Hythloday: The Utopian System

Ms. Tilka
English 1310
April 17th, 2012
The Utopian System In Utopia, Hythloday is a philosopher who describes his ideas of government that are contrary to that of England. He uses his experiences of Utopian society to convince More and Giles how England’s system of government is flawed. Utopia is a community revolving around democracy, religious tolerance, and abolishment of individuals owning property. The Monarchy of England could not adopt these policies expressed by Hythloday due to its rigid religious beliefs, and private property ownership of individuals. Hythloday’s views would ruin the founding structure of English society. The dictatorship of England is the prime decision making tool to help England succeed. Hythloday’s idea
of democracy would cause England to lose order. Hythloday believed “…everything is shared equally, and everyone lives in plenty.” But in contrast England is based off of rich elites who control servants. The elites control the power in England. Making everyone equal, including all people who are poor or servants would create much controversy. The people who have all the power would never agree to give up their life of luxury in order to make everyone equal among the society. The Utopian idea being thrown into England would create immediate chaos; therefore Hythloday’s Utopian culture would not work. Another view of Hythloday was religious tolerance among the community. England was very strict when it came to religious beliefs. People were prosecuted when
Connor McMullin 2 they did not believe in the national religion.
People who did not have a common belief were looked down upon. Bringing in religious tolerance to England could have divided the nation. People who did not have the same religion wouldn’t associate with one another, which would create dissent among the country. A divided country cannot survive. The idea of religious tolerance would be too much for a country like England to handle if it were to be applied immediately. A third concept of Hythloday was that property should be divided equally among everyone in the country, and not expanded on. He was “wholly convinced that unless private property is entirely done away with, there can be no fair or just distribution of goods, nor can the business of mortals be happily conducted.” He also believed that you should not try to gain more land but instead to improve upon the land you have. In England people believed that your nobility and hard work is what gained you your land. People would not strive to work harder and earn more money if everyone was just handed an equal amount of land like in Utopia. England was a greedy country that wanted more and more, and the idea of no expansion would be completely against their mindsets. Private property was a very important part of England’s structure and is what made it economically efficient; taking that away would destroy the
country. Hythloday's ideas would never work in England’s society because they drastically contradict everything that makes England run smoothly. Taking away the total structure would be the end of a long-lived country. It is hard to imagine a Utopian society lasting for an extended period of time because of how each person must fit into their role and

Connor McMullin 3 agree with it. The people of England use religion, dictatorship, and private property to keep the country under control. Utopian ideals would change everything.