Utopia- Book 2

Wow, this book was full of description. I actually felt as though I was on the island. It sometimes became hard to read this, just because he would spend a whole paragraph describing the size of the island. But the imagery was amazing. Anyways back to the second book. Here are the main descriptions of the island.

• The island was part of the continent. He had dug a tunnel so as to seperate his people from everyone else. To me this started to sound really creepy. It sounded like these people were part of an experiment and were being kept away so that they could be unable to be influenced by the rest of the people on the continent.

• All of the cities were exactly the same. Each of the cities on the island had to obey by the same rules. They were limited on the number in each family, the number of families in a city, and several other things in their lives. This reminded me, vividly, of a cult. There was one person who watched over the other families and made sure that everyone did what they were supposed to and tried to make the city a better place.

• They were to respect their elders and men. Within these cities men were the dominant sex, and women were inferior to them. I do not agree with this idea. Women can do as much as men can, and some instances they can do something better than men. Each person has something they are better at than others, and it has nothing to do with what sex they are. I do agree with giving your elders respect. I believe it is sad that older people are not more respected and valued as is the tradition in the Asian cultures.

• Everyone should have slaves. He had his soldiers work with the slaves so that they would not believe that they were slaves. I do not believe that they should have slaves, but I do understand that this was written in a time when slaves meant wealth and several people had them.

• There was no free time. It was against the rules to just sit and do nothing. Everything these people did was for the good of the family and city. (Once again it sounds like a cult.)

• Everyone had to share. In therory this sounds like a great idea, but in reality it could never work. Imagine having to switch houses, jobs, lives, every couple of years. There would be no sense of ownership. In our times this would be impossible, because people like "their" things.

• You will be either punished or rewarded. They believed that if you did things for others you would be rewarded from God. If you did wrong things then you would be rightfully punished. I agree with this thought.

Overall, the description of Utopia reminded me of a cult. It seems like it would work and be wonderful, but it ends up controlling your whole life and every decision you make. I would hate to live in a Utopia, because you loose lots of your freedom.

Utopia

During book 1 of Utopia, Thomas Moore describes some key points about the society that he lives in. After reading the first book, I found the following to be the main points about his society.

• A country should not have soldiers ready to go during a time of peace
• Stealing is unfairly punished
• The death penalty sentence is unjustly given out to unworthy convictions
• Killing people and deciding when they shall die is divine action
• The monarch is a sheepherder and should take care of his peoples' needs and not make them take care of his wishes
• Judges always rule in favor of the Prince

My reaction:

I do agree with the statement that a country should not have soldiers ready to go during a time a peace. If the country works in the sense that they are always ready for war then they will be willing to go into war without much hesitation. This part of the book reminded me some what of our Army National Guard, because although they do not fight unless the country really needs them they have to train one weekend a month. In a way they are our country's reserve of soldiers who are ready for action.

Stealing should be fairly punished. Back in those times a murderer and robber would both be put to death. While I believe that stealing is a serious offense, I do not believe that a robber should be put to death for it. If he dies then he will never be able to learn from his mistakes and have a second chance at life in the community. This reason is why I do agree that the death penalty needs to given out, if given out at all, to those who may deserve it and not for people who may be able to change their way of living.

I personally do not believe in the death penalty, because it goes against my religious beliefs. When you decide to take the life of someone, even if they have killed several other people, you are doing what you condemned in the first place. God is the only one who has the power to decide when a person will die.

The monarch is in charge of his people just as a president is in charge of the country he rules. Their duties include protect the people of the country and keeping them safe. Monarchs should not use the people under his rule to help fulfill his own wishes and desires. When a monarch does this the people of his country start to respect him less. When judges are supposed to always rule in favor of the prince this is an example of a monarch using his people to fulfill his desires. This is wrong and a judge should never be made to do this, or there is no reason for the government. A society like this one would be a society in which the people are living by someone else's wishes, the people of the country do not have a chance at a life they would like to make. This society reminded me of a rustic version of the soceity in which we live today.