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Sarvi 1 Jenus Sarvi Dr. Sterling ENGL 1301 12 November 2016 The Ideal Social System Utopia, written by Thomas More, reflects a society that lacks a class-system, which entitles everyone to equality. Unlike Utopia, in The Sleeper Awakes by H. G. Wells, the members of the society divide into hierarchies. The political despots and capitalist exploiters hold great power and treat the working class extremely poorly. Humanity continuously strives to develop a society that acquires its citizens’ needs. The key to an ideal social system consists of equality, limited free will, justice, and social reform. Equality plays a significant role in achieving a model social system. Every member of a society should receive equal treatment, despite his or her class, race, or gender. Equality annihilates discrimination amongst citizens living within the same society. In Utopia, Thomas More explains how “every man has a right to everything…for among them there is no unequal distribution, so that no man is poor” (103). For instance, all of the cities share their surpluses with other cities in need. After meeting their needs, the cities sell their surpluses abroad. Additionally, Utopians share an equal amount of workload, and the sick stay in well-equipped hospitals, where fair distribution of food and meals take place. From a societal point of view, The Sleeper Awakes immensely differs from Utopia. The government treats the working class like slaves, paying them with food for each day’s hard work. The Labor Company herds the people along long, elaborate public transportation systems, taking them to unimaginable hours of work. Meanwhile, the Council sends members of the elite to Pleasure Cities, where they consume their

Sarvi 2 wealth and desire to ease the evils of society. Equality stands highly important in a society because it prevents dispute and hostility between the citizens. An individual’s free will severely affect the level of success in a society. Free will allows people to express their personal opinions. However, this can arise issues considering not every person within a society agrees with one another. One’s beliefs can easily conflict with another person’s beliefs, causing divergence amongst the two. For this reason, an ideal society should limit the free will of its members. It ought to offer the best-suitable conditions that would benefit the citizens altogether; the inhabitants would determine these conditions. In Utopia, Thomas More conveys the idea that each individual fulfills the essentials needed for a successful, unified society. A person’s free will would solely aim towards strengthening the society, rather than themselves individually. This limits free will by forbidding any one person from performing an act that fails to benefit the community entirely. An individual could possibly destroy the morals of another individual, based on his or her own personal beliefs. This defeats the purpose of a Utopian society. Justice ensures a more proper functioning society. In simplicity, justice punishes the wrong and rewards the right. This strongly influences people to make the right decisions established by the society. Justice helps construct a more secure environment for people because not everyone is promised to perform the rightful thing in a society. Without it, there would stand no set boundaries, allowing people to take extreme measures for the sake of their own good, which could possibly endanger the lives of others around them. Furthermore, those committing wrong doings would continue to take this sort of action, while those executing the rightful act would not get rewarded for their achievements. According to the article “Justice and Fairness,” written by Manuel Velasquez from Santa Clara University, “punishments are held to be just to

Sarvi 3 the extent that they take into account relevant criteria such as the seriousness of the crime and the intent of the criminal, and discount irrelevant criteria such as race.” Justice sets a standard for appropriate behavior and encourages people to reach that standard. The members of a Utopian society should feel safe and secure in their community; justice shapes this style of community for them. Social reforms come into factor when attaining an ideal society because they require citizens to come together to reach a common goal. Social reforms are initiatives under the authority of the state meant to change a society for the better of its members. State leaders will gather an assembly to situate ongoing concerns, such as increasing employment opportunities or reducing crime rates. The Sleeper Awakes, as a dystopian society, sends away its rich elite members because of the fear that they may begin to spread reforming ideas. Without social reform, state officials would disregard the voices of society, which would eventually cause animosity between the citizens. Mankind continuously struggles to develop a perfect society that obtains the needs of all of its citizens. The most effective ways to construct such as society is through equality, limited free will, justice, and social reform. In Thomas More’s novel, Utopia, the society follows these ideal social aspects, whereas The Sleeper Awakes by H. G. Wells opposes these qualities. The Utopian society consisted of an unbiased social system where each member receives fair and equal treatment. In contrast, The Sleeper Awakes distinguishes its citizens based upon their social class. The working classes live in harsh conditions, while the superior ones hold extreme power over them. With the ideal social characteristics mentioned above, citizens can live in content with those around them.

Sarvi 4 Work Cited More, Thomas. Utopia. 1515. Feedbooks, 22 Nov. 2016, www.feedbooks.com/book/198/utopia. Shmoop Editorial Team. "Utopia Society and Class Quotes." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. Velasquez, Manuel. "Justice and Fairness." - Ethical Decision Making. Santa Clara University, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. Wells, H. G. The Sleeper Awakes. 1910. Feedbooks, 22 Nov. 2016, www.feedbooks.com/book/593/the-sleeper-awakes.

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