People are the building blocks of a society. The society is perfect only if each individual achieves happiness through his/her own satisfaction from achievements. In order for that to happen, the society should be merit-based. A place where people have an incentive to work for themselves without harming others will ensure a safe, respectful, and successful community. Unlike our society in the twentieth century, people are actually encouraged to strive for success and get rewarded according to the level of accomplishment in this utopia.
The main idea of a merit-based society is a person receives what he works for. The most hardworking people are the wealthiest, most respected, and most loved. At the same time, these people are very happy because they feel satisfied and proud of all the achievements they have. People who work very little get little reward in return. However, if they work as hard, they can achieve the same status as the wealthiest. Everyone has a chance to succeed, but the path to accomplishment varies in the individuals’ motivations to strive for success.
In a merit-based society, there is free will. People can think and act according to their wishes. Because the ultimate goal in this place is for people to succeed and feel proud and happy about it, there are no restrictions to how people go about succeeding. Each person has a right to use his/her free will and be motivated by it. Every human being has its own human nature, which includes greed. In this utopia, it is absolutely fine for a person to be driven by his greed in order to achieve his goals because no harm is done to others. The reason why conflict is not presented in this society is because doing harm yields no benefits; therefore, people do not have th...
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A merit-based utopia is ideal because it relies on people’s own will to feel happy through satisfaction from their achievements. And to ensure that everyone is motivated to strive for success, the society creates incentives.
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The term “merit,” however, is relatively ambiguous. By “merit,” the speaker could be indicating one or many qualities, including, but not limited to, virtue, achievement, a...
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In our attempt to achieve the "perfect society" in which everyone is happy we have failed to realize that happiness means something different for everyone, and that severe contradictions will destroy a so called "perfect society". Webster's dictionary defines a Utopia as, "An ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects" (696). A Utopia symbolizes a society perfect in every way for everyone. In the real world we must endure many hardships: disease, poverty, violence, natural disasters, and so on. In an effort to put an end to all of these detriments to existence people strive to create Utopias. Novelist Aldous Huxley, in his novel Brave New World, describes a fictional utopia. Huxley's utopia has many problems that are realized by some of the characters in the book. For these characters the morally deprived world of conditioned people in which they live is revealed to be in fact a dystopia or an anti-utopia. In reality as well as fiction utopias are often attempted. However, as is true in the utopia described by Aldous Huxley, real-life utopias often fail as well. Jim Jones, the leader of the People's Temple, endeavored to create a utopia during the 1960's and 70's based on equality and social justice. The People's Temple met it's ultimate demise when, under the orders of Jim Jones himself, the mass suicide/murder of all the members of Jones' Guyana Community occured. Jim Jones's and Aldous Huxley's societies represent two dystopias with both similarities and differences.
Meritocracy, unlike aristocracy, is the system in which talented people are rewarded and promoted to leadership positions based on their merit. According to James Whitehurst, meritocracy “now refers to organizations where the best people and ideas win.” However, as true as it may sound, meritocracy in America is still a myth and is not a certainty. In the article “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack,” McIntosh’s disdain of meritocracy when she described as “I must give up the myth of meritocracy.” She mentioned the meritocracy myth because in reality, many people who lack talents and experience can still climb the upward mobility ladder and become wealthier while the rest of
In a perfect world, everyone would be born with an impeccable sense of self. We would be welcomed and wanted and experience the type of up-bringing that fostered development of a complete knowledge of value and self-worth. Every individual would gain a clear sense of purpose and a true understanding of the gifts buried within them. This knowledge would give rise to diligence and focus that, coupled together with love and support, would encourage each individual to grow and build those gifts to their fullest extent; the fruit of such feeding the nations in both body and spirit. Oh, to live in such a place.
Humans have aspired to create a world without conflict or struggle for as long as history can account. What we aspire to is known as a utopia. While many contemplate about how they would best shape society and attain perfection, there is no such place where this has been accomplished. This is because we as humans are imperfect beings susceptible to greed, fear, and mortality. Within these flaws conflicts arises and many times a compromise must be made. In both The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, by Ursula K. Le Guin, and The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, a community is depicted that had attempted to attain a utopia. In some ways these communities had managed to benefit those that lived within them; however, we eventually learn these places
Our fascination with utopias stems from our attraction to and pursuit of progress within our own society. We study utopias with the hope that our society will someday evolve into one. But what often goes unnoticed is that if our society improves enough to become utopian, it won't be able to improve any longer. Hence, it will be rigid and unchanging, the complete opposite of what it was as it evolved to its elevated state. This is an awful truth for us because we place value and virtue in the ideas of desire and progress. Our reason tells us: once in an ideal land, desire cannot simply cease to be, because desire is part of our human nature. And our reason is right. An ideal society should accentuate our human nature, not suppress it. As we desire a perfect society we know that a perfect could not exist without our desire. And as long as we desire, we hope for progress. The idea that an utopia wouldn't allow such progress to occur is enough to make us stop believing in utop...
Have you ever wondered what the absolute outstanding Utopian Society is? I want to stress the reasons why Rayton is the foremost Utopian Society. In this essay I will explain the ways the Rayton is the number one best Utopian Society.
“The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness and for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better” (Orwell 262). For many people a perfect Utopia requires both happiness and freedom, but what is a Utopia? A Utopia is a made up place or state, in which everything in it is considered to be perfect. But on the other hand we have a Dystopia, which is generally what Utopias become. Dystopias generally are in a state in which everything is unpleasant or bad. But even though these societies are complete and total opposites they can both coexist in the same society. One part of the society can be living the high life and be on the top of the world, while the rest of them are just left to suffer. An example of this kind of society would
First, Utopian Thought argues that “Social perfection is an illusive ideal…perfection will never be attained; it is only possible to work toward it” (Hertzler 307). Rulers over utopias believe their ideas are perfect; however, they are only a passing thought of that time. Eventually, another social perfection will rise to the top, and then another. Not one ideal will endure through time as societies increase their knowledge and reason (Hertzler 308). Hertzler claims utopias alienate themselves from the world to take full advantage of the intellect that the rest of society cannot understand (Hertzler 310) because utopias are based entirely on attainable facts (Hertzler 312). Societies based on facts alone are societies lacking sensation.
This is rise to the top is achieved by all of those that are deserving, all who are able to demonstrate ability, despite their individual race, class, gender, or any other characteristic that is not based on merit. The purpose of a meritocracy, rather than a bureaucracy, is to form a class of elite individuals that are expected to be the most qualified in their line of work (Hayes 2012; 31, 53). In addition to assigning the best people to their respective positions, the meritocracy is also used to instill in people a sense of social belonging and order. When a person is placed in their respective class in society, it is done with careful precision that takes into account only the person’s true worthiness i.e. their merit (Young 1994; 97). The certainty of one’s place in a meritocracy leads to how this concept can be viewed as an