Sheep devour farmland, making farmers jobless in the process. I will be discussing all three causes in detail and provide evidence as to how the commonwealth of Utopia eliminates the root of these causes.
Wars in their very nature involve killing of men. The soldiers who considered themselves fortunate upon surviving wars are not so fortunate upon returning to their homes, crippled. There were many disabled veterans wandering about the country with no possible means of support. These men, who have sacrificed parts of their bodies for the good of their country, are "too shattered to follow their old trades and too old to learn new ones"(Utopia, Bk. 1; Logan and Adams, p.10). Furthermore, the presence of mercenaries for the purpose of war poses a similar threat. While good use can be made of mercenaries during war, they are no longer required during peacetime. Such men had learned no other trade than killing and are driven into a life of thievery.
A major cause of theft, Hythloday highlights, that occurs on a daily basis is idleness. Many nobles, "who live idly like drones of the labour of others"(Utopia, Bk. 1; Logan and Adams, p.11), maintain large households of retainers who are, for the most part, idle. They have never "learned any trade by which they could make a living."(Utopia, Bk. 1; Logan and Adams, p.12) In case of their masters death or their own disability to continue working, these idle retainer are relieved of their duties. As their health deteriorates and and their clothes wear out, other nobles no longer hire them. Even the common folk do not engage for the fear of being looked down upon. Similarly, the mercenaries discussed earlier face the same fate. Such people would sooner turn to stealing, than starving.
The most effective argument brought up by Hythloday as a cause of theft involves the enormous number of sheep in England. Hythloday explains, huge areas of farmland are appropriated by idle noblemen and abbots, thus causing "positive harm"(Utopia, Bk.
