The word ‘Utopia’ is frequently used and heard, chiefly in political discussion. It would be interesting to know the origin of the word. In the 1500s, Sir Thomas More, an English statesman and philosopher, wrote a book called Utopia, imagining what an ideal society would look like. Interestingly, in Greek, the word means “no place,” an apt title. This book is considered by many as the basis of later socialist thought.

The central premise of Raphael, the narrator, is that a society where there is private property will always have great inequality and cannot be a just one. Dishonest and unproductive people will exploit decent and unpretentious ones. In such a society the best people are tied down by poverty. Therefore, in a just society, all things must be held in common.

Utopia is an island which is divided into several cities with vast farmland between adjacent cities. This society is unique, it has no money. Gold earned from exports is stored in creative ways all around the country, and people are raised to despise it. To reinforce this belief, slaves are forced to wear gold earrings and gold chains. It seems no one has the incentive to be corrupt, as money and riches have no value in this country.

In Utopia, each household is run by a ‘responsible couple.’ Thirty households annually elect one Phylarch, who is responsible for the well-being of these households. Ten Phylarchs annually elect a Tranibor. All the Phylarchs of a city also collectively vote for a Governor who is elected for life unless he is suspected of being despotic. The Tranibors and the Governor of each city work together to resolve private disputes and to manage the day-to-day issues facing the city.

Utopian laws are rigid and pervasive. There are restrictions on the number of members in a household, which cannot be less than 40. There must only be between 10 and 16 adults per household, to prevent overpopulation. There are exactly 6000 households in each city. Once the optimum population figure is reached, members are transferred to households that lack members. Similarly, if a city exceeds its projected quota, individuals are transferred to underpopulated cities.

If the population of the island itself exceeds projected levels, some citizens are sent to set up colonies in neighbouring areas where untilled and barren land exists, apparently without a care that they are encroaching on another’s territory. If the natives of the area agree to live by the Utopians’ laws, they are assimilated. If they do not, they are driven out. If the population of the island itself falls, some members are called back from the colonies. This system ensures

Houses in Utopia are owned collectively and are rotated regularly. Due to this and strict control on population, the construction needs of Utopia are minimal, and new buildings are rarely constructed. There is a greater focus on the maintenance and repair of existing houses, which is done promptly.

Since everything is held in common, no one owns any agricultural land. Everyone contributes to production. Every year, 20 people from each household go to the countryside to work on the farms, while another 20 who have already spent 2 years in the countryside come back to the city. If there is a lack of agricultural equipment, one can apply to the city magistrate, and as money does not exist, there is no payment or corruption involved.

Agriculture is a skill that is common to all living on the island, and it is taught to them from childhood. Apart from this, everyone learns one of five major occupations in Utopia. Children normally follow the occupation of the father, and if one wishes to practice a different craft, he is adopted into a different family that practices that profession. The same rule applies if one wishes to learn a second craft after learning the first. If one has learned multiple crafts, he must choose one. If the state desires one kind of craft over the other, then the person must practice that.

All Utopians must practise some sort of essential craft or labour. By making almost all individuals work and work only on crafts that are essential for human life, they are self-sufficient and have an excess of everything they need, permitting export, done through state-owned ships.

Only about two hundred regular citizens per city are exempt from manual work. Their names are recommended by the priests and, if elected by the Phylarchs, they are permanently freed from manual work and can pursue higher studies. If such an individual “disappoints,” he is sent back to the ranks of the workers.

Every city in Utopia has four districts, each having a large mercantile market in the centre. Each household earnestly sends all its produce to the market where it is stored in warehouses. From here, the head of each household takes the household requirement, without payment. Each residential block has a hall where all the members of the area eat together. However, if one so wishes he can carry food home from the market.

All Utopians have a uniform cloak that they wear over their work clothes once the day’s work is done, which is of the same colour everywhere. They thus have no incentive to have embellished or numerous clothes, as they all look the same. This uniformity and frugality allow all productive hands to exclusively produce essentials. To the Utopians, true pleasure is to be found by living in tandem with nature.

The ideas in the book bear an uncanny resemblance to many communist principles and beliefs. The absence of private property is an obvious one. “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” is reflected in their production, storage, and retrieval systems. The rule that all members in society must contribute to national production and periodically work on the farm, also serve this principle. Central planning and control of every aspect of life are evident in Utopia.

It is interesting to note that even in this perfect society, Sir Thomas More considered authoritarian control by the governor of each city necessary to maintain equilibrium. He seems to believe that freedom and a perfect society are mutually exclusive.

While a lot of the laws and systems imagined for Utopia are impractical and unthinkable, it would be good to appreciate the sentiment and the idea that More is trying to convey. It is remarkable that in the feudal 1500s, someone created such a thorough description of Utopia, one that included sustainable development and Green Living as core principles of life, one which would even inspire prominent philosophers much later in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.