Thomas More's Major points:
- People with great wisdom should help serve the king and the people
- Don't have many idle men because it will disturb time of peace
- Banish plagues such expensive clothing, drinking, gambling
- Set up agriculture and manufacturing so the idle men can work and not become thieves
- don't give death penalty to thieves but rather have them work to improve the community
Well, I pretty much agree with all those points. Smart people should help guide the king so they can make life good for everyone. Along with that, they can also have the opportunity to sorta control the king to have benefits coming to themselves. There shouldn't be many idle men because if they have nothing else to do, they might cause trouble. Furthermore, they might become theives in More's belief. The next point on banishing the plagues, it would be nice i guess to banish all the bad stuff, but i dont think it would be that great of an idea. The people need things to relax and just have some fun. Then setting up agriculture and manufacturing is a good idea so men can work. its good to have a productive community so the community can eventually expand. the last point is a good one too because its like a win win situation. thieves win because they are granted life with a chance of freedom and the community wins because things that no one wants to do gets done.
4 comments:
I disagree with intelligent people helping the king so they can "control" him and have benefits for themselves. If this were the case, there would be no point to have a king because basically he would be acting as a puppet. Also, I personlly agree with the point that kings should do whatever is best for the society as a whole and by helping an individual he would not be able to accomplish this. You state how "in More's beliefs" idle men become thieves. Are you agreeing with this? I agree with you when you say that not all of those things should be banished. Many have different clothes. One the one hand, I do not believe extravagent clothing is essential, but different outfits to show some individualism would be nice. Gambling and drinking could go though. There are other ways mentioned for the people to have fun. I definately agree with what you say about thieves and the new solution being a win-win situation. Another good point you make is about letting people relax and have fun. It really does not seem like they have much time for this, which I would think would make life kind of unenjoyable.
I agree with you as far as thieves working for the community as a punishment. This is a fair punishment that helps both the community and the criminal by supplying him/her with a chance at reform. I also agree with the point about the government setting up an agriculture system to provide jobs and food for the people. This is, in a way, much like what the New Deal did for the U.S. with creating programs like the WPA and the CCCC to provide jobs and other services to the people, and it actually was successful. The only points in which I am not in agreement with you, however, are with the idle men working and keeping the corrupt practices. First, I do think that it would be a good idea for all "idle men" to work. They would be giving back to society and helping others. However, I do not believe that the government should regulate this. It is a personal choice whether one wants to work or not. The government should have no say in this. As for keeping corrupt practices like gambling and drinking, society would be much better off without these things. Of course, the government can not legislate this, but in a perfect society, these acts should definitely go.
I agree with you in the fact that wise people should serve their country by advising the king. Makes for a smooth running nation. I also like More's thoughts on getting rid of idleness, but maybe not to such an extent. I mean it does lower crimes rates, but these individuals aren't creative and don't freedom to choose their own recreation. I do like that there is something for everyone to do, agriculture. Which in turn provides for the needs of every citizen.
Good post, John.
I really like that you picked out "Banishing plagues such as expensive clothing, drinking and gambling" Your the first person I've read that had that. I agree very strongly, you cannot have a Utopia with such things littering the streets. it's just that simple because each of those can cause unrest, the only problem with getting rid of those things is that if the government regulates them, then it becomes communism. But if everyone bought into that idea, then we would be one the start of a perfect society.
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