Importance Of Greed In Sir Thomas More's Utopia

Utopia, by Sir Thomas More, introduces a seemingly perfect society in which everything, from the mindset of the citizens to the structure of the government, is ideal. Every Utopian citizen fits faultlessly into the community and no citizen is left without a job, a home, or resources. Furthermore, all Utopians live in peaceful harmony due to the fact that they are treated as equals and have complete trust in one another, a result of their lack of greed, which is something that Hythloday believes is natural in most humans. Hythloday, the only character from the text who has actually visited Utopia, hints that this lack of greed in Utopians is a result of there being no such thing as scarcity or private property there; everyone has access to the

The fact that Utopians, due to their unique social structures, are able to live peacefully and without selfishness proves that greed is constructed from things such as scarcity and vanity as opposed to being innate in humans. Furthermore, the Utopians are able to live in a society where poverty and theft are unheard of and in which they can take things without paying, all due to the Utopian concept of eliminating private property. Their society, in which everything belongs to everyone, proves to be flourishing and functioning without a flaw. While some may suggest that taking away private property also takes away the incentive to work, the hardworking and successful Utopians prove otherwise. More chooses to address the elimination of private property and greed as the main underlying causes behind Utopia’s success as a society because this helps support one of his larger claims from the text, which is that the reason behind many of the non-utopian societies, such as the English society, being flawed is corruption. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate corruption, through the elimination of greed and private property, and create a more ideal society from which all members can