Part One

How should government be run? This question has been posed and answered for thousands of years by hundreds of philosophers. Prominent names on this list include Thomas More, Karl Marx, Plato, Thomas Paine, John Locke, Machiavelli, and Thomas Hobbes. Of this large group, however, only three will be examined. Thomas More, who wrote Utopia, was a 16^th century philosopher who was named the patron Saint of lawyers and statesmen in the 20^th century. The second philosopher to be examined is Karl Marx, who was a 19^th century philosopher and is widely considered to be the father of communist philosophy. Finally, Thomas Paine, who was an 18^th century philosopher that inspired both the French and American revolutions, will be examined.

In 1515, Thomas More wrote his most famous work Utopia, and it is this work from which all of his political philosophy is obtained. Utopia tells the tale of a fictional traveller who describes the imaginary island nation of Utopia. The term Utopia is from the Greek ou-topos, meaning "no place", and eu-topos, meaning "good place". Utopia contains two books, the first of which tells the story of a fictional characters attempt to find the island community, while the second contains the discourse on the entire society. He starts with a geographical description of his perfect government. It is a circular island with a 500 mile circumference and 200 mile diameter. The island has 54 towns, each containing around 6 000 households. 30 households are grouped together and controlled by a Styward, and 10 Stywards are overseen by a Bencheater. The mayor of each is elected from the Bencheaters. Every household contains 10 to 16 people that are continually redistributed throughout all households to maintain even numbers throughout the town. If overpopulation were to ever occur the people would set up colonies on the mainland, and if the opposite crisis of under population occurred the colonial people would be called back. Subsequently, natives from the mainland are invited to be part of the Utopian colonies. In Utopia there is no private ownership, as everything is stored in warehouses with people requesting what they need. Houses have no locks, as they are rotated between citizens every 10 years.

Industry in Utopia is dominated by agriculture. Every person in Utopia must participate in farming for two years at a time, with men and women participating in the same work. Citizens must also learn one of the essential trades; weaving, carpentry, metallurgy, and masonry. Each trades person wears a certain type of dress with no fine clothes being manufactured. Every citizen that is able must work, therefore there is no unemployment, and the working day is significantly reduced to 6 hours a day, however, many willingly work longer. Scholars in Utopia become the ruling officials or priests, and are picked during their primary education for the enhanced ability to learn. Education is encouraged for all other citizens during the leisure time.

Utopia uses slaves, with each household having 2. These slaves are either Utopian criminals, or from other countries and are sometimes released for good behaviour. Criminals are weighed down with gold chains made from the communal wealth. Gold is also used to amke chamber pots and other such items, thus giving the Utopians a dislike for the substance. Gold is only useful when trading with other nations.

Utopia is a welfare state with free health care, state supported euthanasia, priests allowed to marry, legalized divorce, illegal premarital sex, and slavery for adulterers. Meals are taken in a communal hall with different houses being responsible for meals at different times. During meals the administrators and the old receive the best food. Travel in Utopia requires a passport, and those without passports are forced into slavery. There are no lawyers in Utopia, as laws are made simple so everyone can understand them. Gambling, hunting, makeup, and astrology are all discourage in Utopia.

Several forms of religion exist in Utopia, included moon worship, sun worship, ancestor worship, and monotheism. All religions are tolerant of each other, with only the atheists being hated by the Utopians, since they do not believe in a supreme justice in the after life. The atheists are not banished, but instead encouraged to talk to priests until the atheist is proven wrong.

Women in Utopia receive a high level of equality. They are allowed to participate in the military and allowed to join the priesthood. However, while enjoying these advantages, women are still considered subordinate to men as all women confess their sins to their husbands.

Karl Marx was wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848 with the aid of Friedrich Engels. This writing influenced the entire course of history, especially in the 20^th century. In the Communist Manifesto Marx states that capitalism will collapse in all industrialized nations. He believes this because the capitalist system has a small percentage of the population controlling much of the wealth. This group is called the Bourgeoises. The other portion of the population, the largest part, is the working class with very little of the wealth, also known as the Proletariat.

Thomas Paine was a political philosopher, pamphleteer, and agitator of the 1700s. His words and writings inspired both the American and French revolutions. Paine came to America in 1774 with Benjamin Franklin. After working as a writer for a paper in Philadelphia, he wrote his pamphlet Common Sense in 1776. This pamphlet called for the complete independence of the United States of America from the British commonwealth. Paine believed that it was ridiculous for an island to rule an entire continent. It also called for a strong federal union in the new nation.

Thomas More’s Utopia describes an island with a 200 mile diameter and 500 mile circumference, however, this is geometrically impossible. A 500 circumference would require a diameter of 159.15 miles.

Government, this topic has been debated by nearly everyone throughout history. Policy, economics, laws - nearly everything involving government has also been debated. This includes which form is best. Some say socialism, democracy, authoritarian, communism, or even anarchy.

As state above, nearly everyone throughout history has had their own thoughts on how government should be run. This includes myself. The best type of government is one that is actively involved with every part of public life while at the same time, making reasonable decisions that benefit the greatest number of people. Government above all needs to serve the best interests of the people it governs. This means that government takes actions which cause the greatest good for the greatest number of people, not the actions that receive the largest vote, or that certain groups wish to happen. Governments should also take control of the economy, because economics without government involvement lead to exploitation of the working classes. Another thing that governments must do is promote equality for everyone. Finally, governments must establish social assistance programs. If any government were to completely fulfill all four of these goals efficiently, it would be actively involved in the public sphere of its people while taking actions that benefit the greatest number of people. This would result in the ideal government to which all others are compared.

Government must serve the people in the best manner that it can. This means that all actions that the government takes must benefit the largest portion of its people. Governments must not take actions that receive the most votes, unless of course this action causes the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Bibliography

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. New York: Bantam Books. 1992.