No “More” Socialism: Debunking Raphael Hythlodaeus’ Argument Against Pr

George Orwell, in his famous essay, Why Socialists Dont Believe in Fun, aptly described the problem of any Utopian ideal. It would seem that hu existence beings be not able to describe, nor perhaps to imagine, happiness except in terms of contrast Nearly all creators of Utopia have resembled the man who has (a) toothache, and therefore thinks happiness consists in not having a toothache. They wanted to produce a perfect society by an endless continuation of something that had only been priceless because it was temporary (Orwell). In Thomas Mores Utopia, Raphael Hythloday is used as a conduit through which More expresses his distaste with private property. It is striking how true Orwells words can be applied to Mores Utopia. Mores criticism of private property is structurally fallible, and his description of an alternative is deeply implausible. Raphael is used to lay out the Utopian alternative economic and civic system, from the common-place peasant subsistence economy of Mores England through his description of the idealist island of Utopia (Overton 4). Raphaels case against private property is built upon two principle supports the perceived fallacies and failures in a peasant subsistence capitalistic economy, and how seemingly intuitive the socialistic alternatives of the island of Utopia are in solving the tribulations which so perplex the worlds peasantry. If we analyze Raphaels argument, we find that it is grossly mis-calculated. The assumptions made in both the construction of Utopia and the deconstruction of Englands economic system are both contradictory and completely over-simplified. With our advantage of economic and historical hindsight we can see that Raphael lays blame without knowledge, and we can se... ... A. Von. collectivist Economic Planning. London s.n., 1950. Print. Hunt, E. K. History of Economic Thought A Critical Perspective. Armonk, NY M.E. Sharpe, 2002. Print. Marx, Karl, Friedrich Engels, David McLellan, and Samuel Moore. The Communist Manifesto. Oxford u.a. Oxford UP, 1998. Print. Mill, John Stuart, and W. J. Ashley. Principles of Political Economy, with Some of Their Applications to Social Philosophy. New York A. M. Kelley, eller, 1965. Print. More, Thomas, and George M. Logan. Utopia A rewrite Translation, Backgrounds, Criticism. New York W.W. Norton &, 2011. Print. Orwell, George. The Collected Essays, Journalism, and Letters of George Orwell. New York Harcourt, Brace & World, 1968. Print. Overton, Mark. Agricultural Revolution in England The Transformation of the Agrarian Economy, 1500-1850. Cambridge Cambridge UP, 1996. Print.