Is Europe a Utopian Society?

Is Europe a Utopian society? Is there such thing as a true Utopian society? There is a simple response to this question and the answer is most certainly no. However, is Europe "trying" to become Utopian? It seems to me that the continent is slowly moving away from standard U.S morals of working hard, and making an honest dollar through democracy. I visited Germany last summer and I was appalled with the lack of prosperity between the classes of people. In essense, there were no real classes of people. People were neither very rich, nor very poor. This is a similar concept to Thomas More's Utopia. Here is an article that I found while researching this topic online. "Utopia: Europe Vs. Ideal SocietyRealistic Europe VS. Idealistic Utopia Sir Thomas More's Utopia compares and contrasts the social values of the idealistic society of Utopia with that of the realistic society, Europe. Sir Thomas More uses his characters, Peter Giles, Raphael Hythloday, and a fictional character representing himself called More, to criticize the practices of the very realistic society, Europe. Everyday life in Europe is less than idealistic. It is a society where greed and wealth is prevalent, where theft is punished by death, but is also unavoidable, and where poverty makes up the majority of people. Utopia, though impossible to attain, is Sir Thomas More's idea of the perfect society. "They are generally more set on acquiring new kingdoms by hook or by crook than by governing well those that they already have"(p.8). Here, Raphael explains to More the priorities of English royalty, and why he refuses to become a counsellor. "Moreover, the counsellors of kings are all so wise already that they need no other knowledge (or at least that's the way they see it). In other words, the real world makes it impossible for truth in Raphael's mind. http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/85824.html An example from the text can be found on page 19, book one, "Of course, he saw much to condemn in the New World, but he also discovered several regulations which suggested possible methods of reforming European society. These I say, will have to be dealt with later. My present plan is merely to repeat what he said about the laws and customs of Utopia." It is clearly stated that More would like to model Europe after Utopian society. What is fascinating is that in reality, the model is already underway.