You have the right to a process of Government whereby every act of Government, Law, Constitution, Official requires the direct and regular approval of every citizen. This right guarantees you to an equal share of the benifits and obligations of citizenship.
@ZanipoloLebron: There are about a trillion things wrong with that. First of which: do you really, honestly want every single government decision to rest in the hands of your neighbour with the Camaro up on blocks and the naked children running around his weed-filled yard?
@Pope John Peeps II: your neighbor that enjoys working on his car, doesn't waste time on yard work, and has uncouth children may be far more familiar with the repercussions of the decisions of state than you are. the two are not self evidently mutually exclusive conditions.
I think what will go 90% of the way towards Utopia on earth is the invention of cheap, perfect soundproofing. That way I wouldn't have to listen to my downstairs neighbours' all-day-shitty-south-american-spanish-dance-beat-rocknroll-party coming through the floor in the middle of the frigging day.
@Pope John Peeps II: That's why in college I lived in a mattress fort. Sigh. I totally agree with the soundproofing thing. What makes it a utopia, for me, is not having to deal with people inadvertently.
I'm going to be showing my ignorance here, but I don't think I've ever read/watched one truly Utopian story where the "perfect" society doesn't have a major flaw that destroys it in the end. On the other hand, I think we've all had plenty of experience with dystopian societies (Terminator, Doomsday, any Zombie movie...).
Anyone read or seen any good Utopian stories lately? How about a possible top 5 list?
@Zuli5: Well, there aren't really any. Not even in classical literature. More's Utopia, the very initial document in the genre, actually has a lot of very subtle messages about the cruelty and poverty of such a system, and how it continues some of the the failures of English society.
I suppose the only truly Utopian documents are philosophical city-building texts, like Plato's Republic. But you wouldn't really call them Utopian. Just philosophy.
@Zuli5: Actually--if you've read Peircy's Woman on the Edge of Time, she presents two possible worlds which actually seem to be warring for dominance in the future.
One of those worlds is dystopian: extremely patriarchal & hierarchical, with corporate control, slavery, and brain implants that make you conform.
The other presents a utopian society composed, more or less, of small egalitarian, artistic communities where creativity and freedom of thought are encouraged, and everybody shares in both the labour and the fruits of labour.
And while I was reading the book, I really couldn't find much wrong with the utopia she presents. I think the key to it is that while it's definitely a utopia, it's not a "perfect" situation and doesn't try to be. People still have various interpersonal problems and disagreements--but the point is that every member of the society is committed to living and working together despite their differences.
That's the only real difference between functional and a dysfunctional societies: in the functional (if not exactly utopian) societies, people are committed to living well together and working out their problems reasonably.
In a dysfunctional society, too many people are just in it for themselves or their own private causes; so things are chaotic and perhaps violent, unless order is imposed forcefully by some dictator or regime.
@Anekanta: Well true. But their Utopia comes at the price of war still, right? And more than that, it comes at the price of just plain old murder, when Connie decides she has to poison the staff at the mental hospital. Depending on how you read the book, the whole Utopia might even be a lie based on Connie's delusions.
@Anekanta: "the functional (if not exactly utopian) societies, people are committed to living well together and working out their problems reasonably."
When the heck are my datagloves coming? Screw the jet packs, I was promised Groddamned datagloves in 1990!
they wouldn't even have to be actual bulky wearable things, I wanted some thing like the implanted 'sites ractors used in The Diamond Age. Speaking of which...My chopsticks still aren't mediatronic, hello?
What use is a Technological Utopia if I can't have animated Bad Batz Maru porn on my Groddamned chopsticks!
Happy=Lack of Conflict=Bad Stories (For the most part.) This is why Star Trek had to travel around to find dystopias, since the Federation was one big Happy Place. The trick will be to find conflict in a peaceful, happy society. It can and has been done, but the lazy author will choose the dystopic backdrop. I look forward to see how it works out.
06/11/09
06/11/09
06/11/09
06/11/09
*MMM* *MMM* *MMM* *MMM* *muffled spanish words* VAMNINOOOOOS *MMM* *MMM*.
06/11/09
06/11/09
Anyone read or seen any good Utopian stories lately? How about a possible top 5 list?
06/11/09
I suppose the only truly Utopian documents are philosophical city-building texts, like Plato's Republic. But you wouldn't really call them Utopian. Just philosophy.
06/11/09
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
06/11/09
One of those worlds is dystopian: extremely patriarchal & hierarchical, with corporate control, slavery, and brain implants that make you conform.
The other presents a utopian society composed, more or less, of small egalitarian, artistic communities where creativity and freedom of thought are encouraged, and everybody shares in both the labour and the fruits of labour.
And while I was reading the book, I really couldn't find much wrong with the utopia she presents. I think the key to it is that while it's definitely a utopia, it's not a "perfect" situation and doesn't try to be. People still have various interpersonal problems and disagreements--but the point is that every member of the society is committed to living and working together despite their differences.
That's the only real difference between functional and a dysfunctional societies: in the functional (if not exactly utopian) societies, people are committed to living well together and working out their problems reasonably.
In a dysfunctional society, too many people are just in it for themselves or their own private causes; so things are chaotic and perhaps violent, unless order is imposed forcefully by some dictator or regime.
06/11/09
06/11/09
such a condition, however, is impossible.
03/18/09
they wouldn't even have to be actual bulky wearable things, I wanted some thing like the implanted 'sites ractors used in The Diamond Age. Speaking of which...My chopsticks still aren't mediatronic, hello?
What use is a Technological Utopia if I can't have animated Bad Batz Maru porn on my Groddamned chopsticks!
03/18/09
GRRRR! Rant! Fume!. Pass out!
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
11/02/08
11/02/08
Got it.
11/02/08
11/02/08
11/02/08
11/02/08