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Victoria Pham Intro to Political Science Professor Slaner Ideal Society An ideal society for me would be the society that we live in right now, here in the United States. Even with the circumstances that we face debt, unemployment, etc., this society still operates as a whole and works to the best of its ability. I do not think we can structure anything to be perfect, as much as Plato wishes to believe, because humanity is not perfect. Humans are filled with greed, desires, fears, and passions, all of which contribute into shaping the society we live in today. So even though I do not believe in an ideal society, I do believe that there is a wrong society, one that fuels from the vices of humanity, rather than blossom from our virtues. Henry David Thoreau stated in his writing On The Duty of Civil Disobedience, that he believed in a government that governs less. Truthfully, I would like a society where the government does not impede on the quality of life for citizens, however, too little would be a problem. Anarchism would be terrible for my society, only because again, humans are humans. Uncontrolled desires such as greed which would lead to theft, vengeance which may lead to bloodshed, or even lust which would lead to sexual assaults, would be unleashed, where there would be no justified consequence to them, since no laws are enforced. Communism would definitely not be on the top of my list either, even in it is the MarxLeninist version, which believed that proletariats should revolt and overthrow capitalism. To have the government be planned and controlled solely by a group of people that probably will

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abuse their power by making expedient decisions and disregard the peoples opinion of how their government should be, just does not sound appealing. The idea that everything is spread across the board means that there is a hole where competition is removed. The downfalls to communism is too great and therefore too risky. Shared wealth and standards can jeopardize a societys development. We live in a capitalist society where competition thrives through a free market created by the recognition of individual rights. A quote from Ayn Rand describes capitalism as a full, pure, uncontrolled, unregulated laissez-faire [system] with a separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church. I believe that capitalism is an ideal society for humans, because all humans are groups of individuals with individual wants, needs, and contributions. The laws in this society enables restriction from the absurd, obscene, and unjust. Competition enables development within a vast range, and encourages individuals to utilize their passions and skills to contribute back to society. The social, civic, and moral responsibilities of the people are drawn through the virtues of past accomplishments. The only change I would make to our society, is less politics, which seems strange and contradicting if the state is governed. Less politics means that there should be less focus on the middlemen debating and fighting over thee protecting social and ethic issues. The fiscal cliff for example is a fight between two sides, Democratic and Republican, yet over the same conditions they would want to achieve: financial stability. Lawmakers are here to create laws that will protect its citizens, something that politics is impeding.

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When people can learn to compromise for a greater good, there can be swift actions. Society should not overcomplicate anything. I believe a society should be about the individuals freedom, so they can easily plan and achieve their goals in order to make their future. The primary focuses would be on education, capital stability, and protection of the citizens. Education is a forefront because our children are the leaders of tomorrow. If we can create programs that encourages those who are struggling in school to maintain their attendance and participation, we can also encourage better opportunities for them, such as a higher education. Higher education, though, must be sensitive to a young individuals needs. The debt from institutions cripples their students from progressing after obtaining their degree! It does no justice to limit someones potential because of money. Speaking of money, we need to understand that government can only go so far in helping its citizens. It is up to the private sector to control their spending. Debt can be avoided both by the government and by the people. It is part of our social responsibility to become more aware of our actions and how it can penetrate and effect a system that we think is invincible. (Remember, a society is made of its people, where if they are flawed, then indeed, so is the society. Nothing is invincible.) And finally, the laws are important in shaping the society. We need laws that will regulate not the people, but the government from the people. The laws enforced must protect the citizens, as well as punish them, if they committed a crime. Congress is an important government body because it filters the laws that need to be passed verse the laws that are too opinionated to be passed through sessions and discussions on the matter at hand. Arguably, one can say that this body is flawed because it is, again, politics as usual, where one group will argue with another to

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a point that often delays decisions. As much as it sounds like a nuisance, I would say that this has been the better of the solutions, unlike anarchism where they are no decisions to be made, or communism where decisions are all made by people who might not have the right approach to certain things. So there is no ideal society other than a best fit society. My idea of society may contradict with others and vice versa, however, if we were to pool in our opinions, there would be theories and philosophies that would spread all across the board. In narrowing it down, I would say that the capitalistic society we are living in today has been doing fine, and has accomplished a lot through the centuries. The primary focuses for our society should be schools, laws, and protection and our social and ethic responsibilities should encourage growth through competition. We are doing fine, so why fix something that isnt broken?