I personally do not want to have all of my days and activities planned for me (although I like the idea of scheduled naps because sleep is a beautiful thing). Sometimes a little spontaneity is fun and a good thing in my mind!
In regard to work, I'm not sure how they managed to get people to work for the same amount. That might work for them, but I don't think it'll work as well in many other places. I will say, though, that a 6 hour work day sounds amazing! The reason I'm not sure this society will always work is because it reminds of a communist society. Yes, I know it works, but I also know that many people dislike it and flee to other countries because of it. People need incentive to work and improve. That's not going to work as well if everyone is getting paid the same amount for different (and possibly more difficult) jobs.
Side note: It also makes me think about the society in The Giver because everything was planned out for them too.
I don't think think we'll ever know if the Utopians are actually proud to be Utopian since we never get to hear their perspective of things. I think it would definitely be interesting to hear their side of the story.
ReplyDeleteI got the impression that Utopians are proud of their country because, from what we can tell, it sounds as though they don't know much about alternative lifestyles. Living in relative isolation with not much contact with the rest of the world, the people of Utopia were demonstrated to display fascination with other cultures- when Raphael gave them texts by foreign scholars (like Plato and stuff) they were enthralled and excited.
ReplyDeleteBut my biggest point on that is the man who they converted to Christianity- the one who went ballistic and shouted at the non-Chrisitian citizens about how they'd go to Hell. That's not normal behavior. To me, that sounded like someone who's lived such a sheltered lifestyle on this island that when he discovered a new way of life, he became obsessed with it and tried to spread it.
Basically what I'm trying to say is that to me, the Utopian's fascination with cultures outside of their own indicated (to me at least) that the people are ignorant of any other way of life, and are happy- until alternatives are presented to them by outsiders.