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Touchstone 1

Caleb Touchstone
Dr. Sterling
ENGL 1301
17 November, 2016
The Ideal Economic System
Economics relentlessly influences and alters the world. Economics will continue to drive
and move the world forward well after ones lifetime. A society that cannot reach financial peace
will never survive, and a society practicing redistribution of wealth and a government controlled
market will never achieve financial peace. Utopia by Thomas More and The Sleeper Awakes by
H. G. Wells provide two different economic systems, and both fall short of economic prosperity.
Mores description does not work in real life, and Wells society reveals what happens when
economics meets corrupt politics. The best economic system that works ideologically and in real
life is Capitalistic with a few variants in the system. This system will possess: a free market,
small participation from the government, and a flat tax rate. The main staple point of this system
is the belief of rewarding an individual proportionately to the amount or quality of their work.
All of these factors enable a country to enjoy a well-functioning and stimulated economic system
that will benefit everyone living under this system.
The aspect of a free market that separates it from any other economic system is
competition. A capitalist economy is distinguished by competition among producers, which can
result in a high degree of technological innovation, efficient manufacturing processes, and
quality products and services (Capitalism, Gale). How else can people improve and innovate
their society? Competition. Competition is a necessity in an economy. Without competition, the
improvement of life would grow stagnant and the well-being of humans would deteriorate. For a

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person to earn money, that person would need to work for money, and each person would receive
what their service merits. However in Thomas Mores society, every father goes, and takes
whatsoever he or his family stand in need of, without either paying for it or leaving anything in
exchange. There is no reason for giving a denial to any person, since there is such plenty of
everything among them (53). This idea of taking everything one needs and only the bare
minimum works in fiction, but not in real life. Humans possess a natural inclination for
selfishness. One would take more than what one needs, not with any evil intentions or ill will
towards others, but purely for self-preservation. Only self-preservation truly motivates people in
civilization. People work because it lets them buy food and other basic necessities needed for
survival. And in Mores society, there is an abundance of food that everyone can eat freely. This
is not a harmful or horrible thought, but it is not realistic. If everything one needs is already taken
care of, what incentive is there for one to work? Farmers producing food would decrease their
production of food because the farmers would rely on other farmers to grow the food and the
abundance of food would turn into a shortage of food in the community. Competition and selfpreservation work together to create a free market that rewards ones work proportionately to
what one deserves. If an individual wants more from life, than that individual would need to
strive for what they desire. This stimulates the economy creating more profitable businesses and
improving the overall life and community of that individual.
For a society to truly reap the benefits of a free market, the government cannot hinder it
with bureaucratic policies or governmental handouts. An important idea of capitalism is that
everyone has the fundamental right to do with their life and property as they please.
A government rampant with regulations can thwart this development, as evidenced by the many
thirdworld nations and the fall of the Soviet Union (The Role of Government, Gale). The

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government must participate minimally in economics. Capitalism and Communism differ in this
idea. In Communism, the government owns everything and one earns the same as everyone else
no matter how hard one works. This is one perspective of equality. In the perfect economic
system, a person that works ten hours earns more than a person working eight hours. That is true
equality. The governments own participation in this system would be to ensure employees work
in a safe and healthy environment, providing fair welfare systems that do not only feed citizens,
but help them attain an independent lifestyle, and taxation. The government does not need to set
wage limits on a company. If one deserves to receive twenty dollars an hour for their work, a
company will give that individual the money that is due to them, or risk losing that employee.
Another company will see that individuals work and offer him more money than his previous
company. Government handouts have their place in this system, but they need to stay miniscule
and only for those that fit the established criteria of a society. However in Wells dystopian novel,
any man, woman or child who comes to be hungry and weary and with neither home nor friend
nor resort, must go to the Department in the endor seek some way of death (148). The
government controls the Labour Department. The department is an extreme example of a welfare
system that not only provides relief for their citizens, but cripples them. The citizens then have to
rely on the system until they die, and ultimately hindering the government. The government must
teach a man to fish in order to help both the government and the man.
Taxes have their place in an economic system. Taxes allow a government to run
effectively and perform the duties necessary for a society to run. When individuals with higher
incomes pay a higher percentage of a tax, it is called a progressive tax (Capitalism, Gale). A
progressive tax does make sense on paper. However, penalizing people and businesses for
successfully making profit does not make sense in real life. Why punish a citizen for being

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successful by taxing their income more than any other citizen? The man or woman would then
take their business into another country with more lenient taxes, thus enhancing the new
countrys economy, and leaving the previous country with a more stagnant economy than before.
A progressive tax is unfair and illogical. It goes against any comprehensible ideas and penalizes
ones success.
For a society to attain the ideal economic system, the market must enjoy free reign,
allowing the economy to flourish and grow. This policy must remain unmolested by the
government. In any economic system the government must know its role in the economy, only
interfering when absolutely necessary and requiring a small, flat tax rate, favoring no one due to
income. Finally this economic system is made null and void if citizens do not work, and
companies do not reward their employees proportionately to their work. For every economic
system, there will always be recessions and financial surges. The system set forth in this paper is
not impervious to depressions, but it is the most ideal system to combat financial downturns and
create a fair and genuinely equal world.

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Works Cited
More, Thomas. Utopia. 1515. Feedbooks, 17 Nov. 2016, www.feedbooks.com/book/198/utopia.
Wells, H. G. The Sleeper Awakes. 1910. Feedbooks, 17 Nov. 2016,
www.feedbooks.com/book/593/the-sleeper-awakes.
"Capitalism." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, edited by Thomas Riggs, 2nd ed.,
vol. 1, Gale, 2015, p. 193. Student Resources in Context
"Capitalism." Political Theories for Students, edited by Matthew Miskelly and Jaime Noce, vol.
1, Gale, 2002, pp. 21-41. Student Resources in Context
Evans, Kim Masters. "The Role of the Government." The American Economy, 2011 ed., Gale,
2011. Information Plus Reference Series. Student Resources in Context

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