Utopia - part 2

I finally had a chance to read more of Utopia on the long drive home from vacation.
I had to chuckle as I read through "Book One: The First Book of the Conversation of Raphael Hythloday concerning the best state of a Commonwealth." I kept thinking of Solomons words, "There is nothing new under the sun, but it is all vanity and a striving after the wind." Yes, over the course of 400 years, through various political and religious changes and upheavals, we still have the exact same problems and humans continue to think up 'new' philosophies to fix them. Every so often, I would quote a sentence or two from the book as we drove. It would seem that, except for the antiquated language, some of the 'current events' could have been taken from today's news journals.



The main theme of Book One is how the unequal distribution of wealth has led to societal problems. Also, how the crime/punishment equation being unbalanced was ineffectual (ex. the death penalty for stealing food). Moore recounts how rampant unemployment and homelessness, arising from the greed and shortsightedness of the wealthy, had led to increased crime as 'peasants' try to provide for self and family via theivery. His philosophical answer seems to be a type of socialist/communist ideal where wealth is capped (for the King), acquisition of new government lands is abandoned (no more wars to increase a nation's holdings) and a country's wealth in increased by investing within its own borders. The wealth was then equalized amoung the citizens because all had opportunity to benefit from it. The wealth would be measured, not by one man's holdings, but by the overall peace and prosperity of the citizens as a whole. Thankfully, he is wise enough to admit that while such ideas might be successful in theory (great foder for the minds of philosophers), they might not play out in an actual, workable setting (as can be seen by historical attempts at such governments). The ideals are tempered by arguments about why such a 'perfect' system could not be put in to effect, namely the mis-educated, prejudiced, greedy, and power hungry entourage that surrounds and influences the ruling heads of state. (Hythloday's view of the King/courtiers/advisors - not mine, BTW.)

I could only take this book in small doses. The sentence structure and language really requires undivided attention. More than once, I wished I had a dictionary for some of the older words. Also, knowing by historical testimony that Moore's philosophical arguments were flawed perhaps altered my view of the material from what was intended to be a serious thought-provoking exercise into a tradgic comedy. Seeing that 400 years after his observations, the same basic human problems exist, jaded my objective.


Still, I did enjoy the challenge both literary and mentally. Book Two is significantly longer. I will post more on that as I have the chance to read it.