Visions of utopia -- or more commonly, dystopia -- permeate the canon of literature and the arts. Thomas More's Utopia builds upon prior literature on the subject, like Plato's Republic. In More's Utopia, the author builds himself into the work as a character, much as Plato does in his writing. However, More takes Plato's concept of a utopia much farther to provide a rather detailed and comprehensive vision of what an idealized society might look like and how it might function. More's Utopia bases itself on the ideal of reason, and presumes a human nature that is devoid of problems like greed or anger. The central theme in More's Utopia is the minimization of institutions, laws, and structures. While contemporary culture trends more toward dystopic than utopic visions, some artists do remain committed to a presentation of ideals. John Lennon was one such artist. In his song 'Imagine,' Lennon sings about a utopia. Like More's utopia, Lennon's is an imaginary world unlikely to manifest but one that may be at least a blueprint or inspiration for human society. Both More and Lennon imagine a society in which there are 'no possessions.' More agrees fully with this sentiment. In Book I of Utopia, Moore writes, 'I must freely own that as long as there is any property, and while money is the standard of all other things, I cannot think that a nation can be governed either justly or happily.' The reason why utopias lack private property can be traced to the problems associated with human greed, jealousy, and possessiveness. Property also creates the potential for social injustice and inequality that can lead to conflict. Thus, the utopic visions of More and Lennon can be interpreted within a Marxist framework. When a small group of people in power come to own the means of production, they need to amass a labor force to support their enterprise. Rather than valuing labor as a function of the value of the goods or services being produced, labor is valued in a more arbitrary fashion. This means laborers are not in control...
As More describes utopia, labor has no monetary value, but rather a more direct value in that work contributes to the production of things necessary to survival. A utopia does away with problems like lack or greed, because all property is collectively owned. People are entrusted with the ability to share and be kind to one another regarding the need for specific items. There is, as Lennon puts it, 'No need for greed or hunger.' More expands further on the concept of property by delving into issues related to work, labor, and wealth. Work is reframed as labor that gives people joy, as opposed to suffering. In utopia, people are connected with the means of production -- namely the raw materials necessary for survival such as food and agriculture. People take pride in their labor and learn new trades willingly (Book II). No one works too hard, because there is no need for suffering senselessly in this way: 'they do not wear themselves out with perpetual toil, from morning to night, as if they were beasts of burden,' (Book II). Although Lennon does not go into such specifics in 'Imagine,' the lack of possessions, greed, or hunger in the songwriter's utopia does imply an idealized system in which labor has been revalued and where laborers are empowered.
John Winthrop and Ralph W. Emerson Utopia refers to a visualized state or place of welfare, which is comprised of goodness and freedom from all threats of negative conditions and probable failures. Following this description of 'utopia', a Utopian World thus, may refer to a universe that is free from all physical, economic and social constraints that bring disunity, poverty, hunger and all sources of unhappiness in the society. Though different
" In other words to understand any writer's utopian vision, one must compare and contrast that particular vision to what utopian authors in the classic traditions have already put forward. DEFINITIONS of UTOPIA: J.H. "JACK" HEXTER: Historian, professor and humorist Jack Hexter wrote that "Utopia implies that the nature of man is such that to rely on individual conscience to supply the deficiencies of municipal law is to embark on the bottom-less
Its Scripture-based tradition holds that a man cannot serve God and wealth at the same time. It strikes a fair balance between present abundance and need. All nationalities and origins become one in Christ Jesus. All believers would sell their possessions and goods for distribution to all according to need (Wienk). On Socialist Political Parties These parties struggle to maintain the socialist ideal and apply it in national life (Wienk 2011).
American thinkers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and John Winthrop developed cogent visions of their new nation, promulgating utopian ideals and encouraging their readers to actively create an idealized society. As Peyser puts it, both Emerson and Winthrop were "deeply suffused with a sense of America's missionary destiny, of the new nation's emancipatory message to the rest of the world," (13). However, Winthrop and Emerson held two divergent visions of
Executive Summary Coca-Cola's mission, vision and values are analyzed, against the literature outlining what the best practices for these things are. Coca-Cola's mission statement has three parts, only one of which says something meaningful; the other two state the obvious. The vision statement contains no vision, does not meet the criteria of a high quality vision statement, and needs to be replaced in its entirety. The values statements are superficial; taken
Who Should Play a Part in Developing Curriculum for Schools and Why?IntroductionOne of the first things to leap out at the reader of John Dewey�s description of schools in Utopia is the fact that he gives primacy of place to parents�meaning that only those married people who have had children of their own are allowed to have positions of authority in the �schools� or assemblies where children learn from their
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