Examples Of A Perfect Utopian Society

A utopia is a place of ideal perfection. However, according to the Merriam-Webster, it is also an impractical scheme for social improvement. Though dating back to the earliest days of U.S. history, utopian communities became a part of American thought by the 1840s. Various groups that were struggling because of urbanization and industrialization, challenged the traditional norms of American society with a desire to create a world without capitalism, immigration, and the tension between communities. However, these attempts failed due to individualism, materialism, the lack of growth, and little balance.

“An imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect,” is the definition you’d read if you searched up the word, “utopia.” Humans strive to achieve perfection- the perfect grade, a perfect family, having a perfect life, being the perfect person- to be flawless. We as humans, typically desire for what we don't have. After all, our world is not perfect at all. We face hardships, anxieties, pain, and much more.

Utopias are never created, as the idea of a perfect society exists only in dreams. It is human nature that sin and flaw exist, and while attempts to eradicate these should be promoted, outright removing them is almost impossible. Attempts exist to remove flaws, such as providing affirmative action to those in lower economic or educational standards than others, dress codes to make the student body equal, and even outright censorship or filtration of certain information on the internet, or even in public spaces by restrictions.

The idea of a perfect society, or “utopia,” was first introduced in Sir Thomas More’s book Utopia, written in 1516. In the book, More described a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean through the character Raphael. On the island everything and everyone has a specific place and purpose. There is no private property, all of the houses on the island are the same; you can walk in the front door, through the house, and out the back door. All necessary items are stored in warehouses, where people only request what they need. The people on the island manufacture the items in the warehouse, everyone that can work does, which means little to no unemployment.

A perfect society free of problems and worries, or a Utopia isn’t a new idea; various philosophers have contemplated this complex topic in hopes to create one. The problem is the word “perfect” is a relative term; nobody will ever have the same idea of a flawless civilization. However, some utopian designs appear as though they may actually come close to satisfying everyone’s needs, so that we may all live worry free. We know there’s never going to be a perfect society on this earth however I believe that Thomas Jefferson’s “Declaration of Independence” is the finest form so far. When the US liberated itself from Brittan in 1776 it was clear we needed something better to replace the former government.

What would be considered necessary to create a perfect world? Parts that would be thought of as necessities for a utopia would be universal access to food and shelter, everyone is able to find a job, and everyone is happy. The society in Brave New World is an example of a successful utopia because it has everything most within their world would consider necessary for a perfect society. One reason why their world is an example of a successful utopia is that everyone is happy, or at least content with their lives when they are participating in the world as intended.

It would be safe to say that in a perfect world, Utopian Communities would be ideal. The Socialist Party was fueled by the idea of Utopian Communities, in which communities possessed highly desirable or perfect qualities. Is this a realistic concept? Most would say no; it is impossible to create a perfect society, where there are no problems, as human nature does not allow this. People would try to construct “utopies on earth” via ideologies such as communism. Communism, as we know, is a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

Perfection or imagination People have attempted to create personal utopias for about as long as the concept has existed but every single time they have failed for various reasons and no one can determine why. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a utopia is “a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions” (2016). To sum up utopia in one word would be perfection, and even people today strive for this unreachable goal regardless of common sense telling them not to. These people want the perfect house, the perfect relationship, the perfect body, and the perfect life; however, they lack the realization that their preferences will change over time and that what they consider perfect today is different

Many people find different meanings of the word perfect. To gain a utopian society what does the society have to take away, what would they take away; will it change the society for the good or the bad? In The Giver three big topics are rules, family and release. The society in the novel The Giver has very few similarities to our modern day society however there are many differences that set the two apart.

A perfect society cannot happen if there are still people who are greedy and selfish. To compare with The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin, I chose are The Giver by Lois Lowry and The Purge directed by James DeMonaco. Deciding on those two texts were due to how closely related they are to portray a utopian and dystopian society. Although, each story/film used different ways to appeal to certain audiences to express their message. A utopian society is pictured as a paradise, but to reach the paradise, people have to sacrifice their freedom to make a better place. Greed and selfishness are the main reasons to why a utopia cannot exist because, through the greed and selfishness, people learn from their mistakes.

Jacque Fresco once said “There’s no way to design a society that’s optimal or utopian. It’s better than the one that was. Systems always undergo change.” Are Utopian (perfect) societies even possible in American society? No, nothing is perfect nor will it ever be perfect.

Utopias are perfect societies, but do they even exist and when they perform, how long will they last? Utopias are perfect societies where everything is laid out for you and everything is so-called “perfect”. In a utopia you a disconnected from the outside world. Everything from your food to your housing is prepared for you. In the utopia, each person contributes equally so it is even and perfect. There are many rules in a utopia, but that is how they keep the utopia calm and perfect. Every once in a while a utopia will come and try to be a utopia. Utopias are not possible because of human nature and behavior. Even though there have been many utopias to pop up, utopias are not possible, one being the way people are and their capabilities to follow and be perfect because no one or anything is perfect. There are plenty of reasons why a utopia is not possible.

In a perfect utopian society everyone gets what they need because communication, understanding, and open mindedness of different ideas would be key. In order for a society to be a utopia, everyone has to be comfortable and be provided with their wants and needs and everything needs to function perfectly. In order for function and equality, people must compromise in thoughts and ideas to provide for everyone. To do that, one must have a good understanding of why others may think differently and have the ability to accept that. One of the many reasons our Earth is not a utopia is because of the competition and contradictory understandings of people, and the inability to accept other’s ideas. You do not have to believe what others believe, but respect for separate thought would make the world better. If everyone had their thoughts heard, were more sympathetic of different ideas and more capable of compromise, then there would possibly not be such gaps in social standing and humans dying from lack of basic needs while others bathe in gold.

Simply said, a universal basic income is unconditional cash, which is granted to every citizen of the state without any regard to their employment or wealth status. This concept is seen as utopian by many and has its fair share of both proponents and critics (Devarajan, 2017). Its purpose is to provide everyone with a basic living standard without any condition. This idea has been gaining traction for quite some time especially in America, Europe and Scandinavian states (Widerquist, 2005).

Throughout history, we have seen many societies come and go regardless of how powerful or stable they were at one point. Is it possible to have a society which is ideal for all of it’s members, or is society only capable of being beneficial to some and not to everyone? I do believe an ideal society could be achieved, but our current society would have to undertake a substantial overhaul. In today’s society, there are more opinions and beliefs about the way it should be ran than there have ever been. An ideal society could be achieved through it’s members treating their neighbors in a more religious way, a change in the way our current economy is operated, and by improving