Merit-Based Utopia Essay - 1113 Words

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†¦show more content†¦Incentive is an invisible but effective force that causes people to act a certain way, according to the ten principles of economics. (Mankiw, 7) Firstly, the role of government is very different in a merit-based society compared to the American government. In a merit-based society, the government is only responsible for enforcing a law that forbidden a person from doing harm to others, arresting those who break this law and sending them to jail. This idea is similar to Ayn Rand’s objectivism, in which she says, â€Å"Punishment is the only proper function is government.† (Ayn Rand First Interview 1959 (Full)) If punishment exists, people will refrain from causing harm to others because of the idea that people avoid punishment called second ary negative reinforcement proved by a psychological experiment. (Logan) The government also differs from the American government in its treatment of welfare. In the merit-based society, there is no welfare. The government does not tax nor lend help to anyone because welfare discourages people from fully using their potentials. If welfare is available to the non-wealthy, people tend to become one of them by not working and being fed by the government. Taxes are also eliminated because some people restrict their income to a certain degree by processes called tax avoidance and tax evasion because they want to pay less tax to the American government. (Mankiw, 244) A merit-based society provides noShow MoreRelatedAn Analysis Of Aphra Behn s Seventeenth Century Travel Narrative, Oroonoko, And Utopia1289 Words   |  6 Pagessixteenth-century Utopia displays his subtle criticism of English society behind the words of his character Raphael Hythloday, who travels the world and explores the rationality of Utopia. These authors criticize many of the conventions o f their time periods through their characters’ explorations into new ideas and territories. In Oroonoko and Utopia, nature and reason lead the natives’ governments and societies instead of the corruption of the wealthy and noble Europeans. 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