The word "utopia" was invented in 1516 by Thomas MoreThe English lawyer, philosopher, and statesman is considered a martyr and venerated in the Catholic Church as a saint., who used it as the name for a fictional country where everyone could be happy.

Some socialistsPeople who practise socialism, a political and economic system in which property and the means of production are owned by everyone. who were disillusioned with capitalismA form of economy characterised by private property and competition between companies. tried to establish their own utopias.

But they all found that their "good place" quickly became "no place", as residents squabbledTo squabble is to argue over something that is not important. and supplies grew short.

Today, Vitalik Buterin, a cryptocurrencyA digital currency in which transactions are verified and records maintained by a decentralised system using cryptography, rather than by a centralised authority. tycoon, wants to set up a community, which he will call Zuzalu, on the coast of Montenegro'Black Mountain' is a country in Southeast Europe, located in the Balkans..

The plan is simple. Buterin and like-minded individuals want to create mini-states where they set the rules, not national governmentsGroups of people who govern - or lead - countries..

Their argument is that our current model, where everyone pays taxes to get services that they may or may not use, is outdated.

Instead, the world should be made up of microstates that compete to provide models that will attract consumer-citizens.

If you do not like the way your government is run, you can just leave and find one you like better.

Will it work? Some think it is impossible.

But defenders of this scheme say what makes it different is that it does not want to make people happy: its aim is to give people space to set their own goals, to strive and to innovate.

Doubters say that is exactly the problem. In practice, only the community's founders would be pursuing their dreams. Everyone else would be there to serve them.

Is utopia possible?

Yes! We live in an age of technological marvels. Nothing we do has any purpose if it is not working towards ever-greater human happiness.

No! Utopia has never worked in the past and it will not work now. The truth is that people do not like being happy all the time.