Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 October 1891 — Utopian Schemes. [ARTICLE]

Utopian Schemes.

Utopian schemes are plans, 'whether of national improvement or of social operation, founded on impractical or visionary views. Sir Thomas Moore, in writing his curious philosophical work, “Utopia,” added a new word to the English language, and delineated his ideas of a perfect commonwealth. Utopia, from the Greek, means “no place.” On the imaginary island of Utopia, in the Atlantic Ocean, he places a people governed on the principle that no one shall have the right to separate property. Here all are contented with the necessaries of life, all are employed in useful labor, and no man desires in clothing any other quality than durability. Since wants are few, and every individual engages in labor, there is no need for them to work more than six hours per day. Neither laziness nor avarice finds a place in this happy region ; for why should the people be indolent when they have such little toil; or greedy when they know thero is an abundance for all? This is somewhat like the scheme proposed in Bellamy’s “Looking Backward,* and is as impracticable as it is ingenious.