Zamfir Carina Andreea, MMIB

Utopia Thomas More

First and foremost I must state that reading this book gave me a true flavor how life in that time
developed the royalties, the things that people did for a living in comparison to nowadays jobs (for
example, Raphael Hythloday, who was a philosopher/world traveler), how businesses took place.

Viewing the book from a risk management perspective, I began to see connections between our
topic and the book when the dispute between Hythloday and More starts, regarding the latters
proposition to the philosopher to work for the King. In my opinion, Hythloday mitigated the risk of ever
being anyones slave pleasing everyone was definitely not his idea of a respectful life, therefore he
kept himself aside of anything close to this. He discredited the old way of living, mainly because he was
well traveled and has learned a lot from the world.

While sharing his stories, Hythloday presents solutions for many risks that may arise in everyday
life: for example, when disputing the execution of robbers for example, he states that people only steal
only when they are desperate, therefore they should be given the possibilities of decent living. He
continues with solutions for risk mitigation (training the slaves of noblemen in a skill in case they get
fired), in order for the people of the respective country to live decently and without fear.

The Polylerites story is also a perfect example of risk mitigation. Every aspect of it was well
thought through no communication between the inmates, they all have the same appearance and are
easy to identify, and they all do community work. All this led them to be actually pleasant people, since
tourists talked to the inmates most of the time and not to the other Polylerites. This is actually a way to
manage risk risk of them falling off the track yet again. By integrating them into the society giving
them a daily task, allowing them to talk to friends/people and offering them a decent life helped the
inmates become better people.

Hythlodays philosophic way of thinking when putting in scene the other two scenarios and also
presenting other foreigners such as Achorians, Macarians for More is another example of risk
management. By analyzing a situation from more points of view and thinking about potential scenarios,
the decision will therefore be fully documented and easier to take. More comes in also with very good
examples of how to manage the risk of not succeeding adapting to diverse situations, knowing when
to intervene and trying to make the best of every happening and using it for the greater good.

I will not dive into details regarding the description of Utopia, mainly because I did not find the
description as exciting as the beginning of the book. The only thing that I would mention is that I found
that Utopians had taken into account every risk from family life to religion, politics, work, every aspect
of life has been clearly fully analyzed and every potential risk of disturbing this balance has been
removed. Not a single part was neglected, everything was taken into consideration when all the laws
and regulations were passed. I found no extreme measures, only a wide set of rules that people
apparently respected by heart, thus they managed to live their lives happy and content.

Even the external risks were well though through, and from what Hythloday told More and
Giles, the Utopians did not have much contact with the other countries of the world. Their lack of
engagement in war definitely helped them into maintain peace in their country and have a prosperous
life without any external interferences.
Zamfir Carina Andreea, MMIB

To conclude all Ive said above, I think the book was, although tough to read due to the old
English used, a very good opportunity to yet again see different mindsets in different contexts, and how
one oversees and manages risk passing it through its own moral and logical filters. The one of Raphael
Hythloday, who was very libertarian and direct but who also wanted no connection to political life
during that age, and the other one of Thomas More, who was although very much present into politics,
also very open minded and versatile, eager to learn about the new world and maybe apply such
methods in everyday life.

Utopia is a clear example of risk management, through all its processes overseeing the risk,
analyzing the potential solutions and also the potential outcomes and also, implementing the mitigation
mechanisms. Through all the stories and fictive countries within this book, each and every time we were
given clear examples of risks and how the people firmly removed them. I am a firm believer that, of
course Utopia as a country does not exist, every country can relate somehow to the stories told by
Hythloday.