We did not ask if he had seen any monsters, for monsters have ceased to be news.

There is never any shortage of horrible creatures

who prey on human beings,

snatch away their food,

or devour whole populations.

But examples of wise social planning

are not so easy to find.

It's the year 1516,

we're inside the pages of a book called Utopia, breathing the fictional

air of Antwer, Belgium.

The utopians fail to understand why anyone should be so fascinated by the dull gleam of a tiny

bit of stone when he has all the stars in the sky to look at.

An old, sunburned, long-bearded traveler named Rafael Heitholide

has just returned to Europe after spending five years on an island called Utopia.

And he's seeing the world with new eyes, ranting to anyone who will listen.

I can perceive nothing but a certain conspiracy of rich men procuring their own commodities

under the name and title of the nation.

About corrupt leaders, absurd laws, and the enclosure system, in which so-called landlords

fence off lands belonging to villagers, turning them into their personal fiefdoms, all for the sake of profit.

What a contrast to the island of utopia, he reminisces.

Where every man has a right to everything.

Gold is used for chamber pots. Private property isn't a thing.

...