The Good Society Oct. 22

Bellwrite #22: Describe your idea of a perfect society. What role would each of the following play in that society?

• business
• money
• family
• religion
• the arts
• government
• schools
• science/technology
• media

What would be the defining characteristic of your society?


We discussed at length the concept of a good society. Through the discussion, many students drew on their understanding of Zion. We raised some interesting questions:

• Would there be money? For what purpose(s)?
• Would there be private property?
• What kind of equality would there be? Equality of opportunity? Equality of material possessions? Equality of rights?
• Would there be government? Would there be laws? What kind of laws?
• What would the people be like? Do they have to be perfect for the society to be perfect?
• Would there be only one religion, or would there be room for various religions?
• Who would run schools? Government, private organizations, or families? What would be taught?
• How would the society ensure people are motivated to work hard?
• Can the society be perfect if people are forced to obey?
• How do you help people want to obey? Can schools do it?
• If the society was not an anarchy (no laws), but it valued individual liberty, then it must have laws. How can you have laws while respecting agency? Someone suggested there are two kinds of laws. 1) Eternal laws that everyone is subject to, whether or not they want to be. For example, in this life everyone is subject to gravity, whether or not they want  to be. 2) Laws that individuals accept to be bound by (through covenants), in order to gain greater opportunities/liberties/powers.

We noted that recent world history has several examples of leaders trying to establish a perfect (or good) society:

• Mao in China
• Lenin in the Soviet Union
• Hitler in Germany
• Founding Fathers in the United States

Is there something unique about the way the United States goes about trying to create a good society?


Next, students worked on reading excerpts from Karl Marx's "Communist Manifesto." We are looking to this founding document to help us understand how communists envision the good society and how they propose we get there.  Tomorrow in class we will play the game "Who Wants to Be a Communist?" (modeled after "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"). In this game, students will demonstrate to what extent they understand the Communist Manifesto from Marx's point of view.  Students should do their best to prepare for the game, but they should also know that the game will help them grasp some of the more difficult concepts of Marx's theory.

Homework:

• Work on the Spelling/Vocabulary Proposal (due Friday with parent review).
• Finish studying the "Communist Manifesto."