Improving Society

Upon reading Book I of More's Utopia, I couldn't help but think about a lot of the attributes that he pointed out about various societies that he thinks makes them superior to his own society. One of them are his views on punishment for crime and whether criminals should be punished with death. He says, about the Polylerites, "those who are convicted of theft repay what they have taken to the owner and, not, as is usual elsewhere, to the ruler, who they think has no more right to the stolen thing than do the thieves. If the thing is lost, the value is made up and paid out of the thieves' belongings, the rest is given to their wives and children, and the thieves themselves are condemned to hard labor." (More, 41)
The servants are fed well and taken care of, and, often the criminals end up being kind-hearted and trustworthy through their hard work and contribution to the society. As More says, "The object of this punishment is to destroy the vice and save the person." (More, 42)
He also discusses how a leader or King should be, and that is that they should be more concerned with the happiness, success, and wealth of their people, rather than their own. If the king only cares about himself, and ends up hated by his people because he tries to control them with oppression and reduce them to poverty, then More thinks it would be better for him to resign from his throne. He says, "For it is not a king's part to reign over beggars, but rather over the prosperous and happy," and, "If one man lives a life of pleasure and self-indulgence amidst the groans and lamentations of all around him, he is the keeper of a prison, not of a kingdom." (More, 50-51)
When thinking about a Utopia, I certainly think these two aspects would be quite important. Reform, instead of punishment, and prosperity for everyone instead of oppression due to greed.