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 island country where everything was perfectly ordered for the happiness of its inhabitants.¹

The new word was a pun, from Greek: if read as eutopia it would mean "good place", but as outopia it would mean "no place", or "nowhere".

Centuries later, 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. took More's word for their own. They tried to establish idyllic communities where social equals would work together in harmony and no-one would exploit anyone else.²

But they all found that their "good place" quickly became "no place", as residents squabbled and supplies grew short.

Today, in a remarkable turnaround, it is the capitalists who want to set up their own utopian communities. 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, has grand plans for a little resort on the Montenegro'Black Mountain' is a country in Southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. coast that he calls Zuzalu.

Can Buterin break the utopia curse and keep his "good place" from becoming "no place"?

The plan is simple. First, to set up an online community of people with similar values: effectively a kind of lab-grown mini-nation. Then, to collectively buy a bit of land and set up a community there with its own rules. 

Eventually, he wants to persuade an existing government to offer diplomatic recognitionThe public acknowledgment by one sovereign and independent state of the existence of another sovereign and independent state. to the land and then, hey presto, he will have an independent country.³

Similar projects are springing up all over the world, an initiative known as the "network state". 

The argument is that our current model, where everyone pays in taxes to get services that they may or may not use and whose quality may vary, is outdated in a world of global markets.

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

As for democracy, there will be no need for it. If you do not like the way your government is run, you can just leave to find one you like better, in the same way you might switch supermarkets if prices go up.

Will it work? Some think the reason the old utopian communities broke down is that humans are not equipped for bliss.

PsychoanalystA practitioner of psychoanalysis, a set of psychological theories first laid out by Sigmund Freud in the late 19th Century. Jacques Lacan argued that trying to fulfil our desires always leaves us unsatisfied. This is because we never really want what we think we want.

So while we think getting what we desire will bring us satisfaction, it actually just leaves us feeling empty.⁴

If humans are incapable of living in a state of contentment, then the idea of a utopian society is futile.

But defenders of this scheme say what makes it different from past utopias is that it does not want to make people happy. It wants to give them space to set their own goals, strive and innovate.

Sceptics say that is exactly the problem. These tech-isolationists do not want egalitarianBelieving that everybody deserves equal rights and opportunities. democracies, but mini-autocraciesCountries run by one person or small group with complete power. . They would essentially be private governments where they, the rich, would make all the decisions.⁵

So in practice, only they would be the ones getting to pursue 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 greater and greater human happiness. So we must believe in utopia.

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, or living in harmony and equality with each other. We need conflict and tension.

Or... Utopia may well be possible, but that is not what Zuzalu is. It is an attempt to privatise civil societyThe organisations within a society that work to promote the common good, usually taken to include state-run institutions, families, charities and community groups. itself and set tech bros up as our "benevolent" overlords.