Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
- Genesis 1:28 (NKJV)
The perfect utopia exists in a community where man coexists with nature and every living thing around him. Man should use the resources provided to him, yet he should not take advantage of his wealth and destroy the environment he’s been given to live in. The above community was built to represent the perfect environment of a utopian society. The residents of this community will experience and practice “…individualism and work for the common benefit” much like Robert Owen’s Utopian society. The freedom to practice individualism will bring wealth and prosperity as long as the residents uphold that society with the attention that it deserves.
Economically speaking this community will prosper from its natural resources which are not limited. They will equally share their resources and the community is built in such a way that if for some unrealistic reason the resources begin to diminish then the residents have will use their morals and intelligence to equally divide the remaining resources among themselves.
Such equal sharing as described above will be possible because of two reasons. One important reason is that this society will refrain from violence and the second reason is that this society will be gender, age, and race equal towards all individuals without any sort of discrimination. Refraining from violence will be a result of an intense intellectual curriculum provided in schools, along with an extreme nurturing process as each individual develops during childhood to adulthood. One important part of nurturing children and creating strong family values is through family time. This family time will be established through eating all three meals of the day together as a family. By taking family vacations and by having family time in the evenings to play games and to have conversations as a family. Building a strong family is essential in any community, especially more in a utopian society.
As far as religion is concerned individuals have the right to practice their own beliefs as long as they cause no harm to other residents. They have the right to create their own spiritual relationships through their own means, or though collective means.
The physical design of the community includes forestation and orchards surrounding the town. This is for protection from outside forces as well as for protection against Mother Nature. This setting will catch most winds cause by hurricanes and other natural disasters. The farmlands around the homes will provide easy access to food, as well as be a reservoir for floods. The homes are arranged in such a way that they are close to the workplace, as well as community parks which are important for children to attend, as well as for family events. If you notice there are no factories because the citizens are able to produce their own material objects through skills that they’ve acquired throughout their education.
This utopian community is based strictly on moral values, and the love that keeps the community together. Such happiness was often sought by many during the 19th century search for utopia. The problem was that such a utopia is almost impossible without some sort of communist or socialist reform, because individualism and freedom cannot co-exist with a utopian society since you cannot always want the same thing and still be individualistic.
I like how you quoted the scripture. I think it’s really creative! In reference to the quotation from Owen’s Utopia, I find it interesting that a community can practice individualism, yet work for the common good. When I think of individualism, I think of an “each man for himself” sort of mentality. A community where people work for the benefit of all sounds like collectivism, because the focus is on “we” rather than “me”. But that’s just my impression. I guess the people in your community are individualists in terms of being able to do as they choose, within reason, but approach their work with a collectivist mentality. Your very last sentence is somewhat ambiguous “…since you cannot always want the same thing and still be individualistic.” Anyway, I think the parks really portray the emphasis the people lay on family time, and I like the idea of the woods serving to protect the community from natural disasters!
The Utopia you made was almost too perfect in my opinion. You accurately portrayed the Utopia that everyone has seeked in their lifetime. I think the part where you said factories aren’t necessary is correct as well. With factories, come greed, and with greed comes a capitalism! The entry of a factory would destroy such a perfect community. One thing I want to point out is the part about “no sinning.” Can man/woman really hold that law in…; it’s a law bound to be broken in my opinion. You also say “this is for protection from outside forces,” regarding the forests and ochards; but how can the town prosper in riches if there’s no connection to the outside world? Other than that, great Utopia!