Utopian Lifestyle~~~~
That which is fair and just for you
May not be so for me
That which is beautiful for you
May be the opposite for me
Still, we all do live on Earth
Clustering to those who are like us
Opposed to those who are different from us
Fearful of their opinion
And ready to criticize them!
Pray, better it is to live and let live
Better it is to accept, to tolerate
To smile, to compliment, to give wings
To help one fly, to help one dream
To give hope, to mend a broken soul
To make one see the beauty of life
To imbibe one with faith!
Pray, life and its being is all mystery
Yet, the world is vast and the population is diverse
Remember that each being is unique
That no person is same as another
Yet, everyone wants to feel love and give love!
It is not a difficult task
All it requires is a little bit of understanding
An open mind and a gentle heart
Yes, all it requires is a little bit of goodness
Is it not said that God Himself is good?
Is it not said that man has been created in His image?
Is it not said that man can be as good as He is?
Man is in spirit, a luminescent force
Light, pure, fiery
Mystery, unknown yet
But felt; by one and all!
Man is in spirit, good and pure!
All it requires is some effort
And then, the world shall be same as Heaven
Yes, the world shall be a wonderful place
Such a one as idealized by the poets
Such a one which is sought by the seers
Such a one which is imagined by the romantic dreamers
Such a one as sung by those hippie bards
Such a one which would make living pleasant!
Unity amidst adversity
Unity in diversity
How perfect
Utopic
Absolutely ecstatic!
Utopia -- Kerry Bennett
The term "Utopia" was coined from the Greek words for "not" (ou) and "place" (topos) by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 satirical book "Libellus vere aureus, nec minus salutaris quam festivus, de optimo rei publicae statu deque nova insula Utopia," (A truly golden little book, no less beneficial than entertaining, of a republic's best state and of the new island Utopia) describing a fictional island society in the Atlantic Ocean; its protagonist Raphael Hythlodaeus (meaning "dispenser of nonsense") had discovered the island after being left at Cabo Frio, Brazil, by Amerigo Vespucci. In early modern English, Utopia was spelled "Utopie," which is today rendered Utopy in some editions. However, the word came to denote an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its citizens; in English "utopia" is homophonous with "eutopia," derived from the Greek for "good" or "well" (eu) and "place." (More addressed this confusion in an addendum to his "Wherfore not Utopie, but rather rightely my name is Eutopie, a place of felicitie.") While serving as an envoy to the Netherlands in 1515, More wrote the book's introduction and most of the second half of the book, then completed it in 1516 after returning to England. The humanist Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus edited a Leuwen edition in 1516, and then a revised edition was printed in Basel in 1518. In 1551, 16 years after More's execution, an English translation by Ralph Robinson came out in England. The first edition contained a woodcut map of Utopia, the Utopian alphabet, More's epistle dedicating the work to Pieter Gillis, and verses by Gillis, Cornelius Grapheus, and Gerard Geldenhouwer. Gillis, a humanist printer from Antwerp who appeared as a character in Book I, may have designed the Utopian alphabet; Grapheus (Cornelis De Schrijver), like Gillis a secretary for Antwerp, had once been forced to make a recantation for heresy. Geldenhouwer was a historian from Nijmegen who became an Augustinian monk and served the bishop of Utrecht before travelling to Wittenberg to hear Martin Luther, a former Augustinian who had broken from the Catholic church to lead the Protestant Reformation, and then became a Lutheran himself before becoming professor of history and theology at the newly founded Lutheran University of Marburg.
ReplyDeleteThe island was originally a peninsula, but king Utopos, its founder, had dug a channel to separate it from the mainland. The island contains 54 cities, each divided into four equal parts. Anyone caught traveling to a different city without a passport a second time is enslaved. Each city has 6,000 households consisting of 10 to 16 adults; each household has two slaves, who are either foreigners or criminals and are periodically released for good behavior. Thirty households are grouped together and elect a syphograntus (later called a phylarchus), and every 10 syphogranti elect a traniborus (later called a protophylarchus) to govern them. In a secret ballot, the 200 syphogranti in each city elect a prince for life, unless he is deposed or removed for suspicion of tyranny. To keep the populatons even, people are re-distributed among the households, and overpopulation is dealt with by establishing colonies on the mainland; the colonsts are recalled to deal with underpopulation. Gifted children are selected to become officials or priests, but all able-bodied citizens must work six hours a day (though many willingly work longer); everyone is taught military arts and agriculture, and must live in the countryside two years at a time, but must also learn weaving, carpentry, metalsmithing, or masonry; they are encouraged to study during their leisure time. All property is communal, and the state provides free medical care and other forms of welfare. Meals are taken in community dining halls and each household in turn is tasked with feeding the population. Wealth is good only for buying commodities from abroad or bribing other nations to fight each other. If war is necessary, Utopians try to capture, rather than kill, their enemies. Gold is used to fetter criminals or to make chamber pots or other unappeling goods. Laws are deliberately simple so everyone can understgand it, so there are no lawyers. Euthanasia and divorce are permitted, but premarital sex is punished by enforced lifetime celibacy and adultery by enslavement. Wives are subject to their husbands and husbands to their wives, though wives must confess their sins to their husbands once a month. Men are denied any opportunities for privacy to oblige them to behave well, so taverns, ale houses, and places for private gatherings are non-existent. Most people are monotheists or worshipers of the moon, sun, planets, or ancestors, but atheists are also tolerated (though suspect, since their behavior cannot be conditoned by belief in rewrds or punishments in the afterlife, so they are encouraged to discuss their notions with priests). Gambling, hunting, makeup, fine clothing, and astrology are all discouraged. Henry VIII apppointed More lord high chancellor in 1529; despite his humanism and association with European Protestants he remained a devout Catholic, opposed Henry's annulment of his marriage to his Spanish queen and his separation from the church. After refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy, recognizing Henry as head of the Church of England, he was convicted of treason and beheaded in 1535: "I die the King's good servant, but God's first." He was canonized in 1935.
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