Utopia Book 1

Going back to Utopia...
So my favorite character in this story is Raphael Hythloday. I like him the most beacause he is intelligent and he has traveled around the world. When More and Giles suggest to Hytholday that he should attach himself to some king, Hythloday disagrees because he says thathe has no desire for personal wealth. I really like that about him, that money doesn't really matter to him. He also goes on to say that the prince would be more concerened with war, where has Hythloday would rather have peace. More seems to be more concerned with the public than Hythloday is. Hythloday doesn't really care what other people think, which is another reason why I really like him. Although they disagree politically, they still remain friends. When Hythloday tells the story about a dinner that he went to in England, he says that he disagreed with a lawyer about capital punishment. Hythloday tells the lawyer that instead of death being a punishment for theft, simply make sure everyone has enough to eat. Hythloday continues by pointing out that people who steal have the same punishment as people who kill. This makes no sense!! Hythloday has a point, if somebody is going to die because they stole, why wouldn't they just go out and kills somebody since they are going to die anyway. I know if I knew I was caught for stealing and that my punishment was going to be death, I would go out and do everything illegal that I have always wanted to do since I am going to put to death anyway. I would rob banks, hijack really nice cars, you know things everybody secretly wants to do but never will because they don't want to be in jail for the rest of their lives. That law really baffles me! Hythloday has a good quote when he says the system of punishment "is directed at eliminating crime, not criminals." The Cardinal seems to like Hythloday's views and he says that they shall be tested. Of course once the Cardinal announcs this, everybody at the dinner party who was just on the lawyers side of this discussion all of a sudden have a sudden change of heart and agree with Hythloday. I HATE PEOPLE WHO CANT MAKE UP THEIR OWN MIND!!!!!
Hytholday then goes on to tell the story of the fool and the friar which was completely uneccesary to share in my opinion and was a total waste of time. I guess he told the story to prove that men cannot make decisions by themselves. They base their decisions on how others take the news. For Example, if you are at dinner with four of your coworkers (lets call them A,B,C, and D) And "a" tells yall this idea he has had for a long time and "b" and "C" think that it is a great idea. Well "d" who is in a higher position than everybody thinks it is a stupid idea. Now all of a sudden you, "b" and "C" all think it is stupid. They only think that because "d" thought it was a bad idea. I guess this is what Hythloday was trying to prove in the story about the fool and the friar.