An Ideal Society
As I have observed life
with its myriad of different lifestyles, people, religions, and cultures, I
have come to some conclusions that might remedy much of the social and
political ills and problems in this country and perhaps the world. One of
the biggest problems in the country is the needy and the greedy and both have
their hands out wanting more. Class warfare has always been a problem
throughout the history of the world but has come to the forefront in recent
years in the United States. There are the haves and the have-nots.The middle
class who is bearing much of the tax burden of the country has become the new
poor. As I have let my mind muse on solutions to the problems, I have come
up with an idea for what utopia might be. I
have wondered if the world were to be in a perfect balanced state, what it
would look like. Since the world is so large and complex, and because I
live in the United States, I have simplified my utopia to this country to begin
with. If the utopist
society worked, maybe it would spread to other countries and parts of the
world.
The most important
elements in this utopist society would be personal and social responsibility.
In my utopist society everything is voted on but because the consciousness of
the people is so high, the vote for the good of all would be considered in
every case.There wouldn’t need to be much debate but after some discussion, the
vote would usually be unanimous. There would be balance which would eliminate
the needy and the greedy.The wealth would be distributed equally among
everyone. Everyone would have a
high standard of living and enjoy wealth.The society at large would receive say
a figure of $150,000 per perons per year
which would be enough for everyone to enjoy a high standard of living. The only
stipulation to receiving this money would be that a person needed to be making
a positive contribution to society in some way. If you could not make some
kind of a contribution because of illness, disability or being elderly and
unable to work, a person would still be guaranteed $75,000 a year to take
care of their needs.
The stock market would
not exist because the stock market system is unstable and too many people in
the system are dishonest. Businesses
would turn all profits into the state banks to help support all the
citizens. There wouldn’t be any super rich or poor. This is how all the
citizens could enjoy such wealth. Rather than debt, the state coffers
would begin to have money which would build into secure accounts to help the
citizens and the country. It would be against the law to spend more than
what was in each state’s savings account. In fact each state would need to
maintain an emergency no touch fund of 10 billion dollars. The banks would keep the money for
national or state emergencies and to help those that are disabled or at the age
of 62, retired. These monies would be controlled by each state bank not the
federal government. After
retirement, people would still receive $75,000 a year but would not have to pay
for a housing allowance because they had been paying into that account since
they were eighteen.
Inflation would not exist
because products, and operating costs would stay at a fixed price. Every township
would be somewhat self-sufficient with
most of the things they need within ten miles. Energy and energy costs would be
way down because solar and nuclear power would be so efficient that rising
energy costs would not happen which is a big cause of inflation.
People would be issued
one credit card. To prevent people being wasteful or not showing good
economic responsibility, the amount allowable to withdraw would be divided over
the twelve month period. The $150,000 would be after taxes of ten percent
from every household to support community things and health care everyone uses.
No one in the country would make more than $150,000 including the president or representatives
of the country or a CEO. This would
prevent people from being greedy and power hungry. If a person wanted to earn a little
more than the $150,000 which wouldn’t really be necessary because the allotted
amount would be enough to live well, a person could apply for an additional
$25,000. The only way a person
could receive more than the allotted amount would be if they had a new idea
that would benefit society. There would be a cap of $25,000 for any
project idea so as not to encourage greed. A panel would discuss and vote whether
the idea was worthy of development and funding to help society. This would give people incentive to
come up with new ideas for the good of all. There
would be a limit of no more than one idea per year that would be funded per
individual.
Everyone would have a certain amount of discretionary income.
Twenty thousand would go towards housing, twenty thousand towards food, and
twenty thousand would go to utilities, energy use, and a car. The rest of the income would be
discretionary and could be used for travel, hobbies, clothes, shopping,
vacations and whatever else was a productive use of the money. Gambling
would not exist because that plays on chance and greed and could create
poverty. If the $150,000 is
misused, there is no extra compensation. This would help to make people frugal
and make wise choices with their income. Only
one credit card would be allowed and that credit card balance would need to be
paid off each month.
There would not be any
homeless people. Everyone would be provided with a nice middle class home
or condo. People could choose the style of the home and builders would
build it with individual tastes in mind. It could not exceed a certain
cost and would be automatically paid from each person’s bank account with the
allotted housing allowance. In
order to have a home, however, strict cleanliness and upkeep would be required
and friendly inspections of homes would be made quarterly to help people care
for and respect their homes and yards. Maintenance
and Improvements to the home would need to be taken out of discretionary
funds. Taking good care of the home and yard would be a prerequisite of
having a home, and would prevent unhealthy or unsanitary conditions. If a person wanted a nicer home, they
could put some of their allotted money into a nicer home but it could not
exceed 35% of their annual income. There would be no such thing as a
foreclosure.
The federal government
would be totally revamped and simplified. There would be a flat 10% income
tax for everyone and there would be no deductions on income tax. The
federal government would be simplified down to very basic areas. There would be
an environmental department, an educational department, a health department, a
foreign relations department, an energy department and a state’s department. The states department would
coordinate the federal and state laws so they were not in conflict with each
other. If there was a conflict,
state law would override federal law. Most of the government would be
handled at the state level for each state. Laws would be consistent in
each state so there wouldn’t be confusion and conflict.The laws would protect
the people not the criminals.
People in the society
would all have jobs doing things they enjoyed. There would be a wide
variety of different choices for occupations depending on interest
and aptitude from community
gardens, health consultants, construction, technology,
engineering, education, and
a number of specialty occupations that the society could choose from and also
be trained in. Motherhood would be considered one of the most important jobs
and would be compensated the same as any other occupation. Unemployment
would not exist because everyone would be trained in jobs that are needed and a
job would be waiting when their training was completed. Citizens of the country would receive
their $150,000 when they turn eighteen. They
are also placed in a job of their choice at eighteen. If people want to get more specialized
training or go to college they still get the $150,000. They pay some of
that in college tuition in the amount of $20,000 a year. A job is waiting
for them after they finish their college or training.
The society would be self
sufficient and everyone would have their own garden plot to raise healthy,
organic food. Each family would
be provided with one to two cars as needed but not more unless it was used out
of their discretionary funds. These cars would be electric, solar, or hydrogen
powered cars and would not pollute the air in anyway.
Banks would not exist to
try to rip off the public and make themselves rich, but as a service to the
community. They would keep track
of everyone’s accounts. They would give loans which would not have an
interest rate of more than 7%. If
a loan was made, the payment on that loan would come out of the account of that
person automatically each month until the loan was paid off. People would be rewarded for saving so
that they wouldn’t need to take out loans. Banks
would pay 7% to people who kept their money in a savings account.
Couples would have to
apply to become parents. Children would have a father and a mother. A group of very good parents would be
chosen as the panel to screen those applying for parenthood. The people on the panel would be
chosen because of how well their children have contributed to society and
because they have very good moral character. They have contributed positively to
society and have no criminal records.
Society would be educated
about the life force and the importance of being responsible with it. Everyone
would be educated on birth control by the age of ten and before they have the
ability to pro-create. Unplanned
pregnancies would be highly discouraged. There would be few unplanned
pregnancies because everyone would be educated about how important it is to
show responsibility with procreation. Children
would be planned for and loved by parents that have taken classes in good
parenting skills. If there was an unplanned pregnancy with someone under
the age of 18, the baby would be placed with responsible and caring people who
have applied and want a child. These people have been screened and trained to
be good parents and are mature enough to raise a child. The size of the family would be
voluntarily controlled but people would usually not choose to have any more
than four children because they realize it is not fair to each child for there
to be too many to care for. A
couple would need to be approved to have more than four children. Most would choose to have one to
three children.
There would be a
federation of all the religions in the world.The heads of these religions would
meet to develop a moral code that all laws would support and abide by.The moral code would show personal and
social responsibility and protect the society. It would be based on the precepts that
show love of self and love of others and concern for the welfare of all in
society. A group would be
voted on that is non- denominational but has a good moral code to represent and
oversee that the moral code is followed across the country.
Crime would be greatly
reduced because everyone’s needs are met and families are healthy and raising
healthy children with a good moral code and personal responsibility to
themselves and the community.Those
that have committed crimes would be around healthy people not unhealthy people
in order to be rehabilitated.Rehabilitation
would have great success because people wouldn’t be rewarded for being
criminals.They would be
locked in work centers where they had to earn their keep by doing responsible
things like typing on computers or even heavy labor if that is what they were
best suited to do.They
would have to earn their freedom by being productive and showing a good work
ethic and moral code.If they didn’t have any skills, they would be trained in
prison in a job that is needed in society. Interviews
would take place regularly and if they were ready, they would be placed in a
half-way house as soon as possible.They
would be closely supervised to see if they were ready to be positive members of
society.They would have counseling and support and be placed in jobs as soon
as they had earned their freedom. Attorneys
that were trying to get criminals off that they new committed a crime, would
not be allowed to practice.People
would pay for their criminal acts and there would be stiff consequences.The most important being the loss of
their freedom.
The military would be
scaled way down.There
would be an attitude more like Switzerland that we do not get involved in world
political problems.The
military would only be stationed in our own country.We would have an attitude
that we take care of our own country and protect and defend it.One of the main responsibilities
would be protecting and guarding our borders from negative influences or
criminal activity.The
military would serve to help in natural disasters and other events that
occurred. They would be doing service to make the country safer and
better.The world would
have evolved enough as a whole to know how dangerous and self destructive
nuclear bombs would be to everyone and that would never be a threat.The world
would not be into war or rumors of war because they would realize how
self-defeating that is to everyone in the long run.Violence would be greatly decreased
everywhere.
Media would be controlled
and negative and false information would not be allowed to air. Positive
programming would show things that lifted, educated, or inspired the human
spirit. Propaganda would
not be allowed.The people that ran media would create things that would
encourage viewers to be better human beings instead of glamorizing crime and
victimization. Criminal
acts would not be reported on the news. Criminal
behavior would not receive the spotlight or be the top news story Top news stories would be about good
things people were doing out in their communities to make their communities
better.Shows that exposed
criminal or violent behavior would not be allowed to air. Pornography would be
eliminated from television and computers.It would be against the law.
As a moral
responsibility, everyone would receive health care. It would be good health care and all
would be taken good care of until they passed on. The focus in health would be on
preventive medicine and healthcare. People
would be counseled in how to handle stress in healthy ways so people would be
healthier and not need anti-depressants and so many operations or other medical
help because of diabetes and other preventable diseases. If people needed operations they would
get them. Those working in
the health fields would be compensated the same way as any other field. Health and medical care costs would be
taken care of out of taxes. There
would be free health care centers in every neighborhood where people could have
exercise as well as classes teaching people about how to be healthy in body,
mind and spirit. Classes
would be taught to help society develop important life skills to work with
others and a have a good moral code. Spirituality
would be important and non-denominational lessons would be taught to the
community on Sunday. Most
organized religions would not exist or be needed because the moral and ethical
responsibilities would be covered in these Sunday meetings. Thus corruption and
manipulating people and trying to get their money through organized religions
would not exist. This
would result in religions stopping their dogma that their religion is the only
true one and stop aggression and war over religious beliefs. Different religions could still
exist as long as they didn’t teach anything that would harm others. They would
pay the same tax as every other business and it would be 10% of their income.
Everyone would be into
having a healthy lifestyle. This
would include eating right and exercise for everyone. People would not have obesity or
anorexia problems because they would be taught and monitored about healthy
lifestyle from a very young age. Parents
and schools would not allow their children to have unhealthy eating habits. They would not give them unhealthy
foods but a good healthy and well balanced diet. There would not be alcohol or drug
abuse either because families would be strong and have healthy role models as
parents. They would be
educated and taught how harmful these can be and they would make the
intelligent choice to eliminate them from their lifestyle. Excessive use of
anything would be discouraged and monitored. It would be against the law for stores
to sell things that were harmful to humans including tobacco and unhealthy
foods that contain a lot of chemicals and artificial colorings or
hormones.
In order for these ideas
to take place some systems would have to be totally eliminated and a new system
begun. It would be hard to
get rid of the systems but the citizens would vote for this to occur because it
would really be needed as it is today. This
would be a free will system and not forced on anyone but society would realize
that this would be a better way for all to have a better quality of life and
would be behind it and want to see it take place. It may seem unrealistic and idealistic
but I do think if a person believes and sees a solution and gets the idea out
to others, that idea can be achieved. It would take time, commitment, and a
true vision of a better way for things to be accomplished by the masses. Corruption in government, greed, and
entitlements without earning them would have to be stopped. Manipulation
of the masses through propaganda would have to be stopped as well. Truth would have to be the banner of
America and justice and freedom to create a better society would have to be its
main goal. A moral society with high ideals would have to be a part of the
consciousness of the people for it to take place.
