Utopia

Sir Thomas More’s book ‘Utopia’ (1516) describes an imagined perfect place and society on an island in the south Atlantic. But his island is far from ideal, with slavery, corruption, travel papers and the like being the way of life. The word is the authors’ creation, from the Greek ou- ‘no’ and topos- ‘place’, literally meaning ‘nowhere’. The Greek eu– ‘good’ sounds the same as ou-, hence the popular confusion between Eutopia (‘good place’), and Utopia (‘nowhere’).

The book is received in many ways, but for me it’s a satirical comment on the politics and church of the day. It also takes note of the fact that people’s desires will always be different, and therefore Utopia doesn’t exist.

I’m on a ride to nowhere …

Still, that doesn’t stop us from trying to find it, and the best of humanity, ever optimistic towards the sanity of mankind. Hopefully, we will learn something from the people we meet along the way.

Come along for the ride, follow my Blog and help me find it!