Utopia Vs. America

This society, dubbed Utopia, (a derivative of the Latin for “not place”) is a critique of England in the 1500’s. The customs of this island seem very familiar to the Communist views expressed by Karl Marx more than 300 years later in his Communist Manifesto. The cornerstone of More’s Utopian society is that its citizens do not desire material wealth. They are content to live out their lives as humble laborers in service of the state. This is in direct contrast with the current state of American politics, which states that competitive Capitalism is necessary for democracy to function.

One aspect of Utopia’s society is its use of slaves as its primary source of labor. These slaves are either criminals, prisoners of war, or people who have trespassed into the country. There is no evidence that these slaves are abused the way black slaves were in colonial America. To the contrary, the text states that these slaves were released with good behavior. Good behavior, of course, is determined by the leaders of the society. So if the slave particularly un-favored, he or she may find it impossible to ever be released. The very practice of keeping slaves, however, contradicts the Capitalist belief that a person has the right to “a day’s work for a day’s pay.” Logically speaking, if there is no pay for the day’s work, the slaves little incentive to engage in good behavior. While similar things can be said for prison labor in present day America, it is most unwise to have a country whose work for is partially dependant on a group that is constantly on the verge of revolution. A civil war in this situation would seem inevitable from a contemporary perspective. Of course, this being an ideal society, the slaves must be treated with a level of dignity that keeps them from feeling completely alienated. In addition, a majority of able-bodied men and women work as agricultural laborers, and so have more in common with the slave population than slave owners in Antebellum America. Perhaps, then, Utopian slaves are more akin to present day community service workers. In this light the island’s society seems more socially equal than our own. It’s quite difficult to make a case for a acceptable slavery in a civilized society, but Thomas More might just have done it.