Daly 1

Sean Daly
Dr. Sterling
ENGL 1301
17 November 2016
A Perfect Social System
Of all the aspects involved in an ideal society, humankind values a fair social system above
all else. For ages, countless writers, philosophers, and politicians attempted their own renditions of
what they believed led to a socially splendid world. However, due to the simple imperfection of the
human race, a perfect society may never occur. In Sir Thomas Mores Utopia, published in 1515,
More describes a crowning island society named Utopia discovered with the help of a friend
named Raphael Hythloday. In H. G. Wells's The
Sleeper Awakes, the protagonist Graham awakes
from over two centuries of sleep, only to find out that he owns nearly half of the dysfunctional new
world in the
year 2100. Utopia and The Sleeper Awakes describe conflicting societies: the first
bearing resemblance to an actual Utopia, while the latter resembles a dystopia. The overall function
of a society as a whole largely comprises of the effectiveness in of its social system and the related
precedents put in place. Consequently, certain features of the island Utopia and the city of London
present the beginnings to an ideal social system, but total perfection is not accomplished in either
work. A valuable social system in any successful society consists of civil rights, gender equality,
opportunity, and a compressed class system, in order to maintain the highest quality of life for
everybody.
Each citizen of a society must be provided access to their civil rights. If a societys social
system involves elemental personal liberties and rights such as freedom of speech, freedom to
protest, and freedom of the press, then the inhabitants of the country may contribute and flourish to
to a higher potential. Any effective social system includes civil rights because they ensure that the

Daly 2

citizens receive well-deserved underlying freedoms.

According to Hythloday in Utopia, the

government of Utopia despises creating numerous laws, and keeps regulations over their citizens to
a minimum, allowing for as much personal freedom as possible. Hythloday goes on to say that each
resident of Utopia has a right to defend what he or she has to say, especially in situations in the
courtroom, ensuring that nobody is oppressed (More 79). Personal freedoms of the citizens of
Utopia allows for their homeland to blossom, grow, and stabilize. The government knows that the
country will be stronger without any opposition against a lack of inalienable rights. The probability
of failure within a social system grows without providing citizens with the chance to rise and
accomplish a vast array of goals. Utopia by Sir Thomas More perfectly accomplished the task of
ensuring civil rights to the inhabitants of the island, a crucial part in a successful social equation.
Gender equality exemplifies yet another crucial component to ensure a successful social
system in any society. When both men and women feel as though they can contribute equally in
society, this allows for a society to function smoothly. If society only perceives men as important,
then it can lose sight of women's roles. This would lead to half of an entire nation relying
completely on the superior gender, resulting in a widened gender gap. In the Grahams conversation
with Helen in The Sleeper Awakes, Helen tells Graham that he must rule in favor of all men,
showing that usually only male Londoners in the year 2100 may truly participate in politics. When
the Graham

asked Helen to help him rule, she replied in a stunned tone:I- a girl!(Wells 151).
This genuine shock within Helens response highlights that the conceived absurdity in allowing
women to work in government of London. The White Council government ingrained gender
inequality in Helens mindset from a young age, leaving her to believe in a lack of opportunity for
women. The
absence of gender equality created by the Council in The Sleeper Awakes led to the
ultimate demise of London in the year 2100. Any functional social system requires gender equality

Daly 3

to ensure that all citizens may participate and shine in daily life. A series of divisions between men
and women leaves society underdeveloped as a whole.
Opportunity, whether through the economy or personal experiences, allows for growth and
motivation to occur within a society. Governments of all nations must allow their people many
opportunities to go and accomplish anything, as a thriving social system relies upon constant
improvements from the minds of citizens. When a government removes setbacks such as excessive
regulations and promotes innovation, any stagnant nation may thrive once again. Alan Jenkins of
The New York Times describes opportunity in America in a letter to his Editor as allowing every
human being to reach his or her full potential with an emphasis on security, mobility, responsibility,
and partnership. Jenkins continued by saying that opportunity is a cherished American value, vital to
everyday life (Jenkins). The United States of America is a society that triumphed on the idea of
opportunity for all, and typifies what every country must allow their own citizens to accomplish in
order to succeed Any society will flounder without the chance for the people of a nation to progress
and create truly unbelievable innovations. Consequently, vibrant and prosperous nations anywhere
in the world rely on opportunity on all different scales in order to capture a near perfect social
system.
Social classes define any social system by breaking up the people of a nation into an oftenrigid way. To a certain extent, compressed social classes, or closing the gaps between the rich and
the poor, can lead to benefits for both sides of the socioeconomic spectrum. If a country compresses
its social classes, then the numerous poor inhabitants may gain in happiness and monetary
prosperity, while feelings of superiority among the rich may be eliminated in order to assist others.
Several strict dichotomies fill the divided class system in the The Sleeper Awakes, whether it is
between the rich and poor, or poor and middle class, or the rich and the middle class. Through
references to the vast social and economic anomalies between different classes, Graham points out

Daly 4

the abundance of varying divisions between the people of London. Graham notices that the rich in
London are well above the level of knowledge and power than the other classes, often taking
advantage of those below themselves. When speaking of the poor working class, Graham attributes
their oppression to the Labour Department, an expansive organization that creates near slave-like
working conditions for some citizens and forces their workers into depressing blue colored cloths.
Graham also takes note of the middle class of Londoners, stuck in the middle of the rigid social
class structure, without much of an identity themselves (Wells 164,167). These divisions create an
unstable political life in London, ultimately leading to the poor revolting against the rich. The White
Council failed its citizens numerous times by allowing for vast disparities in social classes to hinder
cheerful lifestyles and creating internal pressure. If the government simply attempted at compressing
or closing some of the gaps between the rich and poor, then both sides may ultimately benefit.
In order for a social system and society to prosper, components such as civil rights, gender
equality, opportunity, and compressed social classes must all be present. While some of these
aspects may individually assist in creating a better life for many, all four are needed to truly achieve
social excellence in the favor of all people. More often than not, Sir Thomas Mores Utopia
exemplifies the qualities needed in order to possess a functional and well-performing social system,
while H. G. Wellss The Sleeper Awakes falls short on several key accounts, resulting in an
ineffective social landscape. Nations need to make logical attempts at such ideals, even if achieving
all of the criteria may be out of reach for any one society. In order for the lives of millions to
improve both now and in the future, world leaders must view a successful social system as the most
crucial part of a functioning society. For when the people of a vast operation such as a society are
content, then the society itself may finally flourish.

Daly 5

Works Cited
Jenkins, Alan. "The Opportunity Society." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 Feb.
2014. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
More, Thomas. Utopia. 1515. Feedbooks, 22 Nov. 2016, www.feedbooks.com/book/198/utopia.
Wells, H. G. The Sleeper Awakes. 1910. Feedbooks, 22 Nov. 2016,
www.feedbooks.com/book/593/the-sleeper-awakes.