Government And Societal Ideas From The 19th Century

Government and Societal Ideas from the 19th Century During the 19th Century, three prominent thinkers John Stuart Mill, Giuseppe Mazzini, and Karl Marx had their own ideas of an ideal society. These individuals had their own unique view of the perfect society. However, they all have something in common with their visions: all of these excerpts discussed an oppressive entity. In all of the three ideal societies concocted by these men, tyrannical governments or oppressive societies are obstacles to their visions. In the excerpt from John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty, he discusses the imperfection of democracy. He states that democracy was only a perfect system when it was still a dream and not a reality. His reason for this imperfection is†¦show more content†¦Essentially, it is citizen s duty to protect their rights from the oppressive shadow of the opinions of the majority. In the second excerpt, taken from his essay, The Duties of Man, Mazzini discusses the means for an ideal society. He says that for an ideal society to exist the people living in said society must work towards unification and nationalism. Mazzini states that man s primary duty should be towards humanity and his their country. He said that this is what God originally intended as a part of his â€Å"Divine Design†. He also says that this design God intended was corrupted by greedy and oppressive Monarchies. Evidence of this can be taken from The Duties of Man, â€Å"They have disfigured it by their conquests, their greed, and their jealousy even of the righteous power of others; disfigured it so far that, if we except England and France, there is not perhaps a single country whose present boundaries correspond to that design† (Mazzini 1860). He later says the countries of unified people, defined by the vote of free men, will rise from the ruins of traditional monarchies an d that there will be harmony between this nations. 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