Utopia Essay Paper Example For Students

Utopia Essay Paper 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 serve the people and ensure the peacefulness andhappiness of everyone. The word utopia, which means no place in Greek, wasfirst used to mean a perfect society 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 criticalacclaim and a wide audience. The term was subsequently used by all prominentsocial thinkers and visionaries to define other concepts of this kind. During the 19th century many 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 scaleeconomic 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 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 up 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 included anarchism and Marxism. In more modern times, utopianism has more frequently been used tosuggest a naive and impractical approach to reality. Most comes by way ofliterature with stories such as a way to expose modern societies social ills. Some prominent examples of this type of writing include George Orwells 1984 andAldous Huxleys Brave New World. The places mentioned in those stories were all imaginary. Such a placedoes not exist in the world as we know it today. Therefore the word imaginarycomes into play. I have heard of places that have experimented with the conceptof a utopian environment but none have truly succeeded. One example is thecommunity in Chicago which George Pullman attempted to control. He attempted tocreate a community in which every person was taken care for, all had adequatehousing, medical attention and so forth. In return everyone would work forPullmans company. The better he provided for his workers, the better heexpected their attitude towards working for him would be. Not everything turnedout as planned though. A panic in 1893 lead to Pullman lowering the employeeswages, he did not however lower the employees rent and other charges in thecompany town. This lead to what was called the Pullman strike. The anticipatedutopia had turned into a dystopia. (A dystopia would be the exact opposite of autopia.) Federal troops arrived on July 4th to try to control the unrest. Rioting broke out and several strikers were killed. It wasnt until July 10ththat the troops were able to control the situation. The word utopia however does not necessarily have to be used to define asociety. A utopia can also be used to define a certain situation as it isperceived by an individual. A person who feels that their life at the specificpoint in time is perfect or a person who is involved with a certain group ororganization can very well feel that they are living in a utopic way. Successes and Failures of Signals Intelligence EssayA person working at a factory, at an office or anywhere for that matterworks hard because they want to earn as much money as they possibly can. Theyknow that this money can be used for a variety of purposes that they hope willmake their lives easier, happier and overall better. Maybe theyll be able tosend their children to college. Perhaps a new car or a brand new wardrobe willmake them feel complete. Maybe they will acquire a certain prestige they desireeither from their economic or social status. People in general basically doeverything they do to reach a goal in life. It is viewed as the final stop in aseries of steps that lead to the end. The end being the place where one wins. Almost like a life-sized game of chutes and ladders. They seek their ownprivate utopia. This holds true for families all over the United States andthroughout the world. Even as I think about this, Im living my life trying to reach a pointwhere I may be happy. There are things in my wildest fantasies that would makemy life perfect in my eyes. For starters, Im writing this paper. Hopefully this will get me adecent grade. If I also get good grades on all my other classes this semesterand for the rest of the time that I attend Roosevelt University I should receivemy degree. With a degree in hand Ill go out into the job market in search of aplace to work. If and when I settle down with a company I intend to start tosave some money. With this money I hope to do a number of things. I want to pay off alldebt that Ive acquired for educational purposes. I would like to treat myselfto a semi-new automobile. Doesnt have to be the most luxurious car in theworld, but one that isnt in constant need of repair as is my current one is. Iwould like to save a little bundle on the side to be used as a down payment fora home. White picket fence, doghouse for rusty, the whole kit and caboodle. Ive always dreamt of having a house that I could call my own. No one to tellme how I have to keep the place. By then I think it may be time to settle down. Perhaps Id ask thewoman of my dreams (if not, my current girlfriend will do.) to be my lawfullywedded wife. And in these turbulent times, maybe the marriage would even be ahappy one. And if the Lord allows, I might even father a few little kids. In my house, Id love to have a large screen t.v. and a laser discplayer as I am a movie fanatic. A great 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 little nest egg stashed away so that I may live comfortably for the rest ofmy life. I hope to grow old peacefully, and as gruesome as this 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 just 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. Real 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. Category: Philosophy