The Europe Envisioned by Henri de Saint-Simon

The Europe Envisioned As a utopian socialist, living during the nineteenth century, Henri de Saint-Simon saw many challenges facing Europeans. One of the biggest challenges, in his view, was to rid Europe of social leaders that earned their position through political connections, and not ability. Saint-Simon saw the need for the creation of new universal institutions, since a "lack of institutions leads to the destruction of all society," and "outworn institutions prolong the ignorance and …

…the evolution of society. He believed in eventually living in a society were the highest political importance is placed on the working man, yet understood that before the state could become involved with social concerns, classical liberalism was a necessary prelude to a better social order. Saint-Simon followed Marxist theories, believing that society had to evolve, and one stage of that evolution would have the government scarcely involved in the social functions of its citizens.