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We have the intellectual tools to create a practical Utopia by the end of the 21st Century.. A theory of innovation, and the vast socio-cultural changes of the last quarter-century, provide an anchor. There has been a growth in the power of peoples. What is needed now is for the peoples to influence institutions to take the steps towards a Utopian world.
In the first part I concentrate on changing education by means of Youth Maturity Institutes incorporating schools into wider organisations. They will bring together interests and expertise focussed on the growing maturity of the child as he/she learns to become adult.
It is here that we will have a chance to instil the central value of courtesy and to enable individuals to control the anger and violence that is bedevilling the world. Among a range of other goals will be such themes as creativity, risk-taking, the defeat of boredom: values essential to a balanced adult persona, and the absence of which are at the root of most social ills.
The second section emphasizes the notion of a holistic tapestry. We cannot expect a Utopian solution in one dimension of society to succeed unless it is articulated with the rest. Thus parental influences in the Youth Maturity Institutes will not be fully functional if the relations between men and women are dysfunctional. This essay is not the place to elaborate on all the many dimensions, from control of criminality to zero-based taxation and universal minimum income. Instead there is a summary list of the threads which must be woven to succeed
The third section jumps to the constitution of global government. Now we build on the confidence of the earlier sections to tackle world order.
Global Government emerges from an analysis of the weaknesses in the present system. It will be a true world government deriving its authority from an elected body based on population units. It is organised into functional departments rather than the present independent organisations. It has an elected Cabinet and Ministers and a monopoly of military forces.
We cannot depend on national governments. They still work in a culture of competitive power, and are mostly far behind the wishes of their peoples. We need an alternative source of movement to give power to the people. I suggest that the most likely form to succeed would be a Council of International NGOs, mobilizing opinion to push governments and the UN to take the necessary steps.

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Who are you?

Prof. Emeritus University of British Columbia (Anthropology)

What is your relation to Utopia?

drafting a book temporarily entitled "Where is Utopia? - choosing the future". Also an adaptation of the ideas to the consideration of the future of Vancouver British Columbia in the coming century

Summary

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This is a personal story about my most beautiful idea - direct democracy online as an injection to the local government. The idea became reality when Demoex was elected in the muncipality of Vallentuna, Sweden.

Demoex is short for "Democracy experiment" - but is more common used for "demonstation example". Thats what we wants to be. We want to improve that this Utopian idea is able to realise at a local level.

The end of this story lies in the future. Our history is not long, but promising.

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Who are you?

35 years old, teacher in philosophy and aestetics at Vallentuna Gymnasium. Loves my wife and children. Enjoys my life.

What is your relation to Utopia?

I'm in utopia. My project is to develop T.R.O.Y:s utopia in practise. I feel inclined to say I´m already there. Look at Demoex homepage!

Summary

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5th Feb., 2004.

I am finalising an account that will be offered in two forms.

The first is a c 30 page summary. Its first section explains that a sustainable and just society cannot be achieved without radical and extreme change. Present rich world levels of production and consumption are far beyond those that could be kept up for long or extended to all the world's people.The second section makes clear the implications for the required alternative, The Simpler Way. These include much less affluent lifestyles, high levels of self-sufficiency, more cooperative and participatory ways, an almost totally new economic system not driven by market forces and without any growth, and some very different values. The third section discusses how we might best contribute to such a transition by beginning to build the new systems here and now..

The second account is in the form of a novel taking the reader on a visit to a town which has adopted the principles outlined in section 2. This might be more effective for conveying the experience of living according to The Simpler Way. It offers profound rewards and satisfactions, and a much higher quality of life than consumer-capitalist society gives to people in the rich countries.

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Who are you?

Visiting Fellow, School of Social Work

What is your relation to Utopia?

I teach and write about global problems and alternative society.

Summary

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1.What defines your Nation? towards the needs of your own people, and more importantly, what defines it towards the needs of all other foreign people? Is this definition in accordance with, and loved by all your citizens by their free will, and also likewise loved by all foreign peoples of other nations?
2.Are you a nation of prosperity and equal rights for all your citizens? Do you as a nation consider your rights and laws as being efficiently effective towards realizing a prosperous environment for all men and women from birth to death?
3.Is the Quantum state of Moral Laws in your country based upon sure evidence of a Justifiably perfect pattern and Truth towards the human physical world? Or is it based on presumptions of perception of humanly behaviour.
4.The needs of truth, the need of all people to commonly base their future survival upon the coming of A Utopian Interracial World Government. (UIWG)
5.The source of truth, the collective needs of our bodies. As the source of social deliverance, from global ignorance. As found in the collective awareness of human knowledge.
6.Is the standard of survival as greatly magnified for those lesser wealthy among you, as it is towards the rich and "precious" of your kind? If it is not, then will soon also the needs of the more "precious" decline.
7.Are all the needs of all your people measured up for? Or is there an imbalance in the equation of your countries supply and demand? If the imbalance is overwhelming in either extreme, I ask, what have you given away from your abundance? And most importantly, what of the same have you kept unto your own needs?
8.In Either case the pattern of supply and demand of ones country, clearly proves the need of change in most Nations social behaviour.
9. The Creation of A UIWG, will encounter two basic problems.
a. The possibility of monitoring all human beings and their state of peace/unrest, fear/happiness and physical state of: satisfied or unsatisfied nourishment needs.
b. To manage the set-up of this monitoring procedure which will have a beginning yet no end, when it is once set in functioning in relation to men, this perfect quantum state of survival monitoring will be self sufficient.
10. The common realization that it is not the money that rule the world, but the bodies of men.
11.The commencing of an common global organ that will arise into the creation and approval of this new monitoring procedure which will maintain all human life from birth unto death.

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Who are you?

My name is Ciprian Pater, I am a 23 years old Swedish citizen born in Romania, living in Norway/Oslo for the past four years.

What is your relation to Utopia?

I will be its foundation, as will be said by others and chosen such for the future.

Summary

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Bucky was right. Utopia or Oblivion? That is the question.

Ah, Utopia! That crucial concept and crucial ambiguity! Is Utopia something that is no place and never will be anywhere? Or is Utopia just around the corner of human consciousness?

Socioeconomic Democracy (SeD) is a theoretical model socioeconomic system wherein there exist both some form of Universal Guaranteed Personal Income (UGI) and some form of Maximum Allowable Personal Wealth (MAW) limit, with both the lower bound on personal material poverty and the upper bound on personal material wealth set and adjusted democratically by all participants of society.

The proposal first presents a brief introduction to Socioeconomic Democracy. Here, the basic structure of the fundamentally just and democratic socioeconomic system is indicated.

The three major aspects of Socioeconomic Democracy, namely, UGI, MAW, and (quantitative) democracy, are then more carefully examined. For the two fundamental socioeconomic parameters, more careful definitions, possible specific forms, and brief histories of the two general concepts are discussed.

The crucial synergetic insight is that the two important societal parameters, UGI and MAW, should be established democratically. This can be accomplished almost trivially by employing perhaps the most basic result of Social Choice theory which shows that the median value of the distribution of personal preferences for an amount of something in question is the "democratically desired" value.

Implications of the fact that different societies might well democratically establish quite different specific systems are explored in depth. The proposal summarizes some of the many theoretical justifications for SeD from many different fields of thought, including anthropology, philosophy, psychology, all the great religions, and the as-yet unheeded United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The important matter of economic incentives created by the democratically set and adjusted society-wide bounds on UGI and MAW are examined in detail and shown to be significantly beneficial to humanity. Numerous practical political approximations to the ideal theoretical model of SeD are also described. The proposal then outlines the important aspects of the implementation process necessary to realize SeD, thus establishing feasibility.

Finally, it is demonstrated that SeD is capable of significantly reducing a wide range of serious interrelated societal problems -- simultaneously.

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Who are you?

Robley George is the founder (in 1969) and Director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Societies (CSDS), which is a research and educational institution dedicated to the examination and explanation of the properties and possibilities of democratic societies and democratic socioeconomic systems. You are cordially invited to visit our website, where you will find much more about the theory and practice of Socioeconomic Democracy, an invitation to our Study Programs in Socioeconomic Democracy, and a much needed break from all this serious stuff on our Lighter Side pages. If you find any of this material of interest, we would be happy to hear from you and explore future possibilities with you. http://www.CenterSDS.com

What is your relation to Utopia?

We have, for over thirty-five years, analysed, discussed, published, and advocated Socioeconomic Democracy, an easily realizable and highly beneficial Utopia. Our latest book on the subject is Socioeconomic Democracy: An Advanced Socioeconomic System. Specifically, Socioeconomic Democracy is a theoretical model socioeconomic system wherein there exist both some form of Universal Guaranteed Personal Income and some form of Maximum Allowable Personal Wealth limit, with both the lower bound on personal material poverty and the upper bound on personal material wealth set and adjusted democratically by all participants of society. It is, or at least should be, clear that this planet desperately needs a new, improved and fundamentally democratized socioeconomic system. The book will be of interest to all those who are seriously concerned about the unnecessary harm to individuals, societies, cultures and the planet at large caused by the extreme systemic maldistribution of material wealth intra- and internationally, and who are convinced that this serious problem should and can only be resolved democratically and peacefully by an informed, thoughtful citizenry. The chapter on ramifications discusses the simultaneous significant reduction of over 25 acknowledged serious societal problems as a result of the realization of Socioeconomic Democracy and the economic incentive it creates. The book will be found appropriate for courses in economics, political science, sociology, political philosophy, utopian studies, futures studies, psychology and, perhaps most importantly, democratic socioeconomic systems design. It should also be of interest to any progressive political candidate or party which is serious about democratically resolving the unnecessary and costly societal problems facing the United States of America or any other nation on this pathetic planet. The book is extensively described on our website. Indeed, one can easily get a clear introduction to and understanding of Socioeconomic Democracy by simply studying the material on the site. The reason to read the book is that it also contains an unexpected smattering of politicosocioeconomic humor.

Summary

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As “atom” which in Greek means indivisible, the word mankind or rather humankind is only meant to represent one indivisible whole, a collective noun, a unifying rather than differentiating notion. In reality, however, it is the idea of all kinds of men that predominates the modern world. Racial, cultural, religious differences are often pre-exposed and make us feel really different. While at the same time terms such as mankind and humankind remain abstract, elevated, and completely out of daily use.
No matter how hard the modern society strives to impose equality, desegregation, and democracy, it seems that this cause is forsaken because we are prone to seek differences and track them out. As much as we cherish diversity, as hard it is to pass unnoticed some “obvious” differences.
In my opinion, the greatest crimes of humanity are the crimes against itself and most of them are based on the perception of the other. The chivalric quests, the extermination of Jews during the Second World War, the slavery period for the Afro-Americans, the world wide colonization, all of them have been based on the notion of the “dominant” versus the “inferior” culture. As long as human beings differ in something so superficial as the color of their skin or about something so “fundamental” as the name of their God, there will always exist stereotypes and prejudices. Although the so-called traditional racism has remained in the past, the new “symbolic” racism that strengthens the cultural differences is even more subtle and pernicious.
Therefore, in the utopian world I want to live in, the hothouse effect, and the increased levels of radiation will lead to over-production of melanin in the cells of our skin, and many people will artificially opt for darkening in order to protect themselves from the sun’s bombardment. Color will no longer be the predominant distinctive feature, and for the first time we will be held worthy because of our achievements. Our appearance will even lose its judgmental stance. What is more, the discovery of other intelligent beings will allow us to consider ourselves from another perspective and to understand fully the meaning of “humanity”.
In this respect, the guiding principle for the human beings in the utopian world of my dreams will be: “We won’t make so many mistakes if only we realise that we are not so different”.

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Who are you?

I am a fourth year student of English philology, who is interested in politics and sociology. I am deeplu concerned with the way the world changes and I think it depends on us to make it a better place to live in.

What is your relation to Utopia?

Utopia is not necessarily the best place to be lived in and it is certainly very close to our own world.

Summary

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For me, participating in the Utopian World Championship is an opportunity to explore novel approaches to one of human kinds’ oldest aspirations. Because utopias have long been presented in terms ranging from world orders to societies and political systems, a unique project must examine other approaches. The following work will do little to describe an economy, a world order or a political system. Although it may have such things, just as a person may wear clothing on the body, the clothing has little to do with functioning of human wearing them. Thus, this work will examine the inner realm of a utopia and allow the reader to dress the utopia as they see fit.

Begin by thinking in terms of an ecosystem. Although maybe not immediately discernable, every piece within an ecosystem plays a critical role and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Most importantly the essence that defines and give it life are imperceptible and uncontrollable. An ecosystem is highly complex yet entirely graceful in its construct.

In contrast, most modern human social and cultural structures are complicated and require contrivances to support otherwise unsustainable components. The technologies (social and physical) that compliment these human constructs match the consciousness which created them: limited by our limited capacity.

I propose it is possible to support the creation of something beyond our limited capacity by artfully implementing a design is that is inviting to something greater. We construct that which is within our ability with the intention to surrender control of the rest, enticing nature’s infinite wisdom to be our co-creator and guide. That which appears random and chaotic may actually be simplest, most elegant way of serving the needs of the group.

By relinquishing individual agendas, desires, control and motives we promote consciousness. We will examine the concept of conscious culture, where the consciousness of the group is allowed to form and grow and in turn imbue the individual participants with greater awareness and aliveness. Using nature as our model, the evolution of consciousness germinates the accompanying social and physical manifestations, which in turn nurture consciousness. Such an entity invites that extra life-giving element, like the ether or the prana or the soul, that which cannot be controlled or measured or captured.

"Those who look for the laws of nature as a support for their new works collaborate with the creator." Antonio Gaudi

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Who are you?

I have worked in the corporate world, owned a successful business and known the sensory ease of playing within the rules of the existing economic culture. But I have also felt the discomfort of living with a conscience that knew a higher truth was attainable. The relentless pull of truth required an accountability, responsibility and conviction to assist in its realization. Acknowledging that "we can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them" (Einstein), I have left the mapped territory to search for the next paradigm. In doing so I created a non-profit company called The Institute for Conscious Culture.

What is your relation to Utopia?

When telling people about the Institute for Conscious Culture, I often hear that our mission sounds utopian. Because "utopian" is generally their euphemism for the unattainable or absurd, perhaps they are unconsciously parroting popular culture’s reflexive desire to belittle the potential of human consciousness. Yet in the core of our beings we sense that anything is possible; therefor this banter can be read as the last, weak defense of an outmoded state of being.

Summary

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Different models of Utopia have been proposed, discussed and tried down the centuries. These ranged from the physical and spiritual to the Spartan and authoritarian. There have also been endeavors at liberal and communal models and even plans for an elite ‘laissez-faire’ economic system on an idyllic island. Descriptions of utopian scenarios outline possibilities for physical spaces and ideological, conceptual constructs. Many models were built on the presumption that one could directly reference and even regenerate a once golden and idyllic age, whether or not it truly existed. This suggests the possibility of visions for the future being constructed on idealisations (and perhaps misrepresentations) of the past.

Conflicting Utopian proposals result in a contradictory situation where one person’s Utopia may well be another’s anathema. There is no consensus on what Utopia is, except perhaps that it is contested. Non the less Utopian ideals have impacted upon society. Given these problems is there a point to presenting another model that will invariably be loaded with personal value judgements and therefore be contested?

Utopia, formally defined as ‘no place’ has been hugely influential in Western thought yet despite the definition people continue to propose Utopian scenarios. ‘No Place’ presents the possibility of creating an idyllic place. Utopia therefore could be read as a term that defines a model for creating a physical, ideological or social construct.

This definition not only begs the question of how it might manifest, but also of how one might get there, highlights the need to examine the situation in terms of ‘way finding’. Utopia therefore poses a navigational problem where navigation is employed as a strategy to question and critique ones environment both physically and politically.

Rather than seeking impossible consensus I propose using this model of navigation to discuss Utopia as a contested local. This paper will focus on cartography as a tool of navigation. I will draw a parallel between cartography and Utopia as something more than tools for charting physical and ideological scenarios. This will take the form of a series of questions that attempt to examine some of the problems posed by mapping and Utopia building.

These questions will be formulated by considering cartography as a conceptual methodology used by navigators and Utopians alike. My hope is that this may provide a helpful framework for looking at other political constructs.

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Who are you?

I am an artist based in Belfast and am interested to find out what utopia is, where it might be and how one might get there.

What is your relation to Utopia?

I've never been there, everyone tends to give different directions to eutopia.

Summary

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A vision of a future society, of a unified, global unit, has been the goal and the dream of all cultures. It forms the comparison between all political concepts, for it is the vision of the form of the good writ large. It also exposes the heart of the problem we face when we try to dream our future – for our dreams are very different.

The future will not look like any of those monocultural dreams. It is going to be the result of an integration process between cultures and new ideas that will emerge with time. It is very hard for us to foresee the future because we are blinded by our present realities, by the restrictions of our moral structures, by our ties to our past through history and through languages. We can neither see through the eyes nor feel through the hearts of the future people - they will have different values and perspectives on things. It is enough to look at the radical changes of the twentieth century to see how much the global perspective has been altered.

The fact that we can not see the future does not release us from our responsibility to it, nor our stewardship over it. The way we conduct ourselves today determines the paths people will be able to choose from in the future. We may not be able to bridge the cultural and religious gaps among us, but we can take the first step in the right direction by acknowledging differing religious and cultural backgrounds not as 'others', but as being like ourselves.

The Internet presents us, for the first time in history, an opportunity to cross paths with people very different from us. In a way unforeseen in fiction or in history, we have the ability to see diversity and commonality in basic human drives and beliefs, to care about conflicts that take place thousands of kilometers away, and above all, to make genuine friends outside our limited offline community, with those people who are not so similar to us as those with whom we share our living space.

The Internet can help us make the first step on the journey to a global consciousness, but it will not come into existence unless we harness it expressly for the purpose of building diversity, understanding, and change through its digital means. The portals of the Internet are the first doors through which the global consciousness of utopia will pass. Without that passage, without that understanding in the spirit of our responsibility to the future, change on a global scale is impossible.

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Who are you?

We're a team of two writers that wrok through the Internet. The Hawk from Canada and Enmar from Israel.

What is your relation to Utopia?

Utopia is a concept that exists in all cultures. We need to understand the differences in the way different people view utopia and realize that non of us is going to have exactly what we would like. Human utopia is not the American, European, Russian or Chinese Utopia - it is something new that can only happen once we see that.

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Utopia.
The word itself conjures a multitude of images, images which are rarely consistent from person to person. For some, the word means some futuristic city where technology meets all humanity's needs. For others, "utopia" is the simplest life possible, a life supported by nothing more than Mother Earth's bountiful resources and one's own hard work. Authors, philosophers, and even politicians entice our imaginations with wishful visions of some perfect existence. Unfortunately, most of those visions remain wishful, beyond the bounds of reality.
But history shows us that some have taken their ideas of utopia a step further. Attempting to escape dissatisfaction with the world around them, they combined with like-minded persons and attempted to transform fantastic abstractions into a tangible reality. They were inspired by religion, philosophy, and even commerce. But more importantly, they were spurred on by hope, hope that a perfect society can indeed be formed on a planet so marred by dissatisfaction.
Unfortunately, every most attempt ended in failure. Poor management caused resources to be wasted and lost; ideological quarrels led to splits and fallouts; societal rejection and government intervention stifled the efforts of even the strongest utopian groups. Some even fell apart because the date they set for the Second Coming or the Apocalypse came and passed.
But despite their eventual failures, every group had its strong points. Some used religion or a uniform moral code to promote a strong sense of community. Others took advantage of American free enterprise to raise substantial capital.
When we set out to design our own utopian community, we did so under this principal: why dream of utopia, when we can create utopia? We looked to the past, to the successes and failures of those who embodied this principal. We dug through the very fabrics of these communities, snipped and saved the good ideas, and threw away the mistakes. What resulted was a "patchwork quilt" of utopian idea, which we now present for your consideration.

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Who are you?

I am a professor of geography and am teaching a seminar in the University Honors program on the geography of utopian and intentional communities.

What is your relation to Utopia?

I was born near the Amana Colonies in Iowa. My wife was raised near the Ephrata Cloister in Pennsylvania (in Amish country) so we are familiar with utopian experiments (both successful and unsuccessful)in the United States. We are currently teaching a group of nine enthusiastic, optimistic and idealistic freshmen this semester and they want to present their vision of the near perfect (yet attainable)utopian ideal.

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Socialization is the name for the process by which we learn social values and appropriate behavior for the society that we live in. Child rearing and education contribute to this process. Many of society's problems are problems of this process. From another point of view, this and other of our social aspects evolved in much smaller societies and are unable to cope with the complex world of today. If we take charge of our destiny and intelligently control this part of ourselves maybe a peaceful and stable society is possible.

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Who are you?

- - - I live in central California in the United States. I have been homeless for a few years now, but I am still hoping that I will be able to return to a "normal" lifestlye. In the mean time I think that my situation has given me fresh perspectives for looking at utopia.

What is your relation to Utopia?

- - - On a daily basis I see or experience so of the many problems our society has. If a wealthy powerful country like the U.S.A. can have so many problems then the world needs to put more effort into finding out what is keeping us from Utopia. - - - While considering whether or not to attempt to write a novel with a utopian theme I was doing some preliminary research on the topic. I found out about this contest and decided I should enter and try an essay before I attempt a novel. I find it encouraging that this contest exists and hope that the topic of Utopia will become very popular. - - - Also I have been a longtime fan of science fiction novels and only recently realized that many of the societies described in them were products of the authors thoughts about Utopia.

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Humanity lives a stressful and randomly chaotic lifestyle in the present day globe. The stress is caused on account of a chaos inner to ourselves involving our micro scenarios and a chaos external to ourselves involving macro situations. While scientific advance has placed in our hands unprecedented prosperity and capacity to augment the same we are so caught up in the two chaoses that global lifestyles continue with increasing stress and we are unable to distribute properly what we have, not to talk of increasing it. Due to uneven distribution the stress increases further. Any concept of UTOPIA would, therefore, have as primary objective(s) reduction of stress and augmenting of globally distributable resources to the maximum. A process to do that is to solve the two set of micro and macro chaos and replace them by order. Micro chaos is caused by our unbridled wants-that invariably far exceeds our requirements and macro chaos is caused by a divisive structure of globe on lines of geographical boundaries, sociology and religion, on the one hand and on the other due to the pervasive hand of incapable polity and bureaucracies. Micro chaos is to be replaced by careful nurturing of an attitude to our life styles where in we as consumers define our wants in the most utilitarian and frugal manner without compromising on standards of living in any manner in form of standardized consumer menus and save the rest for future generations in structure of perpetual welfare accounts and for development of our globe. This would tend to be a micro order and lead to reduction of substantial stress. Macro chaos is resolved in the first place by calling upon the human resources that are most capable to run global affairs viz.the skilled of the globe- called merit-defined to include any productive labor. Thereafter a unification of the globe is sought by bringing down national, sociological, religious and political divides so that “merit” could concentrate on global development. Organization of a system of global order agent/local order agents and catalysers-all meritocrats, either elected, hired or volunteered-completes the solution to the macro chaos and put in place the new macro material order. Looking at broad patterns of our past behavior functions of the new meritocracy are also stated. The new order would place with satisficed consumer increasing stress free disposable incomes.

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Who are you?

An Individual given to deep stable and systematic thought process that helps reduction of human conflict and aims at objectives akin to that of an Utopian environment.

What is your relation to Utopia?

An almost exact dovetailing of inherent convictions with those associated with an utopian world.

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Be it the relentless oppression of public rights and opinions in quasi/non-democratic states or under totalitarian regimes, repression of women in old-tradition-bound states, unwarranted interrogation and arrest of law-abiding people based on their ethnicity and/or ill-interpreted intelligence in developed democracies, inexcusable tightening of immigration in pro-immigration states or excessive restraining of mass protestors during international summits and meetings, all fall under two words, long known as the Civil Liberty. For many years, people around the world, not only in no-democracy states but also in partially or fully matured democracy states, seem to think they are being misgoverned and/or mistreated. Virtually, all people agree that governmental power should not be used to interfere with the freedom of speech and conscience. We hear repeated calls for fundamental structural, constitutional and ideological changes. Yet we seem frequently to be involved in quarrels about specific applications of governmental restraints. The trouble starts when we move from generalities to specifics.

Should our governing authority (local, national or international) allow us to believe, say or write anything; assemble and protest anything, any time, in any manner, and in any place we choose? How should our government make sure that all persons are equally entitled to unalienable rights of life and liberty? Should our governments encourage, support, or in anyway assist any particular religion? Should our lawmakers give those accused of crimes or deemed to commit crimes too much or too little protection? What are our rights and responsibilities as a national or global citizen? Briefly put, do our governments have too little or too much authority to regulate our life in anyway?

I will discuss the national and international Civil Liberties in light of our local or global responsibilities. These will include liberties regarding free speech, voting rights, ethnic and gender equality, religion, criminal justice, immigration, rich and poor, gay and lesbian and privacy. The special attention is given to proposals for reform and renewal, as well as the impact, good and bad, of earlier reforms. The gist of this article will be that any governing body has to feel the pressure towards its people to preserve and maximize their cherished liberties while governing effectively.

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Who are you?

Hi, I am a bioscientist from India working currently at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver. I am a person, who always thinks, how this world could be a better place for the human being. Currently, I am also engaged with a yet-to-be-named book envisioning a harmonic, united and peaceful world governed by a legitimate and well-accepted world body.

What is your relation to Utopia?

I believe in a world that may be well beyond the thinking of the current generation but it is possile to shape it, if we want to.

Summary

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Proposed Reconfiguration of the United Nations
“Mending Fences”

We believe that the globe is a single element, that the world's peoples are a single people, housed and sheltered by a common mother, the planet Earth, our sacred abode. We take as prophetic and essential to peaceful coexistence on our planet mother the warning of Martin Luther King Jr. immortalized in these words: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." For centuries, the modern world has been focused upon human rights understood as freedom and elevation of our attention to the dignity of individuals. This stage in human conceptual awareness was undeniably necessary to the progress of humankind, as its ideas and ideals attempted to cut across the elitist assumptions of feudal and monarchial lifeworlds. However, though the new focus upon the individual helped to undermine assumptions regarding a "natural" status hierarchy running through the human world, often presumed as "determined by the god(s)," it brought with it a new set of problems. The notion of an autonomous free subject, not understood as obliged to its histories or to the whole of the human world, saw itself justified to center its concerns about its individual happiness, often to the detriment of the whole of humankind or to the planet that is shared by all people and bequeathed to all our progeny. Thus, it is ethically necessary that the guiding impetus and the driving force of the work of the United Nations in the third millennium of the Common Era of the Earth be redefined as the benefit of the whole of humankind, the health of the planet and its myriad creatures, and the equitable distribution of the common inheritance of the common wealth of all nations of the earth.

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Who are you?

I am entering on behalf of my Ethics class, whose project this term (Spring 2004) will be to attempt to win your contest!

What is your relation to Utopia?

only just heard aboiut utopia in the Philos weblist serve.

Summary

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Every human being has a time of life. Everyone. He spends it in an epoch. Whether he can relate to it as his very own or not, he lives in it. Maybe one does not recognize it, the human being between life and epoch is forced to ask questions.

What is freedom?
What is brotherhood?
What is equality?

Throughout time people have had expectations, desires and hopes from life. These were taken from but not necessarily bound to their epochs. In the past a lot of human beings have given expression to these hopes, desires and expectations.

Today we take some of their thoughts for granted: right of speech, overcoming the plague, globalisation.

At present other thoughts are still to be further developed. For most people clean water remains a utopia, the same goes for access to internet. These are just two examples of the indispensable precondition of the dominance of the western world. One can thirst for it. We think there is more to us - we want the species human being. So get up, together, let us - let us live, let us have utopias, here is one: TIME FOR TIME.

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Who are you?

Herb Buchlowski and Andreas Friedrich Halle, two humans round the forties and still wondering what this world and life is all about.

What is your relation to Utopia?

Ten years ago we wrote our own utopia. Since then it grew to a interactive project called "Time for Time" (watch: http://www.timefortime.net).

Summary

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If it is to grow from the inside, a utopia can only be built from the outside. The GCU is a technologically pioneering project aimed at settling refugees from around the world and giving them goals towards which to work in unison. It is constructed on African desert, reclaimed by virtue of hydroponics and landscaped to be scenically the envy of the world. Its capital city embraces a visionary spirit and cutting-edge alternative technology, married with an ethos sustained by perceptive and philosophically rigorous, yet open-minded and pluralistic moral teaching, rendering it a model that speaks to the human condition in myriad ways.
Human nature requires goals that are abstract and self-propagating together with goals that are concrete and attainable. Nucleus achieves social harmony and aims to demonstrate the potential of the motivated, yet ordinary, human, when humans work in concert to make the whole of their energies greater than the sum of its parts.
Because the GCU is outward looking it becomes an engine for the betterment of the world, perpetuating a system of feedback: its ethos encourages states around the globe to be permanently concerned for the preservation of peace through the sanctity of moral principle. With the emphasis on education, transparency and pioneering development (in a period of crisis following from peak oil), a malleable political system grows as organically as does the state apparatus, the politics being free from the baggage of the preconceptions associated with right and left wing. A through-flow of visitors and inhabitants sustains vibrancy in culture, ideas and finance. The full power of the human spirit is demonstrated, evidence being presented to the world on the completion of every new engineering project, the excellence of the undertaking of the project being manifest in spite of the limited consumption of commodities.
This account of the utopia is founded in a system of theologically orientated moral philosophy, which is expounded in some detail. The GCU's vision is one aimed at propagating further visionary endeavours, the possibilities they open reflecting the infinite and self-developing possibilities of heaven.

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Who are you?

Graduated 1990 in Human Geography. Published in philosophy (metaphysics) by Ashgate, 1997. In the degree course, specailized in, among other subjects, International Relations, Political Geography and Global Resource Management.

What is your relation to Utopia?

Competition Participant

Summary

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Peace on Earth isn’t something we can buy from a catalog and pay with a credit card.
Peace on Earth also isn’t something that can be forced upon us with bombs and grenades.
Peace is a state of mind, which can be achieved only by respecting and helping each other.
Peace also is something that constantly, actively and mutually has to be kept alive.

Many people are dreaming of a more peaceful world,
but since world peace now seems more distant and unachievable than ever before,
we tend to become increasingly worried where it is all going to end.

And as far as I know,
no one in our time has ever tried to visualize a peaceful world
and at the same time realizing the need of a totally new set of values.
Therefore I decided to take it upon myself to change that
and at the same time try to show how an alternative world could work.
I have done that by trying to visualize a totally different way of conduct so that it would be possible to make a comparison between them and I have also tried to evoke your emotions.

Many books are predictable one way or another,
however I hope this one isn’t one of them.
At the same time I’m hoping you will find it worth your while reading it,
especially if you’re capable to go beyond your own personal situation
and se the problems depicted from a global point of view.

It’s OK if you can’t always relate to what I’m describing,
since I’m sometimes forced to generalize to make a point.
Nevertheless I think this book is offering the reader a unique chance,
to view and mirror our mostly subconscious attitudes, values and behavior patterns
with an outside perspective.

Thereby I’m offering the reader some sort of instant “window” to the future,
which hopefully makes it possible to choose a different path,
since most of us probably never have even contemplated the possibility,
that our world might work much better for everyone,
if only we would dare to use a more unconditional set of tools.

It has also been my aim to turn upside down, as many of our ”truths” as possible.

Even the publication of this manuscript is somewhat different,
since I have chosen to publish it freely and unconditionally on the web.
My reason for doing so will be obvious to you, once you have read it.

There is also an explicitly sexual part in this book,
with a distinct touch on the kinky side.
Why that is, will also be explained in the book.
But if you are disturbed by such content I would strongly recommend,
that you deal with your prejudices before reading this book.

* * *

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Who are you?

I'm a visionary and a philosopher who has thought a lot about why the world is as it is and if it necessarily has to be that way. As a consequence of this I have tried to envision an alternative, which I think might work much better for us if only we could stop translating everything we do in to money and power. To me it seems obvious, that money and power no longer holds any solutions, they appear to be the problem in itself. Therefore I have tried to visualize an alternative in the form of science fiction story, called "2012, The year when all times will meet". BR Roland Mollbrandt

What is your relation to Utopia?

Any vision will remain an utopia, for as long as we don't think it's possible to realize it and for as long as we choose to stay imprisoned by the money and power system, or maybe I should say, for as long as we are afraid of letting go of our fear. It's all in our heads and minds!

Summary

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Summary

Seth Nowak
Wisconsin, USA


Definition of Utopia

There are five components needed for Utopia.

1. Global Scope, or Substantial Scope
Our planet is comprised of interdependent systems and patterns of events. A utopian village, metropolis, or even a utopian nation would not be sufficiently utopian surrounded by environmental problems, wars and suffering everywhere else.

2. No Impending Doom, or Less-Impending Doom
Even if land wars ceased, the hungry were fed, and the homeless were housed it would still not be utopia because we are living with multiple threats to the sustainability of life on earth.

3. Sustainable Patterns of Improvement and Mitigation
There is much good in the world, and much evil. For utopia to have truly been made manifest there will need to be something more than "more good and less bad, more pleasure and less pain". That element is the presence of major trends in the right directions that have some permanence.

4. Contradiction and Paradox
Utopia will not be tidy, symmetrical, or achieved by unanimous vote of all sentient beings. More frequent experience of pleasure may be viewed as sinful in the views of many people. An increase in wealth may mean more inequality.

5. Fun
Utopia will be extremely enjoyable.


Processes of Causing Utopia

It is axiomatic that individuals can succeed and achieve goals far, far beyond their expectations and circumstances. This is "exponentially true" when considering the potential of groups of people, and all the more so of "Groups of Groups" of people. The development of enhanced group skills such as problem solving, dispute resolution, and planning is an important part of causing utopia. Trained, coordinated groups-of-groups can literally create meaning, culture, language, and economic markets. All of this is in the context of a world that has been developing technologies and opportunities inconceivably faster than our most advanced understandings and concepts of it.

There are many chances to make utopia a reality. These chances mean nothing without initiative and understanding of implementation, resources allocated toward these very large shifts, and many campaigns and efforts on the parts of many people. We need to write business plan to get to utopia.

Out of the overwhelming complexity, simple ideas for action emerge on which we can rely with the utmost confidence.

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Who are you?

I have worked for and with a variety of cooperatives and non-profit organizations in the U.S.A. and Canada for about twenty years. This has primarily been in community based housing cooperatives and consumer owned natural foods cooperatives.

What is your relation to Utopia?

I'm a promoter and advocate of the potential utopias, and possible utopian results we can acheive when we anticipate the future without having our collective imagination restricted by fear and circumstance. In college I studied religion. I wanted to learn about truth. In graduate school I switched to business administration because I wanted to learn how to get things done. The world can be a better place. Not merely a tiny bit better, or gradually making progress here or there, or hoping for a miracle. Humanity really does now possess the capability and resources for gigantic shifts, utopian dreams becoming real. The first step is to get the word out.

Summary

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This essay examines the positive aspects of a global market economy against inherent flaws tending to undermine its sustainablity.

Mounting problems on the horizon will require major attention to shore up a system not in equilibrium with human needs of the majority of peoples in the global society. Among the more pressing concerns and their associated costs are:
• Servicing debt (International Monetary Fund and the World Bank)
• Military policing of uncooperative nations
• Increasing worker income and benefits
• Caring for elderly, handicapped and destitute persons
• Fighting urban and white collar crime
• Safeguarding a deteriorating environment.
• Exhaustion of natural resources
• Idleness of large segments of the population
• Widespread civil unrest
• Epidemic worldwide health problems
• Proliferation of firearms in the civilian population.
At issue here is whether or not unrestrained capitalism can be modified by harnessing its positive energies for the common good. By adding some democratic socialistic concepts, as brilliantly expounded by Edward Bellamy, to the present capitalistic structure, can we remove the brutalizing effects of unregulated competition and substitute the humanizing benefits of a cooperative society? It is fairly obvious that the productive capability of capitalism is peer to none, but the distribution of its output is distorted and destructive to the human spirit. For the engine of capitalism to run smoothly and efficiently, increasing supply must be matched by increasing demand (aggregate demand of consumers, governments and business investments) to keep the system in balance. Some fine tuning is required, a difficult but not impossible task. It is also time to reassess the duties, responsibilities, and performance of the modern corporation and its expected role as a “good citizen.”

The paper summarizes the major components of Bellamy’s economic model from his most famous novel, Looking Backward, a model which is further refined and amplified in Equality. In the discussion that will follow, some of the factors that promote or impede the implementation of Bellamy’s proposals will be addressed.
Bellamy’s overarching timeless message is that when humanity by common consent learns to share its labors and resulting wealth equitably and live in harmony with the natural environment of the planet, abundance and leisure for all can be realized, in the framework of a peaceful and civil global society.

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Who are you?

Hank Preiser is a nationally known marine corrosion engineer. He is an independent scholar worhing through the Edward Bellamy Association in Chicopee Massachusetts and has studied the ways in which technology can be harnessed to benefit a fair global society.

What is your relation to Utopia?

Recently co-edited a book with Toby Widdecombe entitled,"REVISITING THE LEGACY OF EDWARD BELLAMY (1850-1898) AMERICAN AUTHOR AND SOCIAL REFORMER...", The Edwin Mellen Press, New York,2002.Hank as authored an essay within the book, 'Ethical Capitalism: Redirecting the Global Economy toward Bellamy's Quest for a Just Society.'

Summary

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My book "The Humanism" defines the system that will replace capitalism and finally create a good society.

I have discovered the path to create a good society, as defined in many utopias. My utopia, described in the book “Humanism”, is no longer wishful thinking, but a pure science that defines an unavoidable and bright future of humankind. The new political and economic system, that I have proposed, is equally acceptable to all. It will end all kinds of oppression and give a much greater freedom to everyone, but it will also require each individual to be responsible to all other individuals in society. The whole system is based on a highly developed form of democracy. It will also realise a greater economic productivity than capitalism can, and a stability that capitalism cannot provide at all. Ultimately, it will force capitalism to withdraw. This new system prevents crime, wars, and all kinds of destructiveness in society, as well as encouraging the development of human productive powers. It will totally change the world, and give a wonderful life and harmony to humanity. It will make Paradise on Earth.

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Who are you?

I got my education in Zagreb, Croatia, the former Yugoslavia, and acquired the title of graduate engineer in architecture. I am presently a computer programmer analyst and live in Toronto, Canada.

What is your relation to Utopia?

I have discovered the path to create a good society, as defined in many utopias. My utopia, described in the book “Humanism”, is no longer wishful thinking, but a pure science that defines an unavoidable and bright future of humankind. The new political and economic system, that I have proposed, is equally acceptable to all. It will end all kinds of oppression and give a much greater freedom to everyone, but it will also require each individual to be responsible to all other individuals in society. The whole system is based on a highly developed form of democracy. It will also realise a greater economic productivity than capitalism can, and a stability that capitalism cannot provide at all. Ultimately, it will force capitalism to withdraw. This new system prevents crime, wars, and all kinds of destructiveness in society, as well as encouraging the development of human productive powers. It will totally change the world, and give a wonderful life and harmony to humanity. It will make Paradise on Earth.

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Summary


This contribution is being made up of an interview with S. Flor, a man who
lives in the year 2029. Regional markets have become important institutions.
Together with the old-style capitalist system they form the so-called "dual
economy". Flor describes how this systems works, he provides us with an
insight into the historical development and sheds light on the cultural, the
political and the social context of this economic structure. On the first
glance a reader might get the impression that this is a picture of an almost
perfect world. Many of the social and ecological problems of the year 2004
have vanished or they are dealt with in a sensible manner. During the course
of the interview, however, it becomes clear that also societies of the year
2029 are faced with tremendous challenges. Flor himself is quite critical
about the attempts of his contemporaries to react to these challenges only
with problem solving within the existing framework. He is a visionary who
looks beyond - X stands for the three-dimensional utopian world he
envisages.

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Who are you?

Theory, practice, and vision are three equally important dimensions of my work. Theoretical interest – dancing around the fringe of economics trespassing to sociology, philosophy ... Practical work – The sometimes tiresome task to make money for a living (in banking and reinsurance) helped not to loose touch with the social and economic realities of our time. Presently, I am just doing some work for a local exchange system.

What is your relation to Utopia?

I became infected with a utopian virus about sixteen or seventeen years ago. This inspired much of the research I carried out since then. I think that the term “utopia” has become so general during the last century, that it often serves as an attribute to whatever a writer, a scientist, an artist presents, a nice option for clever marketing experts. In order to tackle the challenges of our time it is necessary to revive the tradition developed by Thomas Morus and others and step outside existing frameworks – the vision I present can be found under the heading “social fiction”.

Summary

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Summary.

This essay is underpinned by understandings and hopes which together suggest the evolution of a contextually relative Utopia of present day relevance.

Predicated on the acceptance that ‘all flesh is grass’, this search for Utopia believes that humans are individual and unique but, identity has relevance only in an interdependent “web of life”. The borderless nature of our LifeSupport of Air, Water and Soil ensures that beggar and superpower are equal in their codependence on the LifeSupport, common to the existence of Plants, Animals and Humans in Utopia.

As we move into a Utopian Age of the Intellect, an androgynous, complex-survival perspective all men, women and children are able to assume, will overcome anarchic collapse of the world’s delicate but reformable social structures and attempt redress of global ecological devastation. To this extent a ‘pre-position’ within the Preamble of the United Nations Charter is suggested as a vital precursor to peace, establishing the complete relevance of this body, to an interconnected web of nations on one Planet. Finding Utopia means using our Intellect to replicate the complex pattern of life’s basic mechanisms of cooperation, feedback, self organisation, and emergence, at human grassroots and institutional levels, to create self sustaining, coevolving behaviour at global levels.

Under an overarching ecological perspective, I have tied concepts from Complexity science to a global “exploration” for a Utopia. By anchoring to the United Nations through a Utopian Vortical Web (UVW) of Global Conversation and Celebration, we continue the search for a Utopian ecologically Conscious Civilization, to detangle some of the most pressing problems today. One of these is “terrorism” which, in some ways, is driven by a “Frankenstein” search for its own Utopia.

My essay is titled:
The Utopian Vortical Web - Living On A Borderless Planet With A Diminishing Natural World.

It is presented in 5 parts:

Part 1. Introduction, Context and Rationale – for a Utopia of a Conscious Civilization.

Part 2. The Utopian Society of the Mind.
2.1. Search for new understandings in a Utopia of the Mind.
2.2. A 21st century charter acknowledging the centrality of The Natural World.

Part 3. The Utopian Vortical Web.
3.1. A Utopian Conversation
3.2. A Utopian Celebration
3.3. Utopian Consciousness

Part 4. Conclusion, Reference/Short Bibliography, Dedication.

Part 5. Appendix. (1.-3.)

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Who are you?

I was born an Anglo Indian and raised in Eastern And Western traditions. In the "scattering of people" I came to Australia and worked as a teacher, in commerce, then a student of Social Ecology at the University of Western Sydney. Persistent, realistic, optimistic and unafraid, I seek understanding of the complexity of our life on Earth - not so much of Why are we here? as How might we remain? As we move into a post-industrial future, beyond technology and the present economy, Education is now to be designated in terms of survival and therefore in terms of Ecology, Environment and EcoLiteracy.

What is your relation to Utopia?

My interest in Utopia includes but rises above the political, economic, social and cultural landscape of today - to the level of the LifeSupport of humans - the Natural World. My relation to Utopia is to create the "cosmos of consciousness" that we already have a Paradise on Earth. The cornerstone to keeping this Paradise is a new millennium change to the Preamble of the UN Charter, to acknowledge the primacy of the LifeSupport of the planet. This nuanced change to the UN´s guiding document will declare that beggar and superpower are equally dependent on the elements of the LifeSupport - which, like disease, poverty, terrorism, peace and goodwill, recognize no borders. The new benchmark referent for the UN - the LifeSupport of the planet - will permit a revised understanding of security. The most important body in the UN will not be the Security Council but the Environment Council - to protect the PRECURSOR to peace and security - the LifeSupport of a borderless planet. Then the start of a planetary Utopian Conversation and Celebration, to generate a Vortex of Awareness. Awareness of our common, borderless ecological predicament and of our ability to do something about it, by our global citizenship of earth´s largest organisation/organism - the United Nations. This ecological search for Utopia is the search for the way in which we can keep this Paradise before we lose it altogether.

Summary

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”Phantasma-gloria”©
Man as a Template for the Ideal Society

by David C. Skousen, April 2004


Summary
The human body is the model Utopia. Within each body are ”holograms”
(patterns) that find expression in business, science and government.
Focusing on both the individual and his motivations, Phantasma-gloria
shows how the same laws that benefit every cell, can be used to benefit
every member in an ideal society.
With human organization as the template, all that is required to begin
building an ideal society is mutual caring‹the more the better!
Also discussed is human nature, an enigma for any cooperative venture.
Concluding this general theory are ”Thoughts for the Thoughtful,” to
widen our perception of what is required to create the wonderful dream of
the ages: ”peace on earth, good will toward men.” (”Man” represents both
genders in this essay.)



Table of Contents
Summary
Introduction
Chapter 1 What is the Ideal Society?
Chapter 2 The Village Doctor
Chapter 3 Is Human Nature Good or Bad?
Chapter 4 Three Pillars
Chapter 5 The Model
Chapter 6 ”Phantasma-Gloria”‹Applying the Model
Chapter 7 Outline of the Ideal Society
Chapter 8 Shall We Implement This New Society Now?
Chapter 9 Practical Reality
Chapter 10 Summary of the Theory of Phantasma-gloria
Appendix Thoughts for the Thoughtful
more the better!

Also discussed is human nature, an enigma for any cooperative venture.
Concluding this general theory are “Thoughts for the Thoughtful,” to widen our perception of what is required to create the wonderful dream of the ages: “peace on earth, good will toward men.” (“Man” represents both genders in this essay.)

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Who are you?

My goal in life is to help bring peace to man. After receiving a university degree in history and political science, and then an M.S. in public administration, I taught in private and public schools before doing research and writing for the National Center for Constitutional Studies. I retired after 10 years of writing in the natural health field as an herbalist. While living a "natural" lifestyle, I also compose music and poetry. My wife (Judith) and I have seven children born at home, home-schooled, and somehow we are out of debt. My ancestors come from Denmark and Great Britain. I became aware of this contest Feb. 8, so I have been very busy and appreciate this opportunity to share thoughts from a lifetime.

What is your relation to Utopia?

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