday instructs him that there is a pernicious and implicit effort in English society toward the "manufacturing [of] thieves and then blaming them for being thieves." In summary, English society at the time was characterized by extreme inequality between intractable social classes, unjust penal systems operating with a complete disregard for reformation, and a preponderance of petty crime. Considering these attributes against a background of contemporary thought, it is readily apparent that the structural violence and cultural violence endemic to 16th century English society was staggering in magnitude and in penetration.

Conclusion

A seemingly endless debate has surrounded the work of Thomas More regarding his intention to lay out a plan for a real place, or whether he intentionally located his Utopia in the fantastical realm. The manifestation of "place" is physical -- it has to do with property and corporal things. Contemporary capitalist society struggles with even the idea of shared property -- it is the stuff of socialism. Yet, as discussed, good places can have either socialist or capitalist economies. The problem with analysis at the level of a national economy is that it does not accurately reflect the life situations of individual people. Clearly the definition of a "good place" differs as one moves from a macroanalysis to a microanalysis.