This is an Open Thread / Coffee Hour and all topics of conversation are welcome. Today's suggested topic is: Thinking About Utopia.
A utopia is an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities. Utopian ideals often place emphasis on egalitarian principles of equality in economics, government and justice, though by no means exclusively, with the method and structure of proposed implementation varying based on ideology. — Wikipedia
What is for dinner? How are you doing? What is on your mind. If you are new to Street Prophets please introduce yourself beyond the fold in a comment. This is an Open Thread / Coffee Hour and all topics of conversation are welcome. What are your thoughts about Utopia.
Utopia for me will the the transformation of politics into a struggle between the local and the global. The local will consist of well defined communities that live in a geographically bounded area. The global will be what we think of now as the current global economic system. In other words the new local system will compliment the existing system.
The goals of the local are to exist in harmony with the earth by providing locally sustainable production of food, shelter, education, and health care for each of its citizens. The goals of the global are to find and exploit new energy sources and resources to sustain civilization and to travel to the stars.
Members of this utopian society will lead dual lives and depending on their nature will engage in the local or the global. It is hoped the the majority will live under a blend of both. This division between the local and global will be structurally regulated by the introduction of an alternative economy that exists in the local communities to compliment the existing global economy.
The key new contrivance to make this vision of utopia work is a local city wide computer network and coordinating computer intelligence that coordinates and regulates the cities complimentary economy. Each city would have its own complete system similar to the current global internet system, but only for local use. The individual would have a choice of what system to access and use.
Above is just a rough outline of my vision of utopia. Just enough to get the conversation started. For a little more about my ideas see some of my past Daily Kos articles and diaries: Street Prophets Coffee Hour: Changing the Scrip, OWS — Changing the Scrip, and Complementary Economies Revisited.
What are your thoughts about utopia?
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