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The Cynic’s Guide to Utopia

by Jaun Friis in Society, November 23, 2007

St. Thomas Mores’ Utopia gets people thinking. Here is one cynic’s viewpoint at an ideal world.

Let the capable rule, lest the less capable govern themselves. One only has to look to history to realize that our full potential as a society can be achieved only when the capable rule. When kingdoms are governed by genealogy instead of wit, nations suffer and citizens fall into despair. Very rarely do the incompetent rule well, and even in those cases it was because of luck. Only those with wisdom may rule well.

Though wisdom is a thing to be valued, it does not have to be inborn. One can show the capability to rule through two means: by being born with able-ruling blood, or by gaining it through practice. People have often made the mistake of believing that the heir of a capable ruler would be capable as well. In this utopia lineage will mean next to nothing, as all humans born will be in the beginning equals. However, differences will become apparent through time, and every person’s social status will be determined by solely themselves.

In this society people will truly decide their own paths. No matter if the parents were magnates or maggots, the children will start off on the same level. If a person has inherited their parent’s intelligence and ruling blood, then they will obviously show these traits at a young age, and will be appropriately distinguished. But the best part comes in that, if a poor beggar’s child also shows the same intelligence as the magnate’s son, that beggar’s child will be seen as the magnate’s son’s equal. Everyone decides their own fate in society in that the hardworking and intelligent of the poorest beginnings will have a higher societal place than the lazy and inane of the richest beginnings. Social classes will be based on merit, not money nor genetics, both fickle measures of true human worth. Only a person’s capabilities and intellect can truly and consistently measure their ability to succeed in the world, preventing society from ever having incompetent leaders who are in office because of their parent’s connections. Social status would be determined based on the person’s own achievements, alone.

This leads us to discuss the prosperity of economy. Safely one can attribute the failure or displeasure at one’s job to solely themselves. When people choose their respective careers, all too often their choice was based off their own liking. This is mistaken. The capriciousness of pleasure is noteworthy in society. What one person likes one day may be carelessly disregarded the next. To base one’s life career based on preference during a certain period of that person’s life is as dependable as offering one’s hand to a pack of hungry wolves. Moreover, when a person realizes that they do not enjoy their job, they will perform consistently worse and cannot serve the greater good as well. This is not to say, of course, that jobs should be assigned by some outside party. Philosophers have often decided that the best way to progress society is to assign random people a set job without concern to the people’s interests. This only proves detrimental to society, first of all by brushing away individual autonomy, second of all by taking the chance of assigning a person a career they do not enjoy, the effects of which were previously discussed. The proposal of this utopia is that instead of letting full autonomy run by letting people choose their own future based on fickle interest, or crushing freedom completely by assigning futures without consideration of one’s abilities, a middle route will be taken, in that jobs will be based on how best a person can benefit society, or, in the vernacular, what they are good at. If a man showed a sharp wit when young, let him become a lawyer; if a person showed great physical strength, let him use his brawn.

The rationale is simple: first, one cannot detest what they excel at; second, one’s careers were once again based upon him or herself, in their abilities. It can never be unpleasant to pursue what one is good at. Even if this talent is not in the field of one’s interests, it will still bring about much pleasure and merit in pursuing this talent, for the individual will surely succeed. A person can do much more if they focused on what they are good at instead of what they wanted to do, because a drive of interest will still be limited by our abilities, and it is most advantageous to pursue our strength. Lastly, we become excellent in certain areas because either we were born with the advantage or we devoted time and practice to improve that area. It would be a pity to put such talent and effort to waste if we do not pursue careers that uses those talents.

Since abilities in all fields will be valued the same, money will cease to be a problem. The best of the politicians and the best of teachers will be paid the same, since neither can match the other in their respective fields. Thus, jealousy and greed towards another of a different occupation will disappear, and one can only attribute their low wage to his or her failure of putting in enough effort.

It is not enough for a society to be led by only the best of one field. That person can only understand one aspect of society well. Thus, this utopia will not be led by just a politician, who understands only the workings of government, but instead by the best of every field. The finest architect, mathematician, sanitation worker, teacher, game warden, etc, will all gather with the finest politician to make up government. Each will have control over their respective fields, as the sanitation worker will surely understand the health needs of a growing city better than the master astronomer. Society will be governed by a group of capable individuals, who, as separate beings, understand their own trade best, but when united will prove to be the most capable government because together they understand every working of society. Politics was created to serve the people; to best serve the people, society ought not to be ruled by just politicians, but instead by masters of every part of society to truly understand and serve society’s needs.

Such a perfect society needs all the unlimited goodness necessary to prosper. Even the best farmer cannot grow good crops in poor soil. With that said, history has always showed that nations become hard to manage as size increases. Thus, unification becomes imperative, and the society must exist on a single land mass, separated from the outside world. The land must be plentiful, with enough resources to last. A strategic location defense-wise is unnecessary, for surely the military will be composed of the finest and defense methods matched by none, all thanks to the fact that the most benefit can be reaped from the most talented individuals in their fields. Self-want and dependence are the two elements least favored in this society, as want is only temporary, and our true abilities are only manifested in ourselves and our abilities. Only the most capable may rule, as they are the most qualified, and the lesser have only themselves to blame.

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