Utopia Essay -- essays research papers

Utopia     Utopias are generally said to be societies in which the political,social and economic troubles hampering its inhabitants has been done away with.Instead the state is there to service the people and ensure the peacefulness andhappiness of everyone. The word utopia, which means "no place" in Greek, wasfirst used to mean a perfect guild in 1516 in the publication of Saint ThomasMores story "Utopia". The story depicted life as it was with its people andsocial institutions on an imaginary island. Mores Utopia gained faultfindingacclaim and a wide audience. The term was subsequently used by all prominentsocial thinkers and visionaries to define other concepts of this kind.     During the nineteenth century many an(prenominal) attempts were made to actually establishcommunities which followed the beliefs of a utopian society. Most wereexperiments in utopian socialism. Although they differed considerably in theirspecific views, most of them agreed that ideal societies could be createdwithout much difficulty. They felt all that was needed was to have theformation of a few small, cooperative communities made up of their followers.     The comte de Saint-Simon regarded technological progress and large photographic plateeconomic organization as being the most important keys to the establishment ofthese communities. It was felt that industrial growth was the key to happinessfor people in the future.     another(prenominal) visionary, Fourier, was quite the opposite of Saint-Simon. HeSpoke strongly against the use of industry. His opinion was that agriculturalcommunities would be better suited for this situation. He favored thesecommunities as he saw them as small, self-sufficient and more importantly, freefrom the restraints that were being imposed by civilization.     Experimental societies based on the theories of the utopians were alsoset u p in Europe and the Unites States. They included Robert Owens cooperativecommunities in New Harmony, lnd., and New Lanark, Scotland. Most of these didnot survive long. One of the longer lasting of these communities was the OneidaCommunity. It lasted from 1848 to 1881. By the middle of the 19th century theutopian socialists were beginning to be eclipsed by more militant radicalmovements. These... ...eat big leather lazyboy in front of the t.v.would also be required. electronic gizmos of all shapes and sizes wouldsurround me.     Then as my children grew older, Id hope to be able to provide them withthe opportunity to receive a college education, as this is key to success. Tosee them go on to do well for themselves would make me very proud.     By then I would start to contemplate retirement. Id hope to have anice bitty nest egg stashed away so that I may live comfortably for the rest ofmy life. I hope to grow old peacefully, and as dark as t his may sound, Ihope that when my time does come, I die in my sleep. Never felling a thing.     I know that many of the things I rightful(prenominal) mentioned may never happen. Manyof my wishes are just that, wishful thinking. It is just a concept of a type oflife I would like to live. echt or not. But after all, its MY private utopia.Plus we must remember that utopias in these times in their most technicaldefinition do not exist. They are merely ideas and concepts of the world as manwould wish it were. Being a man in this world of ours, I have my wishes too.