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Chapter Five

Liberty & Property for All
 

                        From Here to Utopia.  Webster's defines utopia as "any visionary scheme or system for an ideally perfect social order; any place, state, or situation of ideal perfection."

                 Most think it unattainable, and the very word is Greek for "land of nowhere." But why must it be unattainable? Apparently most of us mistakenly believe there is something in our nature that prevents us from creating a utopia, and so it is no surprise that underlying all utopian proposals is the idea that it will have to be imposed on us by authority if it is ever to happen.

                Among the best known are Plato's Republic (ca. 375 B.C.) which is to be led by a benevolent dictator assisted in some unexplained way by a committee of  philosophers who will live communally and avoid wealth and power; Thomas More's Utopia (l716) is an imaginary island on which all live under an authoritarian economic and political system which, among other things, prohibit private property; and Burrhus Frederick Skinner's Walden Two (1948) is an authoritarian scheme based on certain scientific assumptions about human nature.

                 Earthly Utopia. In this chapter we say that the creation of Utopia: Earth is one of the very purposes of our cosmic evolution. We even go on say that all of us are well on our way toward it. If the real Cleopatra were to live in Hollywood today, her quality of life would be far better than anything ancient Egypt could possibly have offered. Today hundreds of millions of us live better than the kings and queens of old. The reader is asked to seriously consider this: We will never reach Utopia unless we celebrate those who are ahead of us on the path toward it—their yachts, multi-million dollar homes, and especially their freedoms. Yes many of them are jerks like the rest of us, but we need to make the poor richer, not the rich poorer.

                The Nature of Nature.  First and foremost any utopia would be completely in alignment with nature, so let us list some of the basic characteristics of nature which might apply.

1. Variation. Evolution gives first of variation. Every flower, every snowflake, every person is different, no two being the same. Thus there will always be the few at the extremes of the Bell Curve who, either by their very existence or by what they say, might provide insight as to what is possible.

2. Independence. Living Systems are by their very nature independent of each other, independence being the essence of randomness. To be sure, living systems depend upon one another, but one system need not cease to function solely because of the demise of another. If living systems were totally dependent evolution would be nothing but a chain reaction and life would have ended long ago when one system failed and all others followed. In addition, within a living system independence exists at all levels. But order will occur randomly within that randomness too. Consequently living systems consist firstly of independent sub-systems and secondarily of dependent sub-systems, yet with all functioning as a whole.

3. Multiple Causality. In physical systems one cause will result in only one effect. In living systems, however, one effect may be determined by more than one cause. Human personality, for example, may be caused simultaneously by genetics, environment, childhood experiences, random events, etc.

4. Survival of the Most Adaptable. Evolution rejects rigid systems and stasis. Survival of the fittest is survival of the most adaptable.

5. Cycles. In physical systems cycles are mostly orderly with some randomness within, e.g., seasons and TV signals. In living systems cycles are mostly random with some order within: brain waves, historical periods,  long-term stock-market cycles.

6. Nature is Neutral.  Nature gives us disease and earthquakes along with great ideas and a beautiful planet. Nevertheless there persists the belief that something is good just because it arises from nature, e.g.. "all natural." There also persists the belief that something is bad if it consists of man-made chemicals. But nature is neutral in nature: with some chemicals healthful some harmful—man-made or not.

                 Ancient Limits

                We gods are naturally utopian, but at present our path is littered with too much work, too much consumption, too many possessions. As a way of furthering our evolution toward utopia, let's slow down and do less, and continually try to do what we truly want. Of course there will be failures among our successes, so we must after each failure return to the path truly underfoot. At the same time we must continually try to avoid actions such as war and violence in order to bring about what we truly want to do. Instead let's continually try to be who and what we truly are while we seek our daily goals, continually trying to stay on or return to our true path. For example, instead of trying to eliminate inflation let's create an economic system which utilizes it in a healthy way. In such a system the more we pay for things the better off all buyers and sellers will be. The utopian seeks a system that accommodates all human wants and needs.

                Freedom and Property for All.    All gods are equal in one sense—our rights, so we should take it as self-evident that all individuals have the right to complete access to whatever is necessary for the conduct of a happy and healthy life. But "all" does not apply to everything we do. There are many exercises of personal rights which impinge on the rights of others. All exercises of personal rights would be limited to private areas where they would not impinge on the rights of others.

                At the same time, human gods inevitably form groups. Daily life is a pull and tug between individuals and organizations. Utopians would understand that, "what goes around comes around." History has shown time and again that any attempt on the part of one organization to control or eliminate another results in the perpetuation of the same.

                 The Self As Sovereignty.  The self is first and foremost its own government. We must accept the basic truth that we are citizens of the universe because the individual is the pinnacle of evolution. Utopian government can exist only at the consent of all its constituent selves. On the way to utopia all selves would declare themselves citizens of the universe, if only to insure that no government places itself above any of them.

                Orarchy.  The word orarchy can be found in some nineteenth-century dictionaries. A utopian government systems would, as a general rule, be an orarchy, i.e., a limited government. (Compare to anarchy which means no government.) In an orarchy any government agency must prove itself better able to provide a service than any other type of organization, for example, a corporation. If not, then in our example that service should be provided by a corporation in competition with other corporations. In any case a utopian government would follow the orarchic principle of self-limitation. (See also W. J. Sidis's The Orarch.)

                Supportive Hierarchy. Hierarchy is not in its fundamental nature dysfunctional. The danger lies in its misuse by leaders. The question is simple: "Monkey monarchy or dolphin democracy?" The utopian writers of the past proposed authoritarian hierarchy which forces all to behave in a certain way. But as in history we have evolved away from kings and toward elected leadership, our understanding of utopia has similarly evolved. We now understand that utopia is for the benefit of all. Utopian economic and political systems would be free of the unnatural rigidity of authoritarianism. The next few paragraph offer some more specific proposals to guide our paths.

                The Seventh Generation Rule.  This is used by many Native American nations and could be adopted as a utopian principle. In our utopia all government decisions would take the well-being of the following seven generations into account.

                Utopian Government Responsibilities.  Nature is globally fair by being locally unfair. Nature usually provides one people with surplus and another with deficiency. Government itself may have been born in early times when a people collectively stored food for future emergencies. It may safely be said that government exists to insure the basic necessities for the successful evolution of all of its individual participants (citizens). Needs hierarchies have been suggested by psychologists such as Abraham Maslow. Basic utopian government responsibilities also include the guarantee of justice in every aspect of utopian life.

                Utopian Government Structures.  Governments proliferate because of our tendency to form groups. Present-day macro-to-micro governments could, over time and by slow operations, be replaced by more natural micro-to-macro structures. Nature builds complex structures on simple ones. Some governing bodies could be outgrowths of ancient tribal structures. A presidency, for example, might be a rotating position for the purposes of legislative efficiency and have no power in and of itself. This is the present structure of the United Nations Security Council which is modeled on the Iroquois Federation.

                Utopian governments would also provide the few services which function better as government monopolies than corporations. Evolving out of the present public utility concept—monopolies owned by everyone—such services as national defense, national parks, disaster-relief organizations, etc,, would be provided by the government. But it must be shown that the government can provide such services better than a non-government corporation or entrepreneur could.

                As a rule of thumb, Utopian governments seek to build up a surplus of funds, i.e, be profitable. Social services could also be provided by competitive private companies except where experience and experimentation show that government will do it best. Government might also sell those goods and services that might be provided at lower cost by temporarily unprofitable technologies; however, those that eventually become profitable would be converted to competitive private corporations. As a monitoring device, government competes with randomly selected private corporations to keep them sharp.

                Technology Assists Politics.  The electorate, not their representatives, would vote on most issues in electronic town meetings Elected representatives would discuss and debate questions for the benefit of the electorate. On special major issues, more than simple majority would be required. At the start of each season, the electorate would determine which decisions are special and which could be left to the representatives. Any decisions made by the representatives would require unanimous consent, as in present-day jury decisions. Any special decisions made by the electronic electorate at large would require a 2/3 majority.

                Candidates: Lottery Selection Then Election Campaign.  In general, Utopians would prefer to keep personality out of politics, but with some exceptions. One way would be to assign positions of power in an unbiased way. Aristotle was probably the first to suggest that government leaders and representatives be selected by lottery. Oddly, random selection may be the best way to find the best candidates in the long run. Governments already have used lotteries for military draft, mortgage and property distribution, and as sources of considerable revenue. Candidates for jury duty are randomly selected. Twelve are selected from among them. Scientific studies and experiments very often consist of random samples to insure reliability. In 1621, the Pilgrims were unable to decide on the fairest way to assign each of their number a homestead. Wampanoag sachem Massasoit—whose real name was Ousemequin (Yellow Feather)—suggested to the Englishmen that they use lottery selection to assign property rights. The idea worked well. The present unit of real estate is the "lot."

                One Utopian model would have voters consider randomly selected candidates and then decide who will fill each lob. A job can be left unfilled if a majority of the voters feel none was qualified. There would be no "winners" and "losers.
Candidates would be expected to complete their contribution of their talent and time to society.

                Election campaigns against incumbents could be federally funded so as to give the challenger a fair shot. At the same time, the challenger must clearly unseat the incumbent by getting, say, 4/7 of the vote. Yet, Utopians would likely avoid overemphasis on middle-of-the-road government. Average is average. Those compulsively average are dysfunctional. To them, many truths seem too radical. Election campaigns could be financed by small contributions of 100 unis or less. This might prevent voting with money. that is, making campaign contributions so big they influence votes.

                Government Structures Temporary.  When their service is no longer needed, Utopian government structures change enough of their structure and operations to perform a new service. Thus, government declines in size over the long-long term.

               Humane Military Systems.  Possibly, military structures are the most transformable. They can be used for wiping out hunger, growing new forests, environmental cleanup, flood prevention construction. Convert come military cervices to self-supporting public-service corporations. 

                Encourage Utopian Experiments. Encourage the buildup of utopian communities and not oppose them as in the past. From Zeno to the Amish, disempowerment has too often been directed at religious communities who wanted to be self-sufficient and live by their own utopian principles. Utopians would encourage privately supported experimental communities such as Biosphere, Soleri's Arcosanti, et al. News media should supportively criticize. These would include, but not be limited to, political, religious, scientific, social-research, therapeutic, artistic, hobbyist-enthusiasts groups, etc. In general, Utopian principles support the formation of self-supporting private groups and clubs as long as no public funds are involved. Utopians would prefer open social systems quite different from those which confine communities within a logic that defines individual expression.

                End Make-Wrong Politics.  The adversarial 'model has been overused and overextended. America has become compulsively adversarial. Utopian principles would preclude disempowering an incumbent. He or she should be assisted, not made wrong. After they select candidates, they get out of the candidates' way and let them do their jobs. Participants in political debates could be required to argue in favor of their opponents' view for a period of time. They could be judged on how well they understand their opponent's positions. There is nothing new about this idea.

                TV and radio news-talk shows could do this as well. The news media would be the umpires and should not inject their words and views between quotation marks as if they are nreporting the words of others.

                Utopian Capitalism.  Economic systems are the lifeblood of Utopia, and expenses are the lifeblood of economic Systems. The following hypothetical case illustrates the New Capitalism: Company B buys materials from Company A. Company A charges Company B based on a fixed percentage of Company B's profits. If Company B makes more money this year, then A will also receive more from B for the purchased Items. A's success will spread through A's network of companies because A too will be charged by other companies based on its increased profits. Success will synergetically filter through the the entire economic system.

                We already have an early-stage utopian capitalism. Our governments take 50% of our earnings. The way we are most likely to get to economic utopia is to have some people, likely the rich, get there first. They will appear to be unfairly blessed. The poor will naturally resent such inequity. But all of us, including the super-rich, have a natural right of access to utopia. We differ only on the means.

                Utopians would likely avoid narcissistic foe-based capitalism in favor of the more cooperative new capitalism where success is synergetic and wealth & power cooperative and creative.

                The Mahony Curve could enable corporations to recognize the point at which more is not better. Neither would more personal goods and more personal property be better--the Curve also applies to individuals. Nevertheless, high quantity can be desirable at times.
Most utopian-capitalist corporations would "think smaller" and be owned by individuals, families, employees, or combinations thereof. Business decisions would be unanimous whenever possible. The purpose of competition between corporations would be for healthy growth, not for destruction of opponents. Competition within a corporation would be for purposes of personal and organizational excellence. There would be no wealth-accrual limit except where dysfunction results.

                Deflation would eventually become the rule as the patient recovers. (See chart of American business history prior to the Great Compulsion Era, Appendix 1). For example, as more computers are produced their prices go down.

                Utopian governments could follow Mazlow's Needs Hierarchy, for example, and make sure each of Its elements are made available for ALL. Food and tools necessary for basic survival would be free to all. Naturally, there will be a small percentage or those who do not want to work. Nature usually provides rare individuals who do not take part in the larger society, an "exception for every rule." They are an evolutionary checking mechanism and a gift to the rest of society. Many utopian proposals have included a service class. In Utopia, however, the only service class would be government employees who would be esteemed by society at large for their service.

                Property for All.  Most Utopians would be property owners. Those who are not are so by choice.

                Maximum size would be determined not by government but by the earned and morally amassed wealth of each owner. Properties would likely vary considerably in size. There would be no upper limits unless dysfunctional. Minimum lot size could be, say, 1/5 of an acre for houses. Apartments could be, say, 2000 cu. ft. per person. No uniformity would be required except as a neighborhood desires. Government would not be permitted to cross the boundaries of an individual's property except in extreme circumstances.

                We can begin to turn over abandoned urban and suburban dwellings to tenant ownership. As early as 1932. the following article appeared in the New York Times.

                Peerhaqps utopians would create a version of the American 1932 Federal Home Loan Bank Board to prevent foreclosures and evictions of unemployed persons. The Board issued bonds to pay the mortgages of unemployed persons. Homeowners resumed repayment when re-employed.

                Work.  Utopians would not work more hours to earn the money to buy food and fuel than they would work if they simply gathered the food and fuel themselves. No one would have a second job just because one is underpaid at work. The top-paid people share their bonus money with the least-paid employees. The top-paid would get good bonuses and yet still be highly paid. And this goal is a realistic one because it has already happened in a few companies.

                A workday would consist of the minimum time required by nature for basic personal survival plus a minimum amount of work for the benefit of the community. The total workweek would be approximately twenty hours. [Most work would be rotated, as was suggested by utopian Charles Fourier in the 1830s. No one would do the same task for more than an hour per day unless that is his or her preference.

                Utopian entrepreneurs who create jobs for others my want to pay a tax that replaces their required community work.

                Monetary System Based on Work.  The Utopian monetary unit, the uni, would be valued in terms of the time it takes to earn it. We propose that one uni = one hour of work. The uni would have an easily understandable value when one purchases goods or makes business deals.

                There could be one hourly pay rate but Utopian economic systems could retain the natural hierarchical difference in the desirability of one type of work over another. Since there will likely always be some jobs that are easier or more rewarding or both. one could work one's way "up" to the most self-fulfilling job. But the pay could be the same.

                Personal amassing of money would be achieved through entrepreneurial projects. One could also earn money through private entrepreneurial projects and then pay a fair and relatively small tax.

                The uni could be a coin made of recycled plutonium that has been rendered harmless. There could be trillions of such coins. using up ail of the world's plutonium supply to mint them. This would prevent the buildup of nuclear weapons and every coin would serve as a reminder.

                Price = Value.  Utopians avoid the secrecy involved in most Pre-Utopian business transactions. They would avoid today's surreal economy where prices only rarely reflect the actual value of goods. Take, for example, the sale. The buyer must always beware of withheld information about what he or she is buying.

                The uni-hour: worked is one way for buyer to determine value of good true unit pricing. Begin to think or present-day dollars in terms or how long we worked for them, especially when shopping.)

                List Price = Sale Price.   Bargains and sales are far too often misrepresentation.. They are usually only recently raised prices reduced back to their original price.

                Taxation.  Prior to the need for taxation, each Utopian pays for govt. services as needed. This greatly reduces the complexity of the tax system. In Utopia all earn essential money from their twenty-hour workweek. Entrepreneurs would work no more than ten additional hours a week as taxation or pay a tax. There is no other taxation necessary because most government services are purchased as needed by individual consumers.

                Education.  Early education would be accomplished at home as much as possible, often with the help of visiting professionals. Utopian childhood social life outside of the home could gather around pre-kindergarten mental and physical athletic events from chess to chase at nearby elementary schools--but not required. Athletic personal stretch, not compulsive exercise or coaching.

                There must be reform in academia. As a first step, the public must be educated as to just what college degrees mean, especially professional degrees. Scholarly pursuits and the preparation for it are already considerable pay. A next step is to reduce the Influence of Academe. Universities must move toward a day where they are financially self-supporting--once more. Justification by authority would be avoided. Students are taught to be wary of Masters of Sound Profound.

                Emotion Education.  The truth is the basic aim of therapy. Therapies which seek the truth can be important guides to personal development. Most are are valuable for some part of the population. Each would seek to find the one or two that work for him or her. The random cycles of daily life will mean occasional emotional difficulties even in a utopia where persons are generally happy, hence the need for at least some emotion education from others. (In the meantime, all those who need help with compulsions and addictions could freely seek therapy or recovery groups and/or books. Nearly everyone has compulsion. and addictions.) Another purpose of emotion education is to support the healthy continuance of utopian life as it is being achieved. (That's now.)

                Psychochemical Utopias. The many prescription mood elevators, and marijuana, could be permitted for those over an agreed upon legal age. It would be under the supervision or educational psychotherapists. There could be license exams for euphoric substance use. One can design personal utopian vision exercises as part of personal psychotherapy.

                Qualitative Logic.    Life's equations are often in approximate arithmetic. We very often make decisions with approximate units and solve problem: with imprecise weighting. Likert or not, we weigh priorities in Likert scales "from one to five" etc. Off subject, but interesting: Benjamin Franklin left a legacy to both Boston and Philadelphia public schools in his will, using compound interest so that when the last part was recently released it was a sizable chunk of change.

                 Utopia = 'Land of Nowhere' = Cyberspace. Technology is not by its nature dystopian. Like nature, it is unbiased. Tools in themselves are neutral as regards morality. Any tool can be used for evil purposes. Blaming or praising the Internet is like blaming or praising the pen. Don't outlaw tools because a building collapsed. And vice versa. Even bombs could someday have a good use such as the destruction of a planet-threatening meteor.

                Dwellings. Utopian abodes would have a minimum size according to a healthy persons-per-volume ratio, perhaps 1 per 7500 cubic feet. Many might prefer Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome homes. They are very efficient in terms of heating, cooling, lighting, strength, construction costs etc. Cooperative neighborhood home building would be popular a with, for example, Habitat for Humanity. The reader should envision a utopian dwelling--a mental picture of his present dwelling plus many improvements

                Many utopian homes will be places of business and education. Each will be connected to the world data stream with fone/computer/cable-TV/recorder home electronix complex. Computer smoke alarm could be connected directly to fire station and homeowner's car. These devices are part of the larger family pocket-phone communication system. These also might include a tiny 'lojack' beeper safely and painlessly implanted in children to aid in finding them if missing.

                Transportation.  Solar-electric pedal-cars could provide exercise while driving. Most Utopian would prefer moderate exercise over totally-passive driving. In-car compact disks could informationally and musically support pedal-driving. (Use of present-day solar cells needs to be reviewed in terms of the environmental costs. Many highways would have data strips embedded in each traffic lane for computer-assisted driving.

                Electronic Communities and Clusters.  An electronic community would b. a group of Utopians who voluntarily connect for some agreed-upon purpose. An electronic cluster would be a randomly assigned group. Each Utopian knows that he or she needs both community and e cluster. One cannot take the responsibility for all personal educational decisions. Specialists are needed as well. Many Utopian families would hive computer bulletin boards connecting cousins and aunts, et al. Local modem libraries provide CD-ROMS of encyclopedias. dictionaries and libraries of novels. useful household technical data. such as energy conservation Lips. etc. Personally controlled information and entertainment systems would proliferate. Humans are always hungry for information.

                Electronic Voting.  Electronic Town Meetings, monthly, for ill votes. Votes are made from home. All TV channels carry it. The e-town meeting qualifies as an electronic cluster. First and foremost. Utopian governments would insure individual access and control of technology. Science & technology would not be permitted to become excuses for authoritarian schemes and would be recognized for their utter importance to the quality of life and the solution of moral problems. Government uses pre-tested Computer Assisted Decision Making whenever possible.

                Personal Utopian Development.  1. Read all pages linked to the menu of this web book and visit all of the LINKS. 2. Complete a Personal Concept of Utopia Inventory: "What my utopium is like." Over time, fill in more and more detail. This could, over your particular cycle profile, create a good plan for personal utopian development. 3. Transform your home or apartment into a utopium. You've already been doing this. Start by making what you already have actually work. 4. Create weekend vacation utopia. Play may be life's highest purpose. 5. Utopium Town 6. Anonymous Contribution

                The Rook of Rights. This would be a compilation of the many declarations of rights that hive been made throughout history and around the world. It would be considered nationally-protected and would be required reading for high school students. As citizens of the universe, abide by internal government choice, or none at all. Rights are worthy of reverence.

                Rights: The Moral Rules of Godness.  The individual is divine, and the most important political and economic and entity. Liberty is practically sacred because it is so essential for the evolution of our divinity and liberty and economic well being. (See Bill of Rights.) To be sure, we must cooperate with others, but this must be totally voluntary. The boundaries we gods impose on the randomness of our lives with each other must be based on the highest moral principles. The following excerpts could be from such a book.

           Rule I―All Living Things Have Equal Rights. "A right, then, is something to which every individual in the community is morally entitled, and for which that community is entitled to disregard or forcibly remove anything that stands in the way of even a single individual getting it. Rights belong to individuals, and no organisation has any rights not directly derived from those of its members as individuals; and, just as an individual's rights cannot extend to where they will trespass on another individual's rights, similarly the rights of any organisation whatever must yield to those of a single individual, whether inside or outside the organisation. And more than ever is this true of a government (which includes any form of organisation claiming power to control people or their means of living); for this form of organisation exists exclusively to protect the rights of everyone, and has no rights unless it actually does so. Rights,―to sum up―primarily belong to individuals."―W. J. Sidis

            Rule II―Power. No god may force any other god to any action whatsoever. In this new evolutionary stage of government by consent of the governed, we now take it as self-evident that no god has any right to exert power over any other god.

            In this new stage we no longer kneel in submission. We must all walk tall and act with reverence for all others and all things. When reverence of self as god is viewed not as hubris but as moral, then we will make a great leap in our consciousness.

            Rule III―Wealth. No god ought acquire so much wealth that it unfavorably affects the quality of life of any other god.

            Rule IV―Property. Every god has a right to control a piece of earth sufficient for a quality life. It is wrong for any individual god, or group of gods, to control so much land that others have none for themselves. "Liberty and property for All."

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