At first glance, Utopia seems like a great place to live. Everything is “fair”- everyone learns the same things, practices agriculture, lives in the same houses, practices the same religion, follows in their families’ footsteps for their professions, trades goods and services with each other without the use of money, etc. Everyone is actively participating in an activity that will better them or their communities- idle time is not allowed. Everyone knows their role in their family and follows the traditions set by the founders of the land. There are minimal clothes and everyone wears the same thing; therefore, there is no prejudice or social status according to material items. Basically, everything in every city is “identical in language, customs, institutions, and laws.”
However, there is little to no representation of individuality in Utopia. This is so completely different than the type of society we live in today where people have different lifestyles and opinions, and for the most part, society accepts these differences. In Utopia, one cannot express themselves through their lifestyle. You can’t choose how you spend your time, what you wear, how you want to run your family, and where you want to travel. The idea of challenging authority is unacceptable and virtually nonexistent. With all this considered, one would be foolish to choose to live in a society like Utopia over the United States, which is founded on freedom and individual choice.
Another aspect of Utopia that really intrigued me was the different customs and feelings of their culture than we are used to as a society. For example, they did not value gold or silver. Because everyone works to provide for everyone and they essentially use a bartering system, these elements have no value for the Utopians. I think it’s interesting to consider how different countries have unique customs and traditions. What is ordinary to you, may seem unusual or rude to someone else. When the ambassadors from another country came to Utopia, they wore their finest gold, gems, and silk; however, according to More “they were decked out in all the articles which in Utopia are used to punish slaves, shame wrongdoers, or pacify infants.”
This concept made me interested in the customs and traditions of other countries today that are different than the United States. Here’s a couple that I found particularly interesting: Enjoy!
- Americans prefer showers, the English prefer baths
- In Australia, the light switch is turned down to turn the light on; in America, we turn it up
- In Thailand, it is considered rude to walk into someone’s house with shoes on
- In America, we get our own plate of food; in Asia people normally share; in Europe, sharing food is considered unsanitary.
- In Asia for Valentine’s Day the women give the men presents/chocolate
- In Africa, a bride wears a veil made of hair
- In Beligum, Saint Nicholas is celebrated on December 6th and this is considered a different holiday than Christmas.
If anyone know if any interesting customs or traditions of other countries I encourage you to comment and share them too!
I also found the idea that certain objects that in our eyes are worth high value, to be basically nothing to those in the Utopian society. With everything fair and everyone doing the same thing leaves no room for individuality and creativity. Good things can come out of a Utopian society, but do the negatives over shine them?
ReplyDeleteCustom that I found...
"Most international Asian woman must get some strange feelings from Americans when they experience the Americans friendly hello. For Asians it is rare to talk to strangers without need. Asians can get permission to talk to strangers only when a man tries to pick a woman up and ask her out on a date. As a result international Asian woman are surprised at the situation and feel friendly strangers here are impolite." http://inteyewinter.wordpress.com/culture04/
Jennie, you made such an interesting point! Utopia is supposed to be perfect, because everyone is equal and the same, but I have to agree what happened to diversity and originality? Orginality and diversity is what makes each of us unique. I know that I personally, would not want to give up my freedoms and be like everyone else! That is just boring! Learning about different cultures is fascinating and yes, not everyone has to agree to these customs, but they should be respectful and interested, because it is different.
ReplyDeleteSince Easter is upon us, I thought it would be interesting to share customs of Easter in the UK.
As most of you already know, people in the UK have a specified "Tea Time". During Easter the British people have custom foods that they eat.
"Hot Cross Buns are traditionally served on Good Friday.A Hot Cross Bun is rich, spiced tea cake."
"Boiled eggs are traditionally served at breakfast on Easter Day.Roast lamb, which is the main dish at Jewish Passover, is the traditional meat for the main meal on Easter Day.Simnel cake is baked for tea.The Simnel cake is a fruit cake with a flat layer of marzipan (sugar almond paste) on top and decorated with 11 marzipan balls representing the 12 apostles minus Judas, who betrayed Christ.Originally the simnel cake was a gift to mothers on Mothering Sunday in Mid Lent."
"Easter Biscuits are sometimes called "Cakes", and are eaten on Easter Sunday. They contain spices, currants and sometimes grated lemon rind."
http://projectbritain.com/easter/foods.html
Food is what brings people together, and different cultures have different foods. I thought it would be interesting to know what other cultures typically eat on Easter, since many of us will be celebrating this upcoming weekend. :)
Ah, individuality is overrated, am I right? But really: I'm sure there are plenty of people (examples: the parents of children who do too many drugs, the well-to-do, upstanding owners of establishments that are frequently robbers and/or vandalized, the doctors who think "if I have to pump one more goddamn teenage stomach tonight," etc) who wish there were FEWER choices out there. We can do just about anything with our individuality and freedom, and it is imperative that we do not waste that.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting Rumination! It got me thinking about the study abroad trip I took over winter session. I went to London, and also spent time in both Paris and in Wales. We were not expecting it to be too culturally different being in the heart of London. But we were surprised to see some pretty big differences. It literally took almost 2 weeks for us to figure out how to even order a coffee from Starbucks. Most of us, myself including just ordered tea because trying to get a coffee with cream was a nightmare. There were so many times where people would turn to each other and say, " I don't get it aren't we speaking the same language!" The biggest culture confusion we had was about tipping, it was a nightmare. Through everyones research we could never figure out what exactly was acceptable or expected. I actually heard on a talk show this week that 20% (don't quote me on that number, I do not remember exactly) of people in the UK do not wish to travel to the US because they would be expected to tip more often and a higher percentage.
ReplyDelete