Thomas More's "Utopia" is a book depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social, and political customs. More and his friend Peter Giles learn of Utopia from Raphael Hythloday, a philosopher and world traveler. More and Giles are convinced, after hearing Hythloday's opinion on the many societies he has experienced all over the world, that Hythloday should be a counselor to a king. Hythloday dismisses this out of hand, and with a number of examples shows the folly in such an experiment. A king will always surround himself with people who will generally agree with his plans, and so anyone who disagrees with him will be cast down as insane. This is to be expected when two people who see the world in different ways are forced to reconcile their differing opinions. Hythloday's description of Utopia is of a society based on rational thought, with communal property, great productivity, no rapacious love of gold, no real class distinctions, no poverty, little crime or immoral behavior, religious tolerance, and little inclination to war. This society seems preferable to most, unless of course you are a conservative Republican.
I am no philosopher, so the deep philosophical musings of Hythloday are sometimes lost on me. However, the admonition by Hythloday against surrounding oneself with "yes-men" hit home for me. No person, least of all one who is in charge of a great enterprise such as a business, corporation, or government, can afford to surround themselves with people who refuse to challenge their ideas and/or the status quo. We must all strive to surround ourselves with the most intelligent people we can find, even if they will sometimes disagree with and challenge us.
I am no philosopher, so the deep philosophical musings of Hythloday are sometimes lost on me. However, the admonition by Hythloday against surrounding oneself with "yes-men" hit home for me. No person, least of all one who is in charge of a great enterprise such as a business, corporation, or government, can afford to surround themselves with people who refuse to challenge their ideas and/or the status quo. We must all strive to surround ourselves with the most intelligent people we can find, even if they will sometimes disagree with and challenge us.