Perfect Utopian Society

A utopia is a perfect society where everyone lives in harmony and everything is done to benefit the citizens. Power sharing and authority is a key aspect in creating the perfect utopian society: this is also one of the areas that seems to fail an envisioned utopian society. The two most prominent forms of power and authority sharing when it comes to utopian efforts are authoritarian vs. democratic. Although no one form of governing is going to be perfect, one is most certainly more beneficial than the other. Power and authority should be shared in a democratic form of governing.

In an authoritarian form of governing, power and authority is vested in a leader or small elite. This system of government requires total submission of citizens to

The utopian efforts of an authoritarian government often fail in practice because selfish interests often blindside the original goal. In Plato’s republic, there is a focus on the morality of those in power during utopian efforts. The debate encompasses creating a just leader and defining the depth of justice, in relation to breeding future authority for a utopia. The breeding process includes the strict implementation of certain principals, with hopes that those in power will be conditioned to be selfless. However, it must be noted that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Acton). In in the novel Darkness Before Noon, we saw the failed efforts of communism, which is a form of authoritarianism. During the period of communism Joseph Stalin rose to power and implemented this notion of “the end justifies the means” in the minds of the masses, he basically led everyone to believe that for their envisioned utopia to thrive they had to submit to his

The right to rule is a serious responsibility and not everyone should be able to have a say in who rules nor a shot at ruling. Once you are in the position of ruling an entire country, you are essentially responsible to carry that country on your back. In Plato’s Republic, Plato describes the strict educational regime of those who will possess power. He says that those being bred for ruling should be philosopher kings and trained differently than other classes of people such as warriors, and producers. In accordance with Plato’s perspective, the right to rule should be vested in people with an experience in government as well as an education focused on a certain aspect of government: criminal justice, political science, or economics. The idea behind Plato’s reasoning is to make sure that whoever is in power is trained and fit to rule. For example, in our politics today we see a huge difference in when someone with experience is in office versus when someone without experience comes into office. Barack Obama’s experience and education had a part in his success during his 8 years: he understood that government decisions could not just be made in the blink of an eye and that relations at home and abroad were of equal importance, on the other hand President Trumps rough beginning has a lot to do with the fact he does not know the first thing about the government, he was new to the entire concept of