There have been many philosophies and viewpoints describing an ideal society. In 1516, Thomas More conceived the idea of an ideal society in his book Utopia to describe a fictional island deep into the Atlantic Ocean. In essence, Utopia is a perfect society or a place that possesses greatly desirable qualities. There are many things that can be used to describe a good or perfect society which includes justice, equality, economic prosperity, ethical values, rule of law, and security among others. This paper focuses on social equality as one of the qualities that contribute to creating an ideal society. More than 500 articles at https://essays-service.com/blog/....
Social equality is an attribute that describes a society that seems to be perfect because everybody enjoys the same status. Equality is a value that ensures that people are treated fairly within the society in all aspects. In essence, social equality features aspects of equal rights within the law such as voting rights, right of speech, security, property rights, and even equal access to services and products. In addition, social equality ensures that there is health equity, economic fairness, and other social securities that affect people. It becomes evident that social equality makes an ideal society because it offers equal opportunities and responsibilities to the entire community. According to Thomas More, in Utopia, everyone gets an equal opportunity to work, access food and even freedom of religion. These features of Utopia describe social equality and freedom that enable people in society to live in harmony. More claims, every city is divided into four equal parts while, at the center, the market place remains to denote togetherness in an equal society.
In addition, social equality eliminates the concept of social class or caste limitations for a particular group. In an ideal society, elements of discrimination based on a person’s identity are eliminated. In this way, people remain equal regardless of class, gender, sexual orientation, age, race, class, income, religion, health, and language among others. In such a society, disability or health does not guarantee unequal treatment from others. Through social equality, a society achieves justice and fairness for all parties and groups because of the essence of oneness. During the Han Dynasty, the emperor allowed all citizens to enjoy their religion and worship freely. Social equality was also amplified in the Han Dynasty especially during the rule of Han Heng as he motivated and encouraged citizens to learn. People in all corners of the empire received education to go-ahead to join schools as well as colleges to learn new things; this enhanced social equality in this era.
According to More’s Utopia, people do not own property privately; everything is distributed from a central point to everyone equally. However, in the Han Dynasty, the emperor as the ruler was a powerful, wealthy person; people worked to pay taxes. The citizens in the Han Dynasty had to work to build personal property as long as they did not engage in illegal activities. Social equality does not mean that people cannot own personal property, but systems must be coordinated to give everyone an opportunity to grow economically. In essence, the idea is to ensure that there are equal opportunities in all spheres of society so that discrimination is eliminated.
In conclusion, Thomas More’s definition of Utopia in his book with the same name defines a society that is almost flawless. It is apparent that there are various attributes that make society perfect if they are implemented; these are equality, freedom, justice, ethical values, economic empowerment, and security among others. The paper describes social justice as a major feature that closely relates to an ideal society because people get equal opportunities. Social equality eliminates discrimination while enhancing justice, fairness, and freedom.