What's your utopia?

[Shaidar]

Anything goes. Just some guidelines - it's on Planet Earth. Technology can be as advanced as you like, but bodies are still biological (although can be genetically improved - just no mind uploading or living in virtual reality worlds, OK?).

 

Here's mine.

 

Geography

The earth's population is much lower than today - say, about half a billion people. Everybody lives in dense arcologies of a few thousand people ('villages'), though there are a few denser nodes with hundreds of thousands of people ('towns') and one world capital ('the City'). The vast majority of the world's surface is a nature reserve (the 'Outside'), where people can go travelling, but are not allowed to permanently inhabit. The world's various geographic regions are inhabited by different flora and fauna. For instance, mammoths and sabre-tooths can be reintroduced to Siberia and dinosaurs to Africa and new inventions to the Americas. Trollocs to Australia.  :D

 

Life

People are grown in vats/incubators (like in Brave New World), but without the conditioning/psychotropic drugs. They are assigned to a 'family' of 12 people, who are in a 'class' of 12 families. Technologies exist that allow humans to live for as long as they want (engineered negligible senescence). (Note that not forever, but as long as they want). Everybody is born sterilized (although with reproductive capacities that can be activated with the right drugs/procedures), which has three positive effects - it avoids uncontrolled population explosion, destroys the traditional family and removes the need for abortion and contraceptives. Eggs and sperm are democratically requisitioned as the need arises to keep the population balanced. Consumer goods are widely available, but consumerism is out of fashion. People concentrate on raising their prestige within society via political and scientific achievements. In fact the basic village closely resembles a university campus, dedicated to research, learning, creative works and 'self-realization'. People spend their lives creatively. It is socially acceptable to form multiple, sexually fulfilling relations and to take all kinds of drugs. Gun ownership is allowed, but only in firing ranges and when going Outside. Gender and racial discrimination wither away. Space travel is researched and pursued, but other planets are not terraformed/settled. Education is affordable for all. It is provided via the Internet, follows a set course and there are exams at varying difficulty levels. For instance, Maths I for high school math; Math II for freshman college math; Math V for post-grad, etc. These are supported by classes given by village or town colleges.

 

The Economy

Food (both plant and meat) is grown artifially. Civilization is powered by solar and nuclear fusion. However, since this is a high-tech, very wired society, with mass transit systems, energy requirements will be less than in today's industrialized countries. There will be competitive markets for consumer products. A welfare state will support all those who are unable (shouldn't be many of these due to advanced medical technology) and unwilling to work. Unpopular but necessary jobs will be heavily mechanized, and if humans are still required for them, they will receive big monetary bonuses and recognition in the press. If that's not enough universal labor conscription will be used. A very progressive income tax is levied, which is used to support welfare, research, infrastructure and various projects.

 

Politics

Liberal democracy with full observance of human rights. There are elections for village 'mayor', town mayor/legislature and the World President/World Parliament. Proportional representation. Basically the US system, but with referenda on key political/economic policies (Switzerland). There will be no army, although 'labor brigades' can be called up, as mentioned, if the need arises. Nuclear weapons will obviously be dismantled. Police forces are not professional but conscripted. Religion will lose its moral/political authority, but its cultural trappings (e.g. church music) will remain and be respected.

 

Crime and Punishment

Presumably in this society crime rates will be very low and a prison complex and the death penalty will not be required. Trials are based on juries to determine guilt and a judge to apportion the punishment. Everyone can be called up to do a period of jury service. Community service for petty misdemenours and professional rehabilation for felons, including things like the Chair of Remorse in WoT if the technology exists (Though that goes against my own rule against VR worlds). If everything fails, exile to Trolloc-infested Australia, which would be recorded as a big reality show.  :P (j/k)

[CUBAREY]

Your Utopia is far too close to Huxley's "Brave New World" and would likely suffer from very similar "ills" and "evils".

 

I do not believe that a man made "Utopia" can exist. As the name implies its a fantasy. The best can be hoped for is that some the more drastic "ills" of our society, such as irrational prejudice, starvation, and illiteracy come close to being eradicated.  Besides that, I believe that as long as humankind survives there will be inequalities of some type and that inorganic forms of communities such as random families in random collections of groupings will hurt more then they will hurt. Also separating humanity from the concepts of physical birth and organic families will create a race of atomized individuals whose "enjoyment" of superior wealth, health and technology will be negated by unforfilled lives.