The Ideal Society

Imagine living in a community that’s not too big and not too small, a place where everything is in walking or bicycling distance or at least not well beyond a short drive, where doctors and teachers have a good chance of knowing your first name in passing, a place where you can safely walk the streets and where it’s not absolutely necessary to always lock your doors at night.

Imagine a community where much of the food eaten is locally grown and prepared by your fellow citizens, perhaps even by loved ones you know quite well, a community that can produce most of its own products and services for a much lower cost, yet with higher quality, a place where things cost what they’re truly worth and are purposely built to last.

Imagine a society where occupation and education are combined into a single effort, so the two become one-in-the-same, allowing you to simultaneously “earn as you learn” instead of going deep into debt from school loans before you even get a job, a place where classroom size is kept reasonable, and where you can learn at your own pace.

Imagine a way of life where our activities actually help the environment instead of harming it, where water and energy are clean and practically free, a place where it is simple and easy to recycle, where all wrappers and containers are earth-friendly, where concrete never excessively dominates green grass, and a way of life that allows us to live healthier, longer, and more meaningful lives.

Imagine always having a place to live and work, where every citizen has a purpose and is guaranteed a job based on his or her true qualifications and not just on charisma, verbal skills, or good-looks, a place where all the profits don’t just go to one person or a select few but to everyone who contributes, and a place where people always come before profits.

Imagine a system of living where every citizen has a voice, where votes can’t be bought and sold, where every vote counts, where the people have true and fair representation, and a system where more power is given to the people and less to the corporations and special interest groups, so government can finally and truly be “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

Imagine a sanctuary where you would always have family and friends, where you would always have a sense of belonging, a place where there is a higher tolerance for our necessary differences, where everyone contributes their fair share as long as they are able-bodied, and more importantly, a place that will care for you if you become ill or disabled, regardless, and will give you a helping hand if you are truly in need.

Imagine a system where huge corporations are not allowed, where big businesses can’t dominate the system as a whole, where it’s impossible for an individual or an elite few to own nearly half of the community’s wealth, a place that’s not too impersonal, too insensitive, or over commercialized, and where marketers aren’t desperately eager to push you into buying things you don’t really need.

Imagine a place which provides more public services as an option like public healthcare, basic legal services, public insurance, and public schools which include the college level, and so on, where public libraries are filled with books, computers, media devices, artwork, equipment, and tools, where you could find public fitness centers, public pools and public baths, where you could enjoy public gardens, fountains, arboretums, plazas, and parks.

Imagine an organization that could provide reliable product research—to supplement your own—trustworthy recommendations, and seals of approval, based on scientific facts, studies, and experiments, so you could be kept well informed on which products and services work best and which are safe, and an organization that can provide accurate information and dependable reports on the news, so you can truly know what’s going on in the world.

This desperately needed and long over due communal way of life would provide healthier foods, safer streets, higher forms of education, a cleaner environment, and overall, a better way of life.

Let us together create a community where we can safely walk the streets and where it’s not absolutely necessary to always lock our doors at night, a place where we are not over worked, over stressed, or under paid, but instead have ample time to do the things we enjoy, such as relaxing and spending quality time with our loved ones.

Let us create an environment where children can learn decent values, good manners, proper nutrition, useful skills, and respect for themselves and others, a place that is virtually free of unnecessary toxic chemicals that would poison our bodies and harm the environment, where the things of man are better balanced out with those of nature, and where we can breathe deep and easy and grow healthy and strong.

Let us come together to form a society where there is a stronger sense of family and a stronger sense of community, a place that allows us to be more considerate and compassionate to one another, a place where the term “family doctor” has real meaning again, and where homelessness does not exist and never will.

Let us together establish more self-reliance as a community and less dependence on the states—not to become completely isolated or separated from the national system we live in now, but to serve as an extension to it, as an additional system that not only serves as a safety-net for when the larger system fails us but which can better our lives, so we can achieve and maintain a healthy interdependence with our nation.

Let us together organize cooperatives where we are united as one but at the same time free to be unique individuals, where competition is kept honest and tempered with needed cooperation, a place where no one tries to unethically profit off the sick, the dying, the desperate, or the imprisoned, and most importantly, a place where it’s not “every man for himself,” but rather “all for one and one for all.”

Let us find a good harmonious balance between work and play, between selling and buying, between production and consumption, between independence and dependence, and between regulation and freedom; to create a network of communities that will allow each member the freedom and right to live a well balanced life.

Let us come together to create such communities throughout the world where these things hold true, to help rid the world as much as possible of poverty, injustice, and oppression. Let us come together to see how close we can come to creating the ideal society, and let us please come together to try and create the best possible way of life, so we can live as mankind was intended to live, together in balanced comfort.

by Guyus Seralius 1992-2012