Adilson Fernandes

Mr. Brennan
College English 12-D
March 28, 2016
How Can We Create a Perfect Utopian Nation?
Utopia; a place, nation, or world where everything is perfect, but how do we go about
creating a utopian society? Is it possible to turn our current society of hatred and violence, into a
peaceful and friendly one? After reading the theories of Voltaire, Rousseau, Bentham, Equiano
and Wollstonecraft, it is clear to me that the common perception of Utopia is different and based
on their own desires. Voltaire describes a world where everything is good when nature acts
normally. For example, the sun is out, the trees bloom its flowers, then its leaves. Voltaire in his
article All is Good states All is good means nothing more than all is controlled by immutable
laws (Voltaire). Immutable laws means unchangeable. Things like the laws of nature that were
created at the creation of the world cannot be changed by human intervention. According to
Voltaire, as long as these laws remain unchanged then the world is good.
Rousseaus approach to a utopian society began with education. He states God makes all
things good; man meddles with them and they become evil (Rousseau 54). Rousseaus Utopia
consists of real education for the new generation. His vision is to have children starting from
birth be educated naturally. So they can learn to differentiate right and wrong, bad and good, and
develop their own opinions and ideas. I believe when a master teaches his student its natural for
the student to pick up his masters habits and opinions. This is because the knowledge that the
student learns are the teachers experiences. Rousseau says, The splendor of nature lives in
mans heart; to be felt; it needs the knowledge he has not yet acquired, feelings he has not
experienced (Rousseau 55). For a child to become a man he has to figure out what a man is and

this is something a child must learn for himself or he will be a mere plaything of other peoples
thoughts.
Benthams vision focuses more on the legal system. What caught my attention was
Benthams idea that everyone works to their maximum capacity and produces the best results
when they are being observed and I believe his theory is extremely accurate. His idea of creating
an inspection house in a circular design was interesting to me because it allows one man to
observe and monitor the productivity of every worker in the house. Though I wouldnt say this
idea can lead our nation to becoming a Utopia. This method seems to focus more on using man
for hard labor instead of creating a haven for man. One could argue that man is most happy when
everyone is doing their job correctly and efficiently and there is zero percent chance of
corruption due to the constant surveillance of another man. This idea would lead to a society of
convenience but the people would be living their lives like robots. The same daily routine,
constantly producing the best possible work one can provide leaves no place for growth. One
could ask is growth really possible in a utopian society?
Olaudah Equiano was a bit different. He was a freed slave that lived in the late 1700s;
abducted from his village in Africa and brought to America to live out his life in labour.
Eventually he bought his freedom and went on to write a narrative of his experiences. In his
narrative Equiano explained his idea of what a Utopia is, although it wasnt stated clearly his
vision of a Utopia is a nation where ALL men are free. Slavery is far off course from a perfect
nation because according to Equiano; Equality is the best thing for everyone in a nation. Our
nation is full of ugliness, violence, hatred. Equiano says when you make men slaves you
deprive them of half their virtue, you set them in your own conduct an example. Equianos
vision for a Utopia starts with everyone being equal. Men, women, black, white, dog, and cat.

When EVERYBODY is equal and no one is discriminated or enslaved then we progress towards
our utopia.
After analyzing Voltaire, Rousseau, Bentham, and Equianos visions for a Utopia i can
see a connection between them all. In order to create a utopia, we must educate the newest
generation. That includes any racial background, religion, or ethnicity but we all must be onehundred percent equal in order for our children to learn together. Going back to Voltaires vision;
his story on a man named Candide demonstrated what a utopia can look like when candide
arrived at El Dorado. It was clear that neither Candide nor the other characters were happy yet
they still decided to leave what was possibly the most happiest place in the world. At the end of
the story Voltaire makes this comment I want to know which is worse, to be ravished a hundred
times, to have a buttock cut off, to be whipped, or to stay where they are and have nothing to do
(Voltaire 50) . Was the journey with many, many miseries worth it or would it have been better to
just stay put and be bored all your life. I agree with Voltaires message that if you truly want to
live in a utopian society then you must spend your life cultivating it. Creating a Utopian life is
like maintaining a garden, you have to commit to making your garden the best it can possibly be.
It leads me to wonder if there is such thing as a Utopia. Once you accomplished your goal what
will be next? Your life would be idle until you die and nobody wants that. The question really is
do you want to live bored in a perfect world, or will you take the journey into the imperfect
world giving it your all to make it better?