How many people that bandy about "Utopia" have ever read it .. Penned by the "Man for All Seasons" Thomas More ... it was quite the work.

I had to read it, at a somewhat early age. Gladly, I did not have to read it, in it's original form .. as Latin ain't exactly my strong suit.

Not getting into the letters, that formed the early portion of the work .. Just look at what Utopia required.

Originally a peninsula .. the first king and founder, Utopus, had a fifteen mile wide channel dug .. thereby turning it into an island and walling it off from the rest of the world. Somewhat akin to "Building the Wall".

All citizens had to wear the same clothes. All citizens, men and women alike, had to learn .. and practice a trade. However, every person, male or female, had to spend two years .. every cycle .. living in the country and farming ... as agriculture was the main industry and most valued part of the island nation.

Every household had two slaves .. no .. this was not one of the positions of the citizenry as they took their turns between the requisite farming and moving back to the cities and practicing their trade. Rather, they were captives from outside Utopia or convicted criminal Utopians .. guess it beat prison?

Premarital sex is punishable by lifetime sentence . whether perpetrated by a man or a woman .. Forced into lifetime celibacy ... Enforced celibacy.

Not starting to sound too good is it?

Utopians are not a warlike people. However, ALL male Utopians are required to be trained in the arts of war ... and may be called at anytime, at any age, to serve in their military. The military is used to war for other nations, those that Utopia backs, whether because they agree with them, or they pay Utopia ... kind of like mercenaries .. against those that the Utopian backed nations are at war. They (Utopians) try not to kill their foe(s), although they do kill their enemies . as that is a part of war .. they prefer to capture their opponents alive .. as HEY .. two slaves per household is hard to achieve solely with those convicted of criminal activity.

All took their meals communally. They switched houses on a scheduled basis ... so, they never had to live in better accommodations than the other.

Sounds like a pretty farmisht (sometimes ya gotta go with a Yiddish word) little land ....

If that is paradise, it might be to some. As for me .. with my luck .. I'd wind up being one of the slaves.