In Book II, Raphael describes Utopia’s communal land:
- All land is state-owned, rotated among families.
- Money is shunned; gold and silver are used only for chamber pots, emphasizing moral disdain for wealth
- Crime is rare, since social welfare meets basic needs.
For Tudor England, where enclosures displaced peasants and wealth bred corruption, this was a radical cure. More challenged the assumption that private property—or hierarchical power—was natural or necessary.
Justice and the Law: Proportionate, Not Punitive
Raphael condemns English legal practices:
- Theft equals death.
- Laws favor the rich; the poor are crushed
- Utopia uses proportional punishments, judicial discretion, and mercy.
England’s legal system—Star Chamber, royal prerogative, severe punishments—often protected elites. Utopia urged proportional justice and accountability, key reforms in Tudor legal thought. shutdown123