Utopia Essays - Utopian Novels, Idealism, Utopia, Utopian Fiction

Utopia Positives and Negatives of the Utopian Society Sir Thomas More wrote a novel named Utopia about a country that existed only in his mind. More used the story to explore his views and feelings about politics and government. People still believe that the story holds truths that are relevant today even though More wrote Utopia during the Renaissance. Utopia contains information about More's vision of a perfect society. The Utopian government was able to overcome or prevent all problems facing the country. The government first segregates the island by digging a canal around it so that the ocean will create and island that has hazardous straights as it's only means into the island. It then handles the many aspects that a community faces in a manner that, for the most part, creates an enjoyable environment to live in. There are however a few points that I found a flaw in. Personal wealth, religion, and justice are three areas of the Utopian society that have positive and negative sides. The first area of the Utopian society that I found weakness in is the lack of personal property. Every person who could get up and work did so for six hours a day. People were not allowed to be idle as it was against the law. "Actually their working hours are sufficient to provide not only an abundance, but a superabundance of all the necessities and conveniences of life" (p.35). Since every person contributes to the production of every food or material product in the commonwealth, there is no poverty and no greed. This concept looks great on paper. I feel, however, that this lack of owning anything would cause people to feel like they don't work for themselves. There would be no reason to toil over soil that was hard to sew if you knew you were not going to starve regardless of what you produced. The next part of Utopian culture that I disagree with is its religion and the policy it has on holidays. The people are able to worship any god they wish in anyway they wished. . The people of Utopia are able to partake in any religious ceremony they choose. Each citizen worships as he pleases and as long as he does not force his beliefs onto others he is fine (p.70). This freedom gave people a very important right. It helped to end many problems that occurred during the early years of Utopia (p. 72). This policy is a magnificent idea and it surprised me that no one who actually ran a country had thought of this. The only flaw that I found in Utopian religion was that all citizens had to the same temple at the same time for the festival of the first and last days of the month. These days, called Cynemern and Trapermern, were celebrated in a common temple in the city. The name of no specific god was used in the celebration except Mithra. Since every sect of religion used this name for their god. The government designed the services in this fashion so that they would not offend any religion (p.77). The use of no specific name of a god is a good way to avoid offending people, but it also makes the ceremony very impersonal. It seems to me that it would have been more beneficial if each group of religious Utopians was able to worship in the temple on their own day. This way they would be able to call their god anything they wanted and would feel surrounded by people with their same beliefs. The final area with some aspects is the Utopian justice system. The government does not have many laws; they do not see a need for it. The Utopians see no need in having many laws when there is not enough time to spend to gain the understanding for a larger number. Actually, the Utopians feel that honoring good citizens as a better way to develop morals. Displaying the names of people who have done good for the commonwealth, is thought to be a good way to detour others from acting against the common good. The laws that are made are very few and are made to enforce the desired ethics. If a law is broken, the punishment is normally left to the head of the family, a male, unless the crime is so bad that a public punishment would be better for the people of the city (p.60). There are no standards for the punishment according

Week #4 Example

Week #4 Example Week #4 – Article Example Week #4 This week four assignment involves summation of Murakami interview content that is part two of his writings from page 304 to 345. The content is compared with the writings of Calvino in his â€Å"the lost regiment† and â€Å"beheading the heads†. The second part of Murakami writings dwells on â€Å"The Place That Was Promised† after the interviews concerning the horrible gas attack committed by Aum Shinrikyo members, Murakami talked of a better place (Murakami 304-345). Murakami introduces the second part by assessing why people would believe in Aum while others do not. This leads to a question why should not some people be able to consider deeply about matters that are not directly pertinent to society. â€Å"The problem lies in fact that Aum Shinrikyo was one of the few havens for such people..." (304). personally I believe that the whole concept of thinking concerning life critically is much understated. It appears the entire Aum system is intended so that individuals can trick themselves into accepting they do not want anything. As an interviewee described, it was a method to turn the unenthusiastic aspects of individuals’ life into positive ones, and a manner to acquire respect (Murakami 304-345).According to Calvino, in â€Å"Beheading the Heads† leaders has the knowledge of their journey once have been elected. This is confirmed by response he gets when he asked if respondents were sad leaders were being killed after terms. â€Å"What can you do? If someone agrees to be a leader he knows how he’ll end up.† (144). this is relevant with choices people made in Aum case and also real world incidences. However, when the people decided to amputate the leaders not kill them change was realized. â€Å"This system of pruning leaders bore excellent results.†(153) this is a revelation that promised land can be shaped by circumstances. The lost regiment is a case of preparedness at whole time to meet t he objectives. The soldiers on seeing â€Å"the city before them, so quiet and good natured, minding its own business† (54), they felt imprudent. The place that was promised is not easy to attain unless one is focused and geared to the task.Murakami, Haruki, Alfred Birnbaum, and Philip Gabriel. Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche. London: Vintage, 2003. Print.Calvino, "The Lost Regiment" WRG#6

Hitler table talk, 1941-1944 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hitler table talk, 1941-1944 - Essay Example In this book, Hitler freely talks about his friends, failures, enemies, ambition and secrete dreams. During the midday and evening hours, Hitler turned down his guard to have a conversation with his most trusted men. Martin Bormann, Hitler’s acting private secretary, persuaded Hitler to allow him compiles the various conversations that were recorded by different people into a book. Hitler after his renowned tyranny had the plans to use this book as a reference material to write on the Thousand-Year Reich. In Hitler’s table talk book, there are 328 entries that were made with specified dates and time. Hitler’s close allies such as Todt, Himmler and other military leaders with exception of Goering were described to be present during these conversations as they could even pose questions to Hitler to which he responded. Hitler was such a person who contributed to any topic of discussion you could imagine of and he is the person that guided the directions of most talk s. During that period there was a war that was going on, but something interesting is that no talks were based on the war issue. Apparently these talks were mostly meant to divert people’s attentions from the war that was going on. Hitler was the German leader who was well educated and he specialized in the European history. He was a great racist and hated the Jewish people very much which worsened day after day. Some of the recorded statements involve Hitler narrating his strategic plans during the late 1932 power struggle and the resistance the Nazi party was subjected to. During that time, it is fascinating to see Hitler describing himself as the â€Å"builder† of capital cities, autobahns, and museums something that is ironical. Contrasts between Hitler’s support for Christianity and His hatred for the same In most of the recorded conversation, Hitler’s hatred for Christianity is more common than those of the Jews. Some of his negative talks about Chr istianity that supports Hitler’s hatred for Christianity includes; â€Å"what is this God who takes pleasure only in seeing men grovel before him† (Adolf & Gerhard, p143). â€Å"A negro baby, who has the misfortune to die before a missionary gets his clutches on him, goes to Hell†(Adolf & Gerhard, p69). â€Å"The catastrophe, for us, is that of being tied to a religion that rebels against all the joys of the nonsense† (Adolf & Gerhardp142). â€Å"Christianity is the worst of the regressions that mankind can every have undergone† (Adolf & Gerhard, p322). â€Å"While we are on this subject, let’s add that, even amongst those who claim to be good Catholics, every few really believe in this humbug. Only old women, who have given up everything because life has already withdrawn from them, go regularly to the church†(Adolf & Gerhard, p342). â€Å"Our apoch will certainly see the end of the disease of Christianity† (Adolf & Gerhard, p 343). Hitler contradicts himself when he pretends to supports Christianity by saying â€Å"Christianity sets the example. What could be more fanatical, more elusive and more intolerant than this religion which bases everything on the love of the one and only God whom it reveals† (Adolf & Gerhard, p397). Other than Christianity, Hitler resisted the renewal of Wotan worship. From the book it is not difficult to realize that Hitler was a consummate rationalist. This is revealed when he said â€Å"but there will never be any possibility of National Socialism’