In
Thomas More’s Utopia, one of the main
disadvantages that can be noticed immediately when reading is the use of
slavery. At the time when More was writing the novel, slavery was a normal part
of society. However, today most people recognize how oppressive and inhumane
slavery is. The slavery presented in the novel is slightly different than that
of past slavery in the United States. In
Utopia, people are only entered into slavery if they break the law, as an
alternative to jail. This caveat makes the slavery seem less unwarranted. Yet,
it is still a negative aspect and a microcosm of the full society.
Despite
being a free citizen in Utopia, the citizens have limited free choice in many
areas. In some respects you could say that the citizens are slaves to the
government. One could say the same about our society today, but Utopia has more
constrictive policies than the United States. The political systems of both
societies are set up similarly by electing officials to represent certain
areas. However, in Utopia those positions are maintained for life rather than
having reelections. Thus, the citizens cannot change the decision makers of the
society until after the ruler’s death. Additionally, some of the punishments
instituted by the government are very harsh. For example, certain age limits
exist for marriage. Women must marry at age 18 and men at age 22. This
eliminates free choice of when or if to marry. Another oppression that fits
into the marriage framework is that premarital sex is illegal. Furthermore, the
punishment for such an act is slavery for life. Adultery is also punished the
same way. So, everyone is limited to one person for their entire lifetime and
any deviation from that ideal is enslaved. If those were the rules in our
society I am not sure how many people would not be slaves.
The
other main source of constricted free will in Utopia relates to occupations. On
the surface, this seems to be an advantage of the society. The work day is
compressed into six hours to allow time for other exploits by the citizens. Additionally,
job rotation occurs which usually enriches interest in one’s work, since he or
she is not always performing the same tasks. Yet, this typically positive work
intervention is utilized poorly by the society. Each and every person in the
society is forced to work on the farm for some portion of their life. The
citizens are rotated through so that everyone must assist in food production in
the society. When citizens are not on the farm, they have one other occupation
that they carry out for life. No free choice is included in this decision, as
most people are required to perform the same occupations that their parents
perform. The society of Utopia can be viewed as analogous to a large
organization. In this company, you will never be promoted, your job schedule
will never change, and you will be forced to complete whatever projects are
assigned to you. Oh, and most importantly no one can quit.
The
very first supposedly perfect society utilized humans simply as mechanisms in
industrial and economic systems. People are valued for their role in the system
rather than the unique characteristics that compose them. Hopefully, the other
authors in the utopian tradition do not follow his lead.
Noel, I find myself disagreeing with a lot of your ideas. Yes, much of what you said made sense, but I think as Dr. MB pointed out, it is very important to remember the context in which we are reading. Yes, if you told everyone in our society today that they had to be married at 18 or 22 and could not have sex before marriage, it may not go over very well; however, in this time period it seems like a pretty good idea to me. Maybe I just see it this way because I'm always running on a tight schedule and like things very structured and planned out, but this seems like a solid system that will help keep the community running, people having babies, raising children and filling jobs at appropriate times as to keep the society in balance. Also, you mentioned that people are not valued for their "unique characteristics." Perhaps this is something that could be worked on; however, More does say that everyone in Utopia strives to have an anxiety free life filled with joy (60) and that the most important sentiment of all Utopian people is compassion (50) which I think is wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI'm uncomfortable with the idea of slavery as punishment even when considering the context. On one hand, some crimes may deserve it (rape, murder, violent stuff like that) but I don't think stealing, or having premarital sex, or cheating deserve that.
ReplyDeleteI do think that Utopians have a tiny bit more freedom with marriage than you say. for instance, they can divorce if the marriage isn't working and they have other people they want to marry. But still, it is a very limited kind of freedom.