Thomas Moore's Utopia, And Edward Bellamy In Looking Backwards

Since the dawn of man people have dreamed of the ideal society. A vision that speaks to the hopes of mankind. Numerous men and women have written about their ideal world; Plato when writing his Republic, Thomas Moore in his Utopia, and Edward Bellamy in Looking Backwards are just a few examples of perfect worlds that have been dreamed by man. Humans are naturally curious beings with an uncanny desire to explore and create. We are each, in a sense, pioneers that are sent to explore the vastness of time and space. Mankind since its humble beginnings has had a unique knack for solving problems… and often creating problems. Throughout time, we have, as people, progressed to this very moment in time. Today, we have electricity, computers, and spaceships
that can rocket to the moon. All of these things are signs of human progress and of human’s ability to pioneer, create, and solve problems. However, as we progress on the great roller coaster of life; what is it that we are striving for? Socrates asks, what is justice? I ask, what is the ideal world?
To best explain what is it that we should strive for, I best explain the problems that plague this world today.
First, I believe that every man, woman, and child should have their basic needs taken care of. Those basic needs are food, water, shelter, air, and clothing. There are 794.6 million people today that are undernourished and 663 million people who do not have access to safe water. Additionally, according to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, over one hundred million people are homeless worldwide while even more do not have adequate clothing. Finally, there are millions who must wear facial masks to protect themselves from toxic air caused by environmental problems. I believe that everyone should have their basic needs met, because it is what is best for all mankind. The issue of not fulfilling everyone’s basic needs stem from what I see as the preeminent problem in the world. Which is that not every child has the opportunity to succeed. Nearly seventy million children do not receive any education. These children have enormous potential to do great things in this world, but instead are having their potential sitting untapped. The guiding principle of my utopia is the equality of opportunity. Everyone should have a
chance.
In my ideal world everyone will have the opportunity to become the best that they can be.
The human traits that allow us to create, explore, and solve problems will be fostered and celebrated. Every child will be entitled to a high quality education from the age of five through sixteen. After the age of sixteen they will be evaluated based on both their effort and skill level. Those children who do not have the drive to succeed will not continue their educations and will take the least desirable jobs. I do not believe in equality of outcome. I do not subscribe to Karl Marx’s ideas that we should be equal regardless of how hard people work. As I have said, people naturally want to create, explore, and solve problems and that we should foster and celebrate those traits. Thus, if one wants to create a product to help solve a human need or explore scientific mysteries then we should encourage that individual. Unlike Karl Marx, I believe in both entrepreneurship and the capitalism. I think the pitfalls in modern capitalism stem from the inability of everyone to have an opportunity to succeed, not in the system itself which emphasis generating prosperity and personal freedom. Too often today the fruits of capitalism are only eaten by those who had existing wealth or resources. That is the aspect of capitalism that must be eliminated in the ideal world, not the entire system itself. I do not believe in widespread distributional wealth. Numerous utopian books promote a communal
system where goods are shared among all members of the society. One example is William Morris’s utopian novel, New from Nowhere, where he argues for common ownership of property. I agree that things like roads, bridges, education, and health care should be shared for the public good. However, I believe wealth should be earned, not shared. If someone does not want to work hard or try their hardest then why should they be rewarded. When you incentivize hard work then people will work harder and if people work harder then you will have a more productive and prosperous society. An important condition in this society is the ability to move up the economic and social latter. Today, to many people feel stuck in their career and do not believe they can reach their full potential. My ideal world advocates upward mobility and self-actualization. When people self-actualize they will be to fulfill their basic needs on their own. With people being able to take care of themselves; government’s roles will be reduced to ensuring that people are safe and have equal opportunity.