Ambition drives society

Can you imagine what society would be like if people were no longer ambitious? If everyone went through life mindlessly accepting whatever role they were born into? This is how Hannah More believes society should be run as described by her in Village Politics. In this dialogue, More uses the clever Jack character to explain to the dimwitted Tom character the dangers of questioning society and going against political order.

            More argues that everyone in society has a specific role, and everyone should stay in whatever role that is. More urges the lower class to avoid radicalism stating, “study to be quiet, work with your hands, and mind your own business,” (More 18).  While Tom attempts to question the political developments in France, (Village Politics was written during the French Revolution), Jack always overcomes him, as Tom hardly seems like an informed citizen. However, the idea of a structured social hierarchy isn’t the case and society has benefited greatly from it, in my opinion. More's vision of the masses yielding obedience to the elites has hardly ever been the case, as some of the world’s greatest innovators and visionaries have risen from the poorest of the poor to the richest of the rich.

           One of the many examples of this is John D. Rockefeller. An American industrialist and philanthropist, Rockefeller was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and also defined the structure of modern philanthropy. His story is like many other Americans who revolutionized and greatly benefited society.

Rockefeller grew up in an extremely poor family in Richford, New York. His father hardly worked and his mother struggled to keep stability in their home of six children. John was seemingly doomed to follow the dark path of the rest of his family until he quit his low paying job as a bookkeeper and started an oil refinery with a friend of his named Maurice B. Clark. Through taking a huge risk, along with a great deal of hard work, Rockefeller was able to establish one of the most successful companies the United States had ever seen. He became the world’s first billionaire.

Had Rockefeller subjected himself to the “role” he was born into in society, America would have been much worse off in the development of the oil industry than they were otherwise. The success of the United States, and the world for that matter, has been built off of visionaries like Rockefeller. With an idea, hard work, and a little bit of luck, one can transform previous beliefs and amaze the world with contributions. If everyone was either labeled an “elite” or one of the masses, and had to accept and follow that role. Society would be light years behind what it is today. We would be losing out on the majority of the great inventions and contributions to society, by eliminating the majority of the population’s ability to do something great. The struggle for power is what drives society. Those with the best ideas, the hardest working, and most intelligent people will naturally become the elites, running society. People should never subject themselves to stay in a social pedistool society places on them. Accept it for the moment, but work your way up. The burning fire inside Rockefeller’s stomach, to get out of his bad situation, to make something of himself, would be all but ash if he was happy with his role in society, as More would have hoped. Had this been the case, or if it ever becomes the case, it will be our own downfall.

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