Question

in this excerpt from utopia, sir thomas more claims that the best society is one in which all people work at useful occupations. in a well - constructed paragraph, evaluate the validity of the claim based on the strategy you have learned. cite specific details from the text to support your ideas.
you will find that the number of those by whose labours mankind is supplied is much less than you perhaps imagined. then consider how few of those that work are employed in labours that are of real service, for we, who measure all things by money, give rise to many trades that are both vain and superfluous, and serve only to support riot and luxury: for if those who work were employed only in such things as the conveniences of life require, there would be such an abundance of them that the prices of them would so sink that tradesmen could not be maintained by their gains; if all those who labour about useless things were set to more profitable employments, and if all they that languish out their lives in sloth and idleness (every one of whom consumes as much as any two of the men that are at work) were forced to labour, you may easily imagine that a small proportion of time would serve for doing all that is either necessary, profitable, or pleasant to mankind, especially while pleasure is kept within its due bounds.

Explanation:

Sir Thomas More's claim has merit as he points out the inefficiencies of a society with many engaged in vain and superfluous trades. He argues that if labor was redirected to useful occupations, there would be an abundance of necessary goods. However, his view may be simplistic as it does not account for the complexity of human desires and the value of non - essential industries for cultural and personal fulfillment. He also assumes a clear - cut division between useful and useless work, which can be subjective. In the text, he notes that those in idle or unproductive work consume as much as workers, and reallocating them could meet society's needs more effectively.

Answer:

The claim that the best society is one where all people work at useful occupations has some validity but also limitations. While redirecting labor to useful tasks could increase the supply of necessary goods, it oversimplifies human needs and the nature of work.