Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Utopian shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Utopian offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Utopian at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Utopian? Wrong! If the Utopian is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Utopian then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Utopian? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Utopian and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Utopian wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Utopian then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Utopian site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Utopian, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Utopian, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

's The Garden of Earthly Delights.Utopia (from Greek language: οὐ no, and τόπος, place, i.e. "no place" or "place that does not exist," as well as "perfect place") is a fictional island near the coast of the Atlantic Ocean written about by Sir Thomas More as the fictional character Raphael Hythloday (translated from the Greek as "knowing in trifles") recounts his experiences in his travels to the deliciously fictional island with a perfect social, legal, and political system. The name has come to mean, in popular parlance, an ideal society. As such, it has been used to describe both intentional community that attempted to create an ideal society, and fictional societies portrayed in utopian and dystopian fiction. The term is sometimes used pejoratively, in reference to an unrealistic ideal that is impossible to realize, and has spawned other concepts, most prominently "dystopia".

Related terms The band Eutopia based in London UK and named for this perfect place, play melodic rock which can be found at www.myspace.com/eutopia.

More's Utopia is largely based on Plato's Republic (Plato). It is a perfect version of Republic wherein the beauties of society reign (eg: equalism and a general pacifism attitude), although its citizens are all ready to fight if need be. The evils of society, eg: poverty and misery, are all removed. It has few laws, no lawyers and rarely sends its citizens to war, but hires mercenary from among its war-prone neighbors (these mercenaries were deliberately sent into dangerous situations in the hope that the more warlike populations of all surrounding countries will be weeded out, leaving peaceful peoples). The society encourages tolerance of all religions. Some readers have chosen to accept this imaginary society as the realistic blueprint for a working nation, while others have postulated More intended nothing of the sort. Some maintain the position that More's Utopia functions only on the level of a satire, a work intended to reveal more about the England of his time than about an idealistic society. This interpretation is bolstered by the title of the book and nation, and its apparent equivocation between the Greek for "no place" and "good place": "Utopia" is a compound of the syllable ou-, meaning "no", and topos, meaning place. But the homonymous prefix eu-, meaning "good," also resonates in the word, with the implication that the perfectly "good place" is really "no place."

Types of Utopia Economic Utopia These utopias are based on economics. Most intentional community attempting to create an economic utopia were formed in response to the harsh economic conditions of the 19th century.

Particularly in the early nineteenth century, several utopian ideas arose, often in response to the social disruption created by the development of commercialism and capitalism. These are often grouped in a greater "utopian socialism" movement, due to their shared characteristics: an egalitarian distribution of goods, frequently with the total abolition of money, and citizens only doing labour (economics) which they enjoy and which is for the common good, leaving them with ample time for the cultivation of the arts and sciences. One classic example of such a utopia was Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward. Another socialist utopia is William Morris' News from Nowhere, written partially in response to the top-down (bureaucratic) nature of Bellamy's utopia, which Morris criticized. However, as the socialist movement developed it moved away from utopianism; Marx in particular became a harsh critic of earlier socialisms he described as utopian. (For more information see the History of Socialism article.)

Utopias have also been imagined by the opposite side of the political spectrum. For example, Robert A. Heinlein's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress portrays an individualism and Libertarianism utopia. Capitalism utopias of this sort are generally based on free market economies, in which there is no market failure—or the issue of market failure is never addressed, any more than socialist utopias address the issue of planning failures. Also consider Eric Frank Russell's book The Great Explosion (1963) whose last section details an economic and social utopia. This forms the first mention of the idea of Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS).

A blend of socialism and capitalism is seen by few as the type of economy in a utopia. It talks about the idea of small community owned enterprises working under the capitalist model of economy.

Political and historical utopia Political utopias are ones in which the government establishes a society that is striving toward perfection. Many such governments tend to be harsh in their execution of laws and allow little individualism if it conflicts with their primary goals. Many strive for a controlled society where the state or government replaces religious and family values (and loyalties for that matter).

A global utopia of world peace is often seen as one of the possible inevitable end of history.

Sparta was a militarism utopia founded by Lycurgus (though some, especially Athens, may have considered it a dystopia). It was a Greek Power in international relations until its defeat by the Thebes (Greece) at the battle of Leuctra.

Religious utopia , a utopian attempt; depicted as proposed by Robert Owen

These utopias are based on religion ideals, and are to date those most commonly found in human society. Their members are usually required to follow and believe in the particular religious tradition that established the utopia. Some permit non-believers or non-adherents to take up residence within them; others (such as the Community at Qumran) do not.

The Judaism, Christianity and Islamic ideas of the Garden of Eden and Heaven may be interpreted as forms of utopianism, especially in their folk religion forms. Such religious "utopias" are often described as "gardens of delight", implying an existence free from worry in a state of bliss or enlightenment. They postulate existences free from sin, pain, poverty and death, and often assume communion with beings such as angels or the houri. In a similar sense the Hinduism concept of Moksha and the Buddhism concept of Nirvana may be thought of as a kind of utopia.

However, the usual idea of Utopia, which is normally created by human effort, is more clearly evident in the use of these ideas as the bases for religious utopias, as members attempt to establish/reestablish on Earth a society which reflects the virtues and values they believe have been lost or which await them in the Afterlife.

In the United States and Europe during the Second Great Awakening of the nineteenth century and thereafter, many radical religious groups formed utopian societies. They sought to form communities where all aspects of people's lives could be governed by their faith. Among the best-known of these utopian societies was the Shakers movement, which originated in England in the 18th century but moved to America shortly after its founding. Other good examples are Fountain Grove, Riker's Holy City and 15 other Californian utopian colonies between 1855 and 1955 (Hine), as well as in B.C., Canada and 15 other socialist and religious communities round the world, including Finnish "kolkhozes"in the largest utopian society ever, the Soviet Union (Peltoniemi).

Scientific and technological utopia These are set in the future, when it is believed that advanced science and technology will allow utopian living standards; for example, the absence of death and suffering; changes in human nature and the human condition. These utopian societies tend to change what "human" is all about. Technology has affected the way humans have lived to such an extent that normal functions, like sleep, eating or even reproduction, has been replaced by an artificial means. Other kinds of this utopia envisioned, include a society where humans have struck a balance with technology and it is merely used to enhance the human living condition (e.g. Star Trek). In place of the static perfection of a utopia, libertarian transhumanists envision an "extropianism", an open, evolving society allowing individuals and voluntary groupings to form the institutions and social forms they prefer.

Garrett Jones published "Ourtopia" in 2004, arguing that, instead of a 'no place' we need to use all the resources at our command to make 'our place' proof against climate change and obsolete tribalisms. Buckminster Fuller presented a theoretical basis for technological utopianism and set out to develop a variety of technologies ranging from maps to designs for cars and houses which might lead to the development of such a utopia.

One notable example of a technological and libertarian socialist utopia is Scottish author Iain Banks The Culture.

A variation on this theme was found earlier in the theories of Eugenics. Believing that many traits were hereditary in nature, the eugenists believed that not only healthier, more intelligent race could be bred, but many other traits could be selected for, including "talent", or against, including drunkness and criminality. This called for "positive eugenics" encouraging those with good genes to have children, and "negative eugenics" discouraging those with bad genes, or preventing them altogether by confinement or forcible sterilization.

Opposing this optimism is the prediction that advanced science and technology will, through deliberate misuse or accident, cause environmental damage or even humanity's extinction. Critics advocate precautionary principle against the premature embrace of new technologies.

Utopianism Utopianism refers to the various social and political movements, and a significant body of upheld.

In many cultures, societies, religions, and cosmogony, there is some myth or memory of a distant past when humankind lived in a primitive and simple state, but at the same time one of perfect happiness and fulfillment. In those days, the various mythologys tell us, there was an instinctive harmony between man and nature. Men's needs were few and their desires limited. Both were easily satisfied by the abundance provided by nature. Accordingly, there were no motives whatsoever for war or oppression. Nor was there any need for hard and painful work. Humans were simple and piety, and felt themselves close to the gods.

These mythical or religious archetypes are inscribed in all the cultures and resurge with special vitality when people are in difficult and critical times. However, the projection of the myth does not take place towards the remote past, but either towards the future or towards distant and fictional places (for example, Cockaygne, a straightforward parody of a paradise), imagining that at some time of the future, at some point of the space or beyond the death must exist the possibility of living happily.

These myths of the earliest stage of humankind have been referred to by various names, as the following examples will demonstrate:

Golden Age

The Greek language poet Hesiod, around the 8th Century BC, in his compilation of the mythological tradition (the poem Works and Days), explained that, prior to Ages of Man, there were other four progressively most perfect ones, the oldest of which was called the Golden age.

Also Plutarch, the Greek historian and biographer of the 1st Century, dealt with the blissful and mythic past of the humanity.

Arcadia (utopia)Arcadia, e g in Sir Philip Sidney's prose romance Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia (1580). Originally a region in the Peloponnesus, Arcadia became a synonym for any rural area that serves as a pastoral setting, as a locus amoenus ("delightful place"):

The Biblical Garden of Eden

The Hebrew Bible Garden of Eden as depicted in Genesis 2 (King James Version of the Bible):

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

The Land of Cokaygne

The Land of Cockaigne spelled Cockaygne or Cockaigne (in the German tradition referred to as "Schlaraffenland") has been aptly called the "poor man's heaven", being a popular fantasy of pure hedonism and thus a foil for the innocent and instinctively virtue life that is depicted in all the other accounts mentioned above. Cockaygne is a land of extravagance and excess rather than simplicity and piety. There is freedom from work, and every material thing is free and available. Cooked larks fly straight into one's mouth; the rivers run with wine; sexual promiscuity is the norm; and there is a Fountain of Youth which keeps everyone young and active.

There is a medieval poem (c. 1315) written in rhyming couplets which is entitled "The Land of Cokaygne":

Far in the sea, to the west of Spain, Is a country called Cokaygne. There's no land not anywhere, In goods or riches to compare. Though Paradise be merry and bright Cokaygne is of far fairer sight....

New World Order Utopia

Or just Utopia is a movement newly formed in America in 2007 led by 9th Life Enlightened Buddha Daniel Christoph. It follows a 10 step idealogy to be used as a guideline to drafting a New World Order Law. The guidelines are as follows:

1. We must do away with all form of monetary funds; we are just supplying a service.

2. We must do away with competition. Company A and Company B are making the same thing. There is simply no point.

3. The issue of a practical energy source. We need to develop other sources of energy in lieu of eventually getting of this planet.

4. We should initially refurbish housing of all to pleasing and acceptable standards then for every family unit to inhabit equitable residences.

5. We develop a free universal health care system.

6. The issue of the penal system. Prisons need to be less cruel and inhumane.

7. Education is free.

8. Our world governments shall dissolve under the above system concentrating a great extent on spaceexploration in lieu of the fact that Earth will not last forever.

9. The above steps will allow for an alleviated workload on ourselves meaning our times of labor will be cut in half if we wish.

10. Lastly not least, the above will allow us for more time to create a world of art.

Finding utopia All these myths also express some hope that the idyllic state of affairs they describe is not irretrievably and irrevocably lost to mankind, that it can be regained in some way or other.

One way would be to look for the earthly paradise -- for a place like Shangri-La, hidden in the Tibetan mountains and described by James Hilton in his Utopian novel Lost Horizon (novel) (1933). Such paradise on earth must be somewhere if only man were able to find it. Christopher Columbus followed directly in this tradition in his belief that he had found the Garden of Eden when, towards the end of the 15th century, he first encountered the New World and its peoples.

Another way of regaining the lost paradise (or Paradise Lost, as 17th century English poet John Milton calls it) would be to wait for the future, for the return of the Golden Age. According to Christianity, man's Fall from Paradise, caused by man alone when he disobeyed God ("but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it"), has resulted in the wickedness of character that all human beings have been born with since (original sin) such as George Orwell Nineteen Eighty-Four became the primary method of Utopian expression and rejection. (Kumar 1987)

Still, post-war era also found some Utopianist fiction for some future harmonic state of humanity (e.g. Demolition Man (film)).

In a scientific approach to finding utopia, The Global scenario group, an international group of scientists founded by Paul Raskin, used scenario analysis and backcasting to map out a path to an environmentally sustainable and socially equitable future. Its findings suggest that a global citizens movement is necessary to steer political, economic, and corporate entities toward this new sustainability paradigm.

Examples of utopia See also utopian and dystopian fiction



Related terms and concepts

References

External links

's The Garden of Earthly Delights.Utopia (from Greek language: οὐ no, and τόπος, place, i.e. "no place" or "place that does not exist," as well as "perfect place") is a fictional island near the coast of the Atlantic Ocean written about by Sir Thomas More as the fictional character Raphael Hythloday (translated from the Greek as "knowing in trifles") recounts his experiences in his travels to the deliciously fictional island with a perfect social, legal, and political system. The name has come to mean, in popular parlance, an ideal society. As such, it has been used to describe both intentional community that attempted to create an ideal society, and fictional societies portrayed in utopian and dystopian fiction. The term is sometimes used pejoratively, in reference to an unrealistic ideal that is impossible to realize, and has spawned other concepts, most prominently "dystopia".

Related terms The band Eutopia based in London UK and named for this perfect place, play melodic rock which can be found at www.myspace.com/eutopia.

More's Utopia is largely based on Plato's Republic (Plato). It is a perfect version of Republic wherein the beauties of society reign (eg: equalism and a general pacifism attitude), although its citizens are all ready to fight if need be. The evils of society, eg: poverty and misery, are all removed. It has few laws, no lawyers and rarely sends its citizens to war, but hires mercenary from among its war-prone neighbors (these mercenaries were deliberately sent into dangerous situations in the hope that the more warlike populations of all surrounding countries will be weeded out, leaving peaceful peoples). The society encourages tolerance of all religions. Some readers have chosen to accept this imaginary society as the realistic blueprint for a working nation, while others have postulated More intended nothing of the sort. Some maintain the position that More's Utopia functions only on the level of a satire, a work intended to reveal more about the England of his time than about an idealistic society. This interpretation is bolstered by the title of the book and nation, and its apparent equivocation between the Greek for "no place" and "good place": "Utopia" is a compound of the syllable ou-, meaning "no", and topos, meaning place. But the homonymous prefix eu-, meaning "good," also resonates in the word, with the implication that the perfectly "good place" is really "no place."

Types of Utopia Economic Utopia These utopias are based on economics. Most intentional community attempting to create an economic utopia were formed in response to the harsh economic conditions of the 19th century.

Particularly in the early nineteenth century, several utopian ideas arose, often in response to the social disruption created by the development of commercialism and capitalism. These are often grouped in a greater "utopian socialism" movement, due to their shared characteristics: an egalitarian distribution of goods, frequently with the total abolition of money, and citizens only doing labour (economics) which they enjoy and which is for the common good, leaving them with ample time for the cultivation of the arts and sciences. One classic example of such a utopia was Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward. Another socialist utopia is William Morris' News from Nowhere, written partially in response to the top-down (bureaucratic) nature of Bellamy's utopia, which Morris criticized. However, as the socialist movement developed it moved away from utopianism; Marx in particular became a harsh critic of earlier socialisms he described as utopian. (For more information see the History of Socialism article.)

Utopias have also been imagined by the opposite side of the political spectrum. For example, Robert A. Heinlein's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress portrays an individualism and Libertarianism utopia. Capitalism utopias of this sort are generally based on free market economies, in which there is no market failure—or the issue of market failure is never addressed, any more than socialist utopias address the issue of planning failures. Also consider Eric Frank Russell's book The Great Explosion (1963) whose last section details an economic and social utopia. This forms the first mention of the idea of Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS).

A blend of socialism and capitalism is seen by few as the type of economy in a utopia. It talks about the idea of small community owned enterprises working under the capitalist model of economy.

Political and historical utopia Political utopias are ones in which the government establishes a society that is striving toward perfection. Many such governments tend to be harsh in their execution of laws and allow little individualism if it conflicts with their primary goals. Many strive for a controlled society where the state or government replaces religious and family values (and loyalties for that matter).

A global utopia of world peace is often seen as one of the possible inevitable end of history.

Sparta was a militarism utopia founded by Lycurgus (though some, especially Athens, may have considered it a dystopia). It was a Greek Power in international relations until its defeat by the Thebes (Greece) at the battle of Leuctra.

Religious utopia , a utopian attempt; depicted as proposed by Robert Owen

These utopias are based on religion ideals, and are to date those most commonly found in human society. Their members are usually required to follow and believe in the particular religious tradition that established the utopia. Some permit non-believers or non-adherents to take up residence within them; others (such as the Community at Qumran) do not.

The Judaism, Christianity and Islamic ideas of the Garden of Eden and Heaven may be interpreted as forms of utopianism, especially in their folk religion forms. Such religious "utopias" are often described as "gardens of delight", implying an existence free from worry in a state of bliss or enlightenment. They postulate existences free from sin, pain, poverty and death, and often assume communion with beings such as angels or the houri. In a similar sense the Hinduism concept of Moksha and the Buddhism concept of Nirvana may be thought of as a kind of utopia.

However, the usual idea of Utopia, which is normally created by human effort, is more clearly evident in the use of these ideas as the bases for religious utopias, as members attempt to establish/reestablish on Earth a society which reflects the virtues and values they believe have been lost or which await them in the Afterlife.

In the United States and Europe during the Second Great Awakening of the nineteenth century and thereafter, many radical religious groups formed utopian societies. They sought to form communities where all aspects of people's lives could be governed by their faith. Among the best-known of these utopian societies was the Shakers movement, which originated in England in the 18th century but moved to America shortly after its founding. Other good examples are Fountain Grove, Riker's Holy City and 15 other Californian utopian colonies between 1855 and 1955 (Hine), as well as in B.C., Canada and 15 other socialist and religious communities round the world, including Finnish "kolkhozes"in the largest utopian society ever, the Soviet Union (Peltoniemi).

Scientific and technological utopia These are set in the future, when it is believed that advanced science and technology will allow utopian living standards; for example, the absence of death and suffering; changes in human nature and the human condition. These utopian societies tend to change what "human" is all about. Technology has affected the way humans have lived to such an extent that normal functions, like sleep, eating or even reproduction, has been replaced by an artificial means. Other kinds of this utopia envisioned, include a society where humans have struck a balance with technology and it is merely used to enhance the human living condition (e.g. Star Trek). In place of the static perfection of a utopia, libertarian transhumanists envision an "extropianism", an open, evolving society allowing individuals and voluntary groupings to form the institutions and social forms they prefer.

Garrett Jones published "Ourtopia" in 2004, arguing that, instead of a 'no place' we need to use all the resources at our command to make 'our place' proof against climate change and obsolete tribalisms. Buckminster Fuller presented a theoretical basis for technological utopianism and set out to develop a variety of technologies ranging from maps to designs for cars and houses which might lead to the development of such a utopia.

One notable example of a technological and libertarian socialist utopia is Scottish author Iain Banks The Culture.

A variation on this theme was found earlier in the theories of Eugenics. Believing that many traits were hereditary in nature, the eugenists believed that not only healthier, more intelligent race could be bred, but many other traits could be selected for, including "talent", or against, including drunkness and criminality. This called for "positive eugenics" encouraging those with good genes to have children, and "negative eugenics" discouraging those with bad genes, or preventing them altogether by confinement or forcible sterilization.

Opposing this optimism is the prediction that advanced science and technology will, through deliberate misuse or accident, cause environmental damage or even humanity's extinction. Critics advocate precautionary principle against the premature embrace of new technologies.

Utopianism Utopianism refers to the various social and political movements, and a significant body of upheld.

In many cultures, societies, religions, and cosmogony, there is some myth or memory of a distant past when humankind lived in a primitive and simple state, but at the same time one of perfect happiness and fulfillment. In those days, the various mythologys tell us, there was an instinctive harmony between man and nature. Men's needs were few and their desires limited. Both were easily satisfied by the abundance provided by nature. Accordingly, there were no motives whatsoever for war or oppression. Nor was there any need for hard and painful work. Humans were simple and piety, and felt themselves close to the gods.

These mythical or religious archetypes are inscribed in all the cultures and resurge with special vitality when people are in difficult and critical times. However, the projection of the myth does not take place towards the remote past, but either towards the future or towards distant and fictional places (for example, Cockaygne, a straightforward parody of a paradise), imagining that at some time of the future, at some point of the space or beyond the death must exist the possibility of living happily.

These myths of the earliest stage of humankind have been referred to by various names, as the following examples will demonstrate:

Golden Age

The Greek language poet Hesiod, around the 8th Century BC, in his compilation of the mythological tradition (the poem Works and Days), explained that, prior to Ages of Man, there were other four progressively most perfect ones, the oldest of which was called the Golden age.

Also Plutarch, the Greek historian and biographer of the 1st Century, dealt with the blissful and mythic past of the humanity.

Arcadia (utopia)Arcadia, e g in Sir Philip Sidney's prose romance Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia (1580). Originally a region in the Peloponnesus, Arcadia became a synonym for any rural area that serves as a pastoral setting, as a locus amoenus ("delightful place"):

The Biblical Garden of Eden

The Hebrew Bible Garden of Eden as depicted in Genesis 2 (King James Version of the Bible):

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

The Land of Cokaygne

The Land of Cockaigne spelled Cockaygne or Cockaigne (in the German tradition referred to as "Schlaraffenland") has been aptly called the "poor man's heaven", being a popular fantasy of pure hedonism and thus a foil for the innocent and instinctively virtue life that is depicted in all the other accounts mentioned above. Cockaygne is a land of extravagance and excess rather than simplicity and piety. There is freedom from work, and every material thing is free and available. Cooked larks fly straight into one's mouth; the rivers run with wine; sexual promiscuity is the norm; and there is a Fountain of Youth which keeps everyone young and active.

There is a medieval poem (c. 1315) written in rhyming couplets which is entitled "The Land of Cokaygne":

Far in the sea, to the west of Spain, Is a country called Cokaygne. There's no land not anywhere, In goods or riches to compare. Though Paradise be merry and bright Cokaygne is of far fairer sight....

New World Order Utopia

Or just Utopia is a movement newly formed in America in 2007 led by 9th Life Enlightened Buddha Daniel Christoph. It follows a 10 step idealogy to be used as a guideline to drafting a New World Order Law. The guidelines are as follows:

1. We must do away with all form of monetary funds; we are just supplying a service.

2. We must do away with competition. Company A and Company B are making the same thing. There is simply no point.

3. The issue of a practical energy source. We need to develop other sources of energy in lieu of eventually getting of this planet.

4. We should initially refurbish housing of all to pleasing and acceptable standards then for every family unit to inhabit equitable residences.

5. We develop a free universal health care system.

6. The issue of the penal system. Prisons need to be less cruel and inhumane.

7. Education is free.

8. Our world governments shall dissolve under the above system concentrating a great extent on spaceexploration in lieu of the fact that Earth will not last forever.

9. The above steps will allow for an alleviated workload on ourselves meaning our times of labor will be cut in half if we wish.

10. Lastly not least, the above will allow us for more time to create a world of art.

Finding utopia All these myths also express some hope that the idyllic state of affairs they describe is not irretrievably and irrevocably lost to mankind, that it can be regained in some way or other.

One way would be to look for the earthly paradise -- for a place like Shangri-La, hidden in the Tibetan mountains and described by James Hilton in his Utopian novel Lost Horizon (novel) (1933). Such paradise on earth must be somewhere if only man were able to find it. Christopher Columbus followed directly in this tradition in his belief that he had found the Garden of Eden when, towards the end of the 15th century, he first encountered the New World and its peoples.

Another way of regaining the lost paradise (or Paradise Lost, as 17th century English poet John Milton calls it) would be to wait for the future, for the return of the Golden Age. According to Christianity, man's Fall from Paradise, caused by man alone when he disobeyed God ("but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it"), has resulted in the wickedness of character that all human beings have been born with since (original sin) such as George Orwell Nineteen Eighty-Four became the primary method of Utopian expression and rejection. (Kumar 1987)

Still, post-war era also found some Utopianist fiction for some future harmonic state of humanity (e.g. Demolition Man (film)).

In a scientific approach to finding utopia, The Global scenario group, an international group of scientists founded by Paul Raskin, used scenario analysis and backcasting to map out a path to an environmentally sustainable and socially equitable future. Its findings suggest that a global citizens movement is necessary to steer political, economic, and corporate entities toward this new sustainability paradigm.

Examples of utopia See also utopian and dystopian fiction



Related terms and concepts

References

External links



Utopian socialism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Utopian socialism is a term used to define the first currents of modern socialist thought. Although it is technically possible for any person living at any time in history to be a ...

Closed
Closed as of 15th June 2008

Definition: utopian from Online Medical Dictionary
The Online Medical Dictionary is a searchable dictionary of definitions from medicine, science and technology.

Utopia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
... Nowhere" This is the other half from Eutopia, and the two together combine to Utopia. Heterotopia, the "other place", with its real and imagined possibilities (a mix of "utopian" ...

Welcome - Utopian Studies Society
The Utopian Studies Society is an interdisciplinary society that aims to co-ordinate and encourage the diverse work currently taking place on the subject of utopianism.

Utopian Leisure Group Limited ::..

Utopian Vision - Free Indian Services
Free Indian Services. Learn Gujarati, Learn Hindi, Send Emails in Gujarati, Send Emails in Hindi, Gujarati Ecards, Hindi Ecards, View Bollywood galleries and more.

MDMA / Ecstasy : Utopian Pharmacology
Lifelong Ecstasy? Beyond MDMA. Mental Health in the Third Millennium; drugs and medications ... Mental Health in the Third Millennium MDMA and Beyond. MDMA/Ecstasy. A brief history ...

Utopian Violet
You may have seen us out partying with the stall at some of the finest events.. Frantic, Pickle, Pendragon, Escape From Samsara, Logic, and the list goes on - see below!

Utopian Pictures
Entire contents ©Copyright 2005-2007 Utopian Pictures Site Designed by Devoted 2 Designs You are visitor no. since 01/09/05

 

Utopian



 
Copyright © 2008 Hintcenter.com - All rights reserved.
Home | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
All Trademarks belong to their repective owners. Many aspects of this page are used under
commercial commons license from Yahoo!