An Ideal World

What would an Ideal future society look like?  

This is a immensely complex question, the answer to which will be unrealistic, and potentially subjective. What I think an ideal society will look like may be vastly different from the perspective of someone with different experiences and circumstances. I have done my best to take into account as many varying perspectives as possible, but I can only speak from my knowledge and experience so I apologize for any gaps I have left out & I welcome any feedback. You can reach out to me on instagram @charli3.meeks or by email at charli3.meeks@gmail.com which are both linked in the footer. 

When talking about an ideal future it is bound to seem unrealistic, but that is the point, I am describing a world where the structure and values of society are vastly different. In trying to imagine a world so different to our present, there will certainly be limitations in what is or is not possible and while I have done my best to take these limitations into consideration as well, I encourage you to take it with a grain of salt. 

What are the key aspects of an Ideal society? 

In my version of an ideal society, it takes place when technology has advanced to the point when it has all the capabilities to maintain the infrastructure, organization, and survival of the human race. 

This would mean that robots and technology are in charge of agriculture, producing enough crops to feed every human and then some. Technology can maintain water production and distribution, It can provide electrical production for everyone as well. Technology can create viable infrastructure for everyone, making homes that consider the comfort and individuality of the humans in them, and making parks and community centers that are based on the wants and needs of the communities they are built in. Technology can smoothly transport any products or people across the world sustainably. Product manufacturing is automated with the customization so that any product can be grown, assembled, or manufactured at scale. This allows for the economy and consumerism to continue, without requiring the man power to maintain it. This manufacturing process would be one and the same with the recycling process, taking any old product, splitting it into its raw materials to be used again in new products, and making sure that when any new product is made, it is designed with modularity and reuse in mind. Technology will also provide medical aid, diagnoses, and synthesize treatment for virtually any ailment. 

With technology doing the work in upholding the human races survival, us humans would no longer need to work in order to survive. As there are still products being bought and sold, a form of currency should not be abolished, instead I believe that a Universal Basic Income(UBI) should be put into place, providing everyone with a baseline amount of money to purchase goods and services outside of basic necessities that will be free and considered a human right. 

This means that food and water are free for all. 

This means that healthcare is free for all. 

This means that quality housing are free for all.

This means that electricity and plumbing are free for all. 

I believe that with technology so far advanced we will have overcome natural death. Technology can maintain our cells, brains, and bodies so that they no longer deteriorate with age. Any disease or illness can be cured with medicine that is both natural and synthesized. 

The reason I do not think this will lead to a population problem is that as peoples quality of living rises, they will not have as many children, partly due to technology that enables perfect contraceptives but also because many people will choose to spend their time in other ways.

 This does not mean that people cannot work at jobs, it means they no longer have to, they can choose to do work that is meaningful & important to them, or choose to not work at all. 

What are the values of this society? 

The values of society would be different, in a world where we do not need money or power to live our best lives, the meaning of success would change.

Success would become synonymous with fulfillment & personal satisfaction. The goal is not to make a bunch of money and then retire, the goal is to experience, connect, and create in the way that suits you the most. Work would not have the negative connotations it has today, work would become a word for meaningful play, a time when you focus on your passion, when you are following your bent and leaning into your individuality. 

Side note - With importance placed on individuality I want to clarify that being individual does not mean that you must be different from everyone else simply for the sake of it, it means that you are conscious of what YOU want to do, not succumbing to groupthought.  

Connection and experience would be a priority, with a goal being to experience as many perspectives as you can, which would lead to greater empathy and understanding in social settings. It would also decrease crime and increase mental health as people are more understood by the world around them, and are more equipped to understand themselves. 

Characteristics such as kindness, honesty, and openness would be valued and would be goals to strive for, and would be seen as strength, because they improve your connections with others, building meaningful relationships and sharing meaningful ideas. These conversations and virtues will be seen as just as important as the work someone might do

These values would be instilled in people during education as individuals mature. As children develop they would be taught more about themselves and how to practice introspection, learning how to manage their emotions from a younger age, such as how to deal with anger or frustration in a healthy manner, and how to feel emotions without shame. As well they would learn the difference between the things inside and outside your control, so instead of trying to control their external events they learn to focus on their reactions to those events. 


Children would be taught the value of connection and experience and taught that school is just a jumping off point, to help you learn how to learn, to help you stay curious, and to help you find your own values, and your own fulfillment. It would still teach you the thinking skills intended to be taught in schools today, but the format of the lessons would likely be different. Instead of writing essays and short stories to practice communication skills, you would practice informal conversations, discussing a topic from different angles, problem solving out loud with others, being able to argue, debate, or have differences of opinion with one another without aggression. Learning to separate the disagreement of an idea in a discussion with the disagreement of the person your discussing with. 

As you are educated there would be much more project based learning, where students can pick from any topic/idea/problem and learn about it, experiment with it, write about it, or create something new; whether its a product or piece of art. This would show children from early on that work is not a bad thing, and challenges and adversity in these projects are able to be overcome and can be learned from. I think these self-chosen projects during education are of the upmost importance in this worlds education system. In a time when you are not forced to work in order to survive, finding satisfaction from intrinsic goals, and valuing those goals enough to give it your all and persevere through obstacles and challenges that come up is so important. I also think if you allow young people to chase big lofty goals and projects, they may surprise you with big results, and if not then they will learn so much from the failure. 

What are some aspects of human nature that should be considered? 

This world is strange and different but I want to acknowledge that our human nature will be one thing that will always remain unchanged, I am showing how our society could be structured differently, but the people in them are the same. 

There are five main aspects of human nature that I think should be noted. Those aspects are Narcissism, Competition, Groupthink, Complaining and the Seeking of Ease. 

Narcissism

Narcissism is natural, we all would like to think ourselves more important than anyone else because it is the only perspective we will ever fully understand. Of course we value ourselves more than others, our context is always centered around “me” when we hear any information, our first instinct is to ask how does that effect me? Whenever we make any decision we instictually compare the cost-benefit in relation to ourselves and our lives. I mention this here because in this future world there is a greater emphasis on connection with others, and improving connection with others requires an individual to improve their ability to empathize and understand others. Our initial perspective will eternally remain centered around our personal experience of the world around us, but we can grow our awareness of other peoples perspectives, being able to take into account what you know of their experiences, emotions, and circumstances, and also acknowledging all that we don’t know about them, so we don’t make false assumptions.

Competition

Competition is evolutionary, when resources are limited, we are forced to compete for our share, and the better we do the more likely we are to survive. In this new world however, where survival resources are not limited, we do not have to compete to live, but the evolutionary instinct will remain. We want to be the best because our gator brain constantly tells us that being the best is better. We can still utilize competition as a useful motivator when it is helpful, such as to increase our effort, speed, and perseverence. 

We should be cautious though, competition can bring out aggressive and anxious states within us, so when used in conversations with others it becomes very easy to lose the plot of the discussion, focusing on “winning’ the conversation rather than learning from and with your conversation partner. Valuing connection and fulfillment means that conversations can be understanding and insightful, without devolving into anger. 

 Competition in aspects such as sport should not go away, it is fun, and can bring about the best in ourselves. If we are not competing to survive, it can be healthy. 

Groupthink

Groupthink is when individuals conform their thinking to match the group. We are all suseptible of groupthink from time to time, because it easier not to rock the boat. Groupthink is the primary disruptive of individuality, and when it happens on a large scale, people lose the ability to think for themselves, and only make opinions based on what they think the opinion of the group will be, instead of what they themselves believe. It is perfectly okay to have the same opinion as others, just as long as you are sure that this opinion is truly your own. I do not wish for the values of society to act as enforcers of groupthink, rather they should be seen as a jumping off point for individuals to decide their own values and virtues. In a world where individuality is valued, groupthink is the antithesis, and likely the biggest threat in this society. Freedom of thought will be lost to groupthink because people become far easier to control when they think the same. 

Seeking of Ease

The last aspect of Human Nature that I think is worth mentioning is the seeking of ease, the seeking of ease is our biological imperative to conserve energy, so that we can survive for longer. This ease-seeking and fear of discomfort plays a role in every single decision we make. Every time we compare the cost and the benefit of a choice; discomfort and effort are on the price-tag. This can be incredibly helpful at times, but it can also work directly against us, making a rational decision incredibly difficult to act on. With rational thinking alone it is incredibly difficult to go against  our instinct that seeks ease. When people are no longer forced to work and think in order to survive, will their subsequent boredom push them towards seeking fulfillment? Or will they just become so accustomed to doing nothing that our human race becomes a race of mindless zombies? 

I do not know. 

What is our relationship to our planet like? 

In an ideal society I think it would be absolutely fundamental for our relationship with the planet to be a sustainable one. I think the way we make and consume products will be fully cyclical. There will be no trash cans, there will be no more landfills, and there will be no more oil drilling. Products will be made with the planet in mind, valuing the lives of people, plants and animals over profit margins. Profit is not the goals of a business, but a byproduct of good business. 

I believe that this world will have abolished the concept of trash. Every product is made with reuse and planet in mind. Packaging is biodegradable. Technology is modular and reusable. 

There is a new recycling process, that can take any piece of garbage, from E-waste to furniture, and separate all the metals, glass, and rubbers from all the grown materials such as wood, cotton or a bioplastic. Using this separation process, it then sends anything plant-based towards a composting facility to return its nutrients to the earth, and it sends everything else to be reused and recycled into a new product. This means that the current landfills can be cleaned up, the oceans can be cleaned up, and we can stop contributing to their growth. 


Inside homes there are two bins, direct compost and mixed recycling. Direct compost is for any sort of food waste or entirely plant-based products. Mixed Recycling is for every other product, if it is a mix between plant-based and reusable, then it will be separated at the recycling center so that the compost gets composted and the metals reused. On the labels of every product is a simple logo that specifies the category of reuse and the methods required for the recycling center to return the product to its virgin materials. 

Public transport will be utilized much more by the general populous, for people traveling short distances within cities, walking and biking will be primary modes of transport just as the Dutch and Danish do, for people traveling longer distances; trains, drones, and busses will be used primarily, all using clean forms of energy to do so. We will no longer have 8 lane highways or hours long rush hour traffic, our infrastructure will be built around the people, not the cars, meaning we will not have nearly as much noise pollution, or wasted space devoted to roads. I believe that people who do not want to walk or bike for short distances will also have the option to take a flying one-man drone which people can sit on to get to their destination from a “hub" like a train station or community center. The use of these will limit the people on roads and pathways, as they will be traveling through the air. Once someone has reached their destination the drones will fly back to their hub for someone else to use later. 

By adopting an attitude that treats people and planet equally and aiming to keep the planet healthy in the long run, we will no longer live in fear of climate collapse, our news cycles can cover hopeful topics, such as scientific breakthroughs, stories of kindness, and community progress. With a key shift on sustainable product and service life cycles, we can work with nature, rather than against it. 

How would people spend their time? 

Now that people can spend their time in whatever manner they wish it may seem like society will fall apart without the ideas of work and success to hold everything together. I believe the opposite though, I think that as soon as people are no longer forced to work until old age, people will begin to thrive. Not needing to use stress and fear as a motivator to do work in their lives, they can be motivated by internal goals, rather than external stressors. 


People may create, they may travel, they may become drunks, they may become incredibly bored. My presumption is that once people get bored enough they will find the things that they truly want to spend their time on, finding cool hobbies, starting interesting projects, meeting new people and creating brand new experiences that lie outside of their comfort zones. The lack of work will give everyone the time to do more of whatever they wish without such strict societal expectations to be met. 


This new age will, I believe, spark a new renaissance, with more creativity, inventions, and discoveries being made and found by people throughout the globe. As our brainpower is diverted away from work and survival, we have more time and freedom to be creative, to think about new things, and to experience the moment exempt from distraction. 

Fulfillment 

I think the goal of every life should be fulfillment. 

This does not necessarily mean total happiness 24/7 but focusing on your path in life, and resting easily in the knowledge you are giving your best effort towards acting virtuous, maximizing your potential, and leading a life that you can look back on in old age without regret. 

In this society I believe that acting virtuous will be a key part in our fulfillment, being kind to yourself and others, facing challenges with courage, having trust in yourself and your abilities, respecting your morals and doing your best to act in honesty & in good faith at all times. 

While acting virtuous, individuals will aspire to maximize their own potential in the ways that suit them, aiding in community progress, gaining knowledge and skills and putting them into practice in a way that can help as many people as possible. Understanding themselves and the world around them, while utilizing their own unique perspective and experiences, will enable people to chase meaningful goals and clarify the path they are on and the path they want to be on in their lives. 

Aligning your virtues and goals in a way that makes the best use of your limited time on this planet means that you can live life forever in the present moment. Not aiming to live a perfect life, instead aiming to live your own best life, spending your time and attention towards what is most important to yourself. Living your own best life will enable people to look back on the past with pride, minimizing regret with the knowledge that at all moments they did what they felt was best at the time, using the information that they had in that moment. 


Following your path. Acting with virtue. Using your best judgement of how to spend your time and energy. These three things will allow any individual to be fulfilled, affecting not only themselves but all the other individuals they reach in their lives as well. 

Best lives

In a world without survival stress, without monetary stress, in a society that values virtue and connection above all else, individuals are enabled to live their best lives. 

Traveling in ways that benefit everyone & the planet. Making and consuming products in a way that benefits everyone & the planet. Experiencing the world and gaining as much perspective as you can from all others you meet. Having meaningful conversations about problems you face while living your life; sharing ideas and insights about the world and the people in them; growing your understanding of yourself, your path, and the world around you. 

Acting with kindness, honesty, and courage to the best of your ability. Taking on tasks that are valuable to your own growth and the well beings of others. Thinking creatively in overcoming obstacles in the view that all obstacles are more than just adversity, they are opportunities for growth; whether in skills or character. 

Understanding your path and your place in the world. Trying new things, accepting discomfort, and learning from any failure. People can be fulfilled when they know where they aim to be, and are clear of what the next step is and how they can manage themselves in new or difficult circumstances. 


This world may not be a realistic one, but the society I have described is not out of the realm of possibility. I believe that everyone does better, when every individual aims to do their best as well. No one is perfect, and no society will be perfect either, but focusing on progress & virtue, are steps that we can all take to bring our world a little closer to an ideal one.