Why do some readers connect Thomas More’s Utopia with communist ideas?

Readers often connect Thomas More’s Utopia (1516) to communist ideas because the book describes an imaginary society that functions without private property, where citizens work according to their abilities and consume according to their needs.12

The association stems from several key features of the utopian state depicted in the work:

• Common Ownership: The society abolishes money and mandates that goods, houses, and meals be shared in common.13
• Rational Organization: The state is governed entirely by reason, providing a stark contrast to the greed and self-interest More observed in the European societies of his time.2
• Prefiguration of Theory: Because the character Raphael Hythloday presents these arrangements as a cure for human egoism, many critics view the work as a precursor to communist theory, which emerged as a formal political movement centuries later.12

While More’s work is often cited in the history of communist thought, it is important to note that the book is a complex satire. Scholars often debate whether More intended these descriptions as a serious political proposal or as a brilliant jeu d’esprit meant to critique the social injustices of the 16th century.12