Don't worry, I have a plan
So basically this is my plan for world domination. For those of you just now joining us, please do stick around for at least the first paragraph or so; this will hopefully concern everyone, so good communication and feedback will be vital to making sure our global Utopian society is a success.
I think that the basic unit should consist of a tribe, I really have no idea how large, but it has to be self sustainable, so not so populous that it can no longer feed all of its members and generate it’s own electricity. I am leaning towards electricity being the only amenity that we keep around. Gas and running water will probably get the boot. Electricity is important for maintaining a global means of communication (the internet). Yes, you will all be allowed computers with internet access in the tribe. Possibly phones, or possibly we will work those through the internet? I don’t know much about how that shit works, to be totally honest. In the tribe, life is just that, the practice and art of living. Tribes will be basically entirely independent and sovereign, so there will be differing levels of “civilization” in each. Some of the hard-core leavers (we’ve all read Ishmael, yes?) will undoubtedly prefer to revert to an entirely hunter/gathering lifestyle and may not wish to maintain electricity or ties to what they would consider an unacceptable level of civilization. Some of the more progressive ones (or less progressive, depending on your point of view) will have full agricultural set ups in place, but I feel it will be very important to have guidelines in place for just how much control over other life forms we allow ourselves. The point here is not to rebuild back to the disastrous state we are in right now (2006), but to work in harmony with the earth and other life that exists here. So, yeah, family gardens and livestock are absolutely fine. Miles upon miles of feedlots are not. Remember, there are no day jobs, middle managers, telemarketers, etc. You WILL have time to maintain your own garden and animals; that is the POINT of your LIFE. Living it. You think it is too much work to grow your own food? It would seem to me and many others that sitting in a cubicle for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, trying to earn enough money to buy…shit, what do people buy anyways? A big screen TV to sit in front of when you get home from your long ass boring day job. Which will tell you that you are too fat (you probably are) and that you need a newer car to be happy (you don’t.) What will you do without television? Don’t worry, you won’t get bored. There are people to meet, ideas to discuss, technology to develop, drugs, food, and sex to indulge in. Art, music, literature, the pursuit of truth, beauty and happiness. Your life will be rich and rewarding, and best of all, totally sustainable.
All right, at this point I would encourage casual passersby to please tell me what you think of my concept for a utopian society before you either leave or keep reading. Would you live in it? Could you? Am I missing something really important and vital for the happiness of the masses?
And now we continue!
I personally value some of the cultural things that we have now and I don’t really feel that they should be demolished to make way for the new world order. Major metropolitan areas and their beautiful architecture will be maintained. I think it would be best if they were designated areas for artisans and philosophers. I don’t know if they will also be responsible for their own food or if they would be supported by the tribes in return for their contributions. They would be like what are now the ancient ruins in the tropical forests, except still inhabited by people immersed in their art and ideas. Possibly biomedical research would also continue in these areas, where the facilities are already present. I don’t think children would be raised in these kinds of places, they are more like campuses where anyone can go if they need a break from the normal, pastoral life style. I would propose that all child rearing take place in the villages. I don’t know much about education and child psychology, but I think that in general a somewhat Montessori approach would be best, with children leaving their parents when they wanted to and learning what they wanted, when they wanted to learn it. The phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” would become a most definite reality. I am hoping, ala Island that through appropriate raising of our kids, that most psychological problems and angst could be avoided entirely. I guess I haven’t considered the problem of mental retardation until this second. That would undoubtedly be something left up to individual tribes to decide how to deal with.
Transportation would be very limited, unless our scientists can come up with environmentally friendly, sustainable ways to do it. That means not only the fuel, but the machines themselves must be constructed out of the remains of what we have now. There aren’t going to really be any metal making factories or anything, but there will probably be a plethora of waste leftover from the present. I would propose that each tribe has one vehicle, or possibly a regional public transportation system for people wishing to travel to other tribes or the old cities. Or, even better, we could really old school it. People who desire to travel will just have to pack their shit up and Journey to new places, walking, biking, whatever. I would have to assume that travelers would always be welcomed for the entertainment that they would provide.
Crime and the judicial system would be basically nonexistent. I believe people to be mainly good, and given the right environment, I expect crime to disappear. There’s no money, drugs are legal, no big businesses or stock markets or guns. Where would crime come from? If there were any minor discrepancies, they would be taken care of by the individual tribe or family.
And all of this is only the beginning. I have so many ideas I could just burst. I’m going to save the world and anyone who wants to help is more than welcome to join. The nice thing about tribes being the basic unit is that all it takes to set all of this in motion is to just start forming tribes. Once people see that it works and works better than anything else, they will hopefully follow our lead: drop out of society and start living!
For anyone who is still poo pooing the entire idea of starting over from scratch, or questioning why people would want to leave a system that is so ingrained that it has been called human nature, I would offer a gentle reminder that global climate change is what killed out the dinosaurs and it is not just something that our great great grandchildren will have to deal with. If things continue as they are today, there will be a fundamental failure of major ecological systems and global climate patterns within the next 50 years. You will probably still be alive when England and western Europe freeze over and the poles melt and coastal areas are destroyed by hurricanes. Global warming is hippie mumbo jumbo? How about nuclear war or the bird flu? I’m not going to say that the end is near, but I would like to suggest that even without the total collapse of civilization on Earth, that maybe our tribal idea isn’t so bad. Wouldn’t it be nice to not have a job, to be happy and stress free all the time? What would you be giving up that you just couldn’t live without? If anyone mentions T.V., cars, clothes or fast food I would like to suggest that they just kill themselves now if that is all they are living for.
I think that the basic unit should consist of a tribe, I really have no idea how large, but it has to be self sustainable, so not so populous that it can no longer feed all of its members and generate it’s own electricity. I am leaning towards electricity being the only amenity that we keep around. Gas and running water will probably get the boot. Electricity is important for maintaining a global means of communication (the internet). Yes, you will all be allowed computers with internet access in the tribe. Possibly phones, or possibly we will work those through the internet? I don’t know much about how that shit works, to be totally honest. In the tribe, life is just that, the practice and art of living. Tribes will be basically entirely independent and sovereign, so there will be differing levels of “civilization” in each. Some of the hard-core leavers (we’ve all read Ishmael, yes?) will undoubtedly prefer to revert to an entirely hunter/gathering lifestyle and may not wish to maintain electricity or ties to what they would consider an unacceptable level of civilization. Some of the more progressive ones (or less progressive, depending on your point of view) will have full agricultural set ups in place, but I feel it will be very important to have guidelines in place for just how much control over other life forms we allow ourselves. The point here is not to rebuild back to the disastrous state we are in right now (2006), but to work in harmony with the earth and other life that exists here. So, yeah, family gardens and livestock are absolutely fine. Miles upon miles of feedlots are not. Remember, there are no day jobs, middle managers, telemarketers, etc. You WILL have time to maintain your own garden and animals; that is the POINT of your LIFE. Living it. You think it is too much work to grow your own food? It would seem to me and many others that sitting in a cubicle for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, trying to earn enough money to buy…shit, what do people buy anyways? A big screen TV to sit in front of when you get home from your long ass boring day job. Which will tell you that you are too fat (you probably are) and that you need a newer car to be happy (you don’t.) What will you do without television? Don’t worry, you won’t get bored. There are people to meet, ideas to discuss, technology to develop, drugs, food, and sex to indulge in. Art, music, literature, the pursuit of truth, beauty and happiness. Your life will be rich and rewarding, and best of all, totally sustainable.
All right, at this point I would encourage casual passersby to please tell me what you think of my concept for a utopian society before you either leave or keep reading. Would you live in it? Could you? Am I missing something really important and vital for the happiness of the masses?
And now we continue!
I personally value some of the cultural things that we have now and I don’t really feel that they should be demolished to make way for the new world order. Major metropolitan areas and their beautiful architecture will be maintained. I think it would be best if they were designated areas for artisans and philosophers. I don’t know if they will also be responsible for their own food or if they would be supported by the tribes in return for their contributions. They would be like what are now the ancient ruins in the tropical forests, except still inhabited by people immersed in their art and ideas. Possibly biomedical research would also continue in these areas, where the facilities are already present. I don’t think children would be raised in these kinds of places, they are more like campuses where anyone can go if they need a break from the normal, pastoral life style. I would propose that all child rearing take place in the villages. I don’t know much about education and child psychology, but I think that in general a somewhat Montessori approach would be best, with children leaving their parents when they wanted to and learning what they wanted, when they wanted to learn it. The phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” would become a most definite reality. I am hoping, ala Island that through appropriate raising of our kids, that most psychological problems and angst could be avoided entirely. I guess I haven’t considered the problem of mental retardation until this second. That would undoubtedly be something left up to individual tribes to decide how to deal with.
Transportation would be very limited, unless our scientists can come up with environmentally friendly, sustainable ways to do it. That means not only the fuel, but the machines themselves must be constructed out of the remains of what we have now. There aren’t going to really be any metal making factories or anything, but there will probably be a plethora of waste leftover from the present. I would propose that each tribe has one vehicle, or possibly a regional public transportation system for people wishing to travel to other tribes or the old cities. Or, even better, we could really old school it. People who desire to travel will just have to pack their shit up and Journey to new places, walking, biking, whatever. I would have to assume that travelers would always be welcomed for the entertainment that they would provide.
Crime and the judicial system would be basically nonexistent. I believe people to be mainly good, and given the right environment, I expect crime to disappear. There’s no money, drugs are legal, no big businesses or stock markets or guns. Where would crime come from? If there were any minor discrepancies, they would be taken care of by the individual tribe or family.
And all of this is only the beginning. I have so many ideas I could just burst. I’m going to save the world and anyone who wants to help is more than welcome to join. The nice thing about tribes being the basic unit is that all it takes to set all of this in motion is to just start forming tribes. Once people see that it works and works better than anything else, they will hopefully follow our lead: drop out of society and start living!
For anyone who is still poo pooing the entire idea of starting over from scratch, or questioning why people would want to leave a system that is so ingrained that it has been called human nature, I would offer a gentle reminder that global climate change is what killed out the dinosaurs and it is not just something that our great great grandchildren will have to deal with. If things continue as they are today, there will be a fundamental failure of major ecological systems and global climate patterns within the next 50 years. You will probably still be alive when England and western Europe freeze over and the poles melt and coastal areas are destroyed by hurricanes. Global warming is hippie mumbo jumbo? How about nuclear war or the bird flu? I’m not going to say that the end is near, but I would like to suggest that even without the total collapse of civilization on Earth, that maybe our tribal idea isn’t so bad. Wouldn’t it be nice to not have a job, to be happy and stress free all the time? What would you be giving up that you just couldn’t live without? If anyone mentions T.V., cars, clothes or fast food I would like to suggest that they just kill themselves now if that is all they are living for.
posted by Rachael Ferber at 4:32 PM
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