This worked back in the day, but unfortunately, all most people are interested in these days is fighting, guns, space battles and big explosions.
i.e. mindless eyecandy.
i.e. interesting conflict.
The problem with utopias is that they're so bloody boring. A lack of poverty, ignorance, hatred etc. leads to a lack of the tension that is necessary to drive many kinds of stories. You're stuck with exploration as a source for stories, which is fine - so long as you can keep coming up with fresh ideas. But eventually you run stale and because everything's so perfect back home there's no more material.
That's part of the problem. The other part is that utopian societies produce utopian people, and utopian people are also very boring. Again, you immediately prevent yourself from tapping into the rich seam of storytelling that is internal anguish and interpersonal strife, because everyone is enlightened and the very milk of human kindness. Furthermore, when your heroes perform heroic acts, it becomes meaningless because they're *always* heroic, and they *always* succeed, and you're basically just watching them go through the motions. It means much more and creates more of an impact, has a greater emotional effect, when the hero is actually sometimes a bit of a tosser and not all that good with the brain smarts and maybe is jealous of his best mate who doesn't really like him... when the hero, in spite of all this, goes on to save the day against all odds.
Would Star Wars have worked so well as a story if Luke had always been a badass Jedi in control of himself and if Han Solo had worn his heart of gold on his sleeve? I say no. But hey, whatever.
