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Utopian Views on Marriage and Slavery

Utopia has policies regarding euthanasia, marriage, and treaties. For the terminally ill, doctors and leaders will urge patients to accept their death for the good of others. Those who agree die peacefully in their sleep. Marriage is only allowed after age 18 for women and 22 for men, and divorce is only for adultery or abuse. Utopia does not sign treaties, believing countries should trust each other without legal agreements.

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Александар Манасиев
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205 views1 page

Utopian Views on Marriage and Slavery

Utopia has policies regarding euthanasia, marriage, and treaties. For the terminally ill, doctors and leaders will urge patients to accept their death for the good of others. Those who agree die peacefully in their sleep. Marriage is only allowed after age 18 for women and 22 for men, and divorce is only for adultery or abuse. Utopia does not sign treaties, believing countries should trust each other without legal agreements.

Uploaded by

Александар Манасиев
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Slaves, Euthanasia, Marriage, Treaties

Sick Utopians receive tremendous care, but there are still people who become terminally ill and
suffer greatly. In such instances, the doctors, priests, and government leaders urge the patient to
recognize that they are no longer able to fulfill the duties of life, that they are a burden to both
others and themselves, and that they should put their hope in the afterlife and choose to let
themselves die. Those who agree are let from life during sleep, without pain. Those who do not
agree are treated as kindly and tenderly as before.

Women cannot marry until they reach the age of 18; men must be 22. No premarital sex is
allowed; if anyone is caught they are forbidden to marry for life. This policy exists because
Utopians think that if promiscuity were allowed, no one would choose to marry. Before any
marriage takes place, the bride and groom are, in the presence of a chaperone, shown to each
other naked, so that neither is surprised by what they find come wedding day. It is a policy that
seemed ridiculous to Hythloday, but he soon saw that their was some wisdom in it, as it allowed
the man and woman to know exactly what they were committing to. Divorce is allowed only in
cases of adultery or extraordinary abuse. Adulterers are condemned to become slaves.

Utopians believe that people should make the most of their physical attributes, but the use of
cosmetics or tools of enhancement are disdained.

No one is allowed to campaign for public office. Public officials are not meant to be overbearing
or awe-inspiring; rather they should be seen as fathers who the people voluntarily treat with
respect. There are very few laws, all clearly written. Utopia has no lawyers. Utopian leaders and
judges are immune to bribery because money does not exist.

Utopia never signs treaties with other countries because they believe a country's word should be
good enough. They believe the very idea of a treaty implies that countries are naturally enemies
rather than friends, and Utopians do not accept that interpretation of the world. Also, few
countries in their immediate vicinity ever actually adhere to the treaties that they sign. Hythloday
compares this lack of forthrightness with Europeans, sarcastically claiming that of course all
Europeans abide by the treaties they sign.

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