What would your ideal society look like? What would your ideal life be like? I think I would be a lot less suicidal if society and my personal life wasn't such a mess.
Obviously I'd prefer never having been born in the first place. But since I was - and I'm assuming you were too, if you're reading this - let's hypothetically say suicide is not an option (ie you're in a position where your chosen method is not feasible or there is some other precluding factor, such as that pesky survival instinct). There are so many things I would want to be different that I've no idea where to begin. It feels impossible. But here goes. Warning, there will be political opinions ahead.
If I could change everything about society, for instance through magical dictatorship, I would eradicate the concept of money (or somehow reduce its salience in society). People would barter, or trade services or products. In this way, everyone would have to learn a skill, and the concept of minimum wage would become obsolete. It would take time to sort things out, but I think that such a society would be happier and more productive when treated like people rather than robots. People can build robots that do particular rote tasks, such as retail and factory work. Instead of cities, we would have smaller communities, with a democratic sort of leadership process. Officials (both who lead each district in a hands-on way, and those who represent each district in a province or country-wide manner) would be chosen every year or so, perhaps with varying times for varying positions, through votes that would be proctored or moderated (can't think of the word) by independent volunteers in such a way that minimises conflict of interest (eg if you live in district A and your relatives live in district C, you - average citizen Zarayah, Amanda, or Rajesh - moderate the vote count of district B). This society is built on the principles of unity and sustainability, leaving the planet better than how we found it, and respect for bodily autonomy - acknowledging that it is futile and a wasteful battle of wills trying to micromanage individuals.
Rather than focusing on exploiting foreign peoples and grabbing as much profit and land as possible, my country (and ideally all countries, but let's face it, you can't have it all) would focus on improving quality of life for all its citizens. It would create thousands of jobs via building bicycle and pedestrian pathways. With the smaller communities, people would be more united and it would be easier to keep track of everyone to reduce the number of those who 'fall through the cracks' and get help to those who need it. In a big city, it's easy to get lost, and once you finally find assistance, far too often people get shuttled from one waiting list to another. With a more collaborative approach by the experts in healthcare (eg your GP, pain specialist, bone/ENT/neuro doc etc, psychiatrist, and therapist all talk to each other AND you), people could find treatment that actually helps them, whilst staying with allies that know and support them (if you've ever had to switch providers or get reacquainted with a new therapist, you know what I'm talking about). Of course, with a more in-depth and individualised approach to treatment, doctors will need to take on fewer patients. We will need more doctors and treatment specialists of all sorts. Thus, we will discard the current MO - ie, we will no longer artificially control the number of applicants by declining those med students seats. Rather, those with scores above a particular limit, and who pass an interview with current doctors, can all go on to med school.
We decriminalise if not legalise all substances, including barbiturates (think Netherlands) and respect that it is the individual's choice what they do to themselves. There are self-directed euthanasia facilities (think Belgium) where people have access to professional support (imagine a world where that phrase doesn't seem like a fantastic joke) literally until their last breath, counselling if desired, that utilise a waiting period and a team of mental health experts to evaluate their request. We end mandatory minimum sentences and court-ordered psychiatric medication, and begin to evaluate 'criminal' or otherwise deviant acts on an individual basis. We cut down on the number of people we send to prison; only the most dangerous and horrible people who have had multiple chances to prove themselves and failed should be there. And even then, they should have the possibility of parole and opportunities to better themselves during their sentence. We increase the support for finding jobs post-incarceration and give convicts training so they can turn their lives around once they leave. To fight stigma, perhaps a quota of diversity could be instituted (eg x number of ex-convicts, recent immigrants, those with disabilities). People with different viewpoints bring a variety of strengths and creative solutions that are unfortunately overlooked due to them being a 'liability' or not as optimal a candidate as a company would like. In addition to catching (actual) criminals, police catch people - especially young people and ex-convicts - doing good things and reward them.
We improve public transportation but private vehicles are still a thing. There will naturally be less of them because of better biking pathways, smaller communities, and better public transportation. All vehicles are sustainably powered (eg using electricity / solar panels, methane, or battery charged by physical activity). I'm sure there are other innovations of which I'm unaware. We decriminalise if not legalise abortion and guns. Those who want an abortion will get one whether or not it's legal; but if it's illegal, they have unnecessary risk and shame to contend with. Likewise, the bad guys will get guns anyhow, so it's best if everyone can protect themselves. People who have committed violent crimes and known abusers should obviously not get guns, and there should be a waiting period and limit on the sort of gun people can get.
Instead of being brainwashing and babysitting services, schools will teach useful information and life skills. They will teach the basics of reading and writing (via history so that a separate class for that is not needed; ie combine social studies and language arts), basic mathematics and the various sciences. Beyond primary school, once students pass literacy and maths skills exams, rather than more of the same, secondary school will resemble vocational school. There will be classes such as music, art, psychology of relationships (some people naturally intuit how to get along with others but not everyone can recognise red flags of an abusive partner, or vice versa, how to trust people and build healthy relationships), foreign languages (or maybe consolidate the world's languages because it seems preposterous that there are so many? I'm just salty that I only know one language and was too depressed / lazy to become fluent in another one), have a community involvement or volunteering class, bring back shop (includes carpentry, engineering, electrician basics, metal/woodworking) and cooking, and instead of gym class, there will be physically intensive classes such as agriculture, animal husbandry, and survival skills (includes swimming, CPR/first aid, identification of various poisonous versus edible wild plants, and basics typically taught in Boy Scouts or similar). Those who express interest (and all can take an aptitude test depending if the district's school wishes to require such a test or not) can go on to university, where the number of 'core' courses will be reduced to the essentials so that students can spend more time in real-world scenarios such as internships and apprenticeships. Instead of brushing everything aside as 'kids will be kids', or 'boys will be boys', teachers take a proactive approach when they see or suspect bullying. There is some sort of social after-school programme that integrates antisocial kids into the community.
I don't claim to have it all figured out. I'm just spitballing here; this is my vision of a fantasy society. In my ideal personal life, I would live in this sort of society, as sustainably as possible. I think there is something to learn from everyone - why not take the best of the 'olden days' and the best of modern times? We can use technology to make our lives better. I personally would want to spend less time online and more time doing something that physically makes a difference, but I can't imagine living without music or the internet, nor would I want to. Being able to connect to people all across the world is an incredible gift and I want to continue doing that. In my fantasy life, I would travel. Not to the extent of living in hotels - but seeing how other cultures live, and being part of them for some time. I'd live in a small community, where I know most of the people or at least recognise their faces, and my household would consist of a dog and a significant other and maybe an adopted or foster child or two. You ever watch those 'tiny house' videos? Those that have solar panels and are largely self-sustaining? I'd want to do something like that. Maybe not quite as tiny, but the idea of building my living space with my own hands and growing my own food excites me. Independent and self-sustainable. I'd feel a sense of ownership, pride, and dignity in knowing that I tangibly contributed to my surroundings. It would be really fucking cool to raise some goats and chickens too. I would want to make music (definitely learn guitar and DAW such as Ableton - collaborate with others too), maybe write fiction and poetry, go into journalism. Perform in theatre. Design research studies, conduct and write about them. I don't fucking know. There are so many POSSIBILITIES.
Of course, none of this is remotely possible. Where to even begin? I'm a dropout failing through my university course (yes, I somehow got into university, thanks to the confusion that the pandemic wrought my equivalency exams were postponed and eventually made moot); I have no credentials whatsoever. To do anything I mentioned I'd have to undertake some sort of training course which would take many months if not years. I've had a handful of jobs, most of them summer positions, none of them really 'real' or 'important' - eg, I currently work in fast food. It's been about eight months, which is the longest I've ever held a job. Throughout writing this, I've felt anger - nay, rage - at the current state of society (for fuck's sake, how can I prattle on like this when Russia and Ukraine are AT WAR WITH EACH OTHER and the rest of the world's government isn't much better) and at myself for not having the skills I mentioned and then despondency and despair regarding the aforementioned. When I think about the magnitude and impossibility of improving society and getting my shit together, it's so much easier to just give up. As difficult as it is to kill oneself, changing one's life is even harder. I wish I had the strength to do either one.
I don't know what to do. I feel like I will explode. I know cutting is 'bad' and it doesn't help long term, but in the short term it helps me release these feelings of tension and stress. I feel like a caged animal. I'm somewhat seriously debating running away, maybe going to a commune (where would I find one of those?) and starting an entirely different life off the grid. I may as well be dead from how my life is now. Why not do something radical and spontaneous? But how? Fuck. It's terrifying. Every option I foresee, for lack of a more poetic term, sucks. I need to get out of here.
What are your thoughts? I know I wrote an essay. Thank you for even reading it.
Obviously I'd prefer never having been born in the first place. But since I was - and I'm assuming you were too, if you're reading this - let's hypothetically say suicide is not an option (ie you're in a position where your chosen method is not feasible or there is some other precluding factor, such as that pesky survival instinct). There are so many things I would want to be different that I've no idea where to begin. It feels impossible. But here goes. Warning, there will be political opinions ahead.
If I could change everything about society, for instance through magical dictatorship, I would eradicate the concept of money (or somehow reduce its salience in society). People would barter, or trade services or products. In this way, everyone would have to learn a skill, and the concept of minimum wage would become obsolete. It would take time to sort things out, but I think that such a society would be happier and more productive when treated like people rather than robots. People can build robots that do particular rote tasks, such as retail and factory work. Instead of cities, we would have smaller communities, with a democratic sort of leadership process. Officials (both who lead each district in a hands-on way, and those who represent each district in a province or country-wide manner) would be chosen every year or so, perhaps with varying times for varying positions, through votes that would be proctored or moderated (can't think of the word) by independent volunteers in such a way that minimises conflict of interest (eg if you live in district A and your relatives live in district C, you - average citizen Zarayah, Amanda, or Rajesh - moderate the vote count of district B). This society is built on the principles of unity and sustainability, leaving the planet better than how we found it, and respect for bodily autonomy - acknowledging that it is futile and a wasteful battle of wills trying to micromanage individuals.
Rather than focusing on exploiting foreign peoples and grabbing as much profit and land as possible, my country (and ideally all countries, but let's face it, you can't have it all) would focus on improving quality of life for all its citizens. It would create thousands of jobs via building bicycle and pedestrian pathways. With the smaller communities, people would be more united and it would be easier to keep track of everyone to reduce the number of those who 'fall through the cracks' and get help to those who need it. In a big city, it's easy to get lost, and once you finally find assistance, far too often people get shuttled from one waiting list to another. With a more collaborative approach by the experts in healthcare (eg your GP, pain specialist, bone/ENT/neuro doc etc, psychiatrist, and therapist all talk to each other AND you), people could find treatment that actually helps them, whilst staying with allies that know and support them (if you've ever had to switch providers or get reacquainted with a new therapist, you know what I'm talking about). Of course, with a more in-depth and individualised approach to treatment, doctors will need to take on fewer patients. We will need more doctors and treatment specialists of all sorts. Thus, we will discard the current MO - ie, we will no longer artificially control the number of applicants by declining those med students seats. Rather, those with scores above a particular limit, and who pass an interview with current doctors, can all go on to med school.
We decriminalise if not legalise all substances, including barbiturates (think Netherlands) and respect that it is the individual's choice what they do to themselves. There are self-directed euthanasia facilities (think Belgium) where people have access to professional support (imagine a world where that phrase doesn't seem like a fantastic joke) literally until their last breath, counselling if desired, that utilise a waiting period and a team of mental health experts to evaluate their request. We end mandatory minimum sentences and court-ordered psychiatric medication, and begin to evaluate 'criminal' or otherwise deviant acts on an individual basis. We cut down on the number of people we send to prison; only the most dangerous and horrible people who have had multiple chances to prove themselves and failed should be there. And even then, they should have the possibility of parole and opportunities to better themselves during their sentence. We increase the support for finding jobs post-incarceration and give convicts training so they can turn their lives around once they leave. To fight stigma, perhaps a quota of diversity could be instituted (eg x number of ex-convicts, recent immigrants, those with disabilities). People with different viewpoints bring a variety of strengths and creative solutions that are unfortunately overlooked due to them being a 'liability' or not as optimal a candidate as a company would like. In addition to catching (actual) criminals, police catch people - especially young people and ex-convicts - doing good things and reward them.
We improve public transportation but private vehicles are still a thing. There will naturally be less of them because of better biking pathways, smaller communities, and better public transportation. All vehicles are sustainably powered (eg using electricity / solar panels, methane, or battery charged by physical activity). I'm sure there are other innovations of which I'm unaware. We decriminalise if not legalise abortion and guns. Those who want an abortion will get one whether or not it's legal; but if it's illegal, they have unnecessary risk and shame to contend with. Likewise, the bad guys will get guns anyhow, so it's best if everyone can protect themselves. People who have committed violent crimes and known abusers should obviously not get guns, and there should be a waiting period and limit on the sort of gun people can get.
Instead of being brainwashing and babysitting services, schools will teach useful information and life skills. They will teach the basics of reading and writing (via history so that a separate class for that is not needed; ie combine social studies and language arts), basic mathematics and the various sciences. Beyond primary school, once students pass literacy and maths skills exams, rather than more of the same, secondary school will resemble vocational school. There will be classes such as music, art, psychology of relationships (some people naturally intuit how to get along with others but not everyone can recognise red flags of an abusive partner, or vice versa, how to trust people and build healthy relationships), foreign languages (or maybe consolidate the world's languages because it seems preposterous that there are so many? I'm just salty that I only know one language and was too depressed / lazy to become fluent in another one), have a community involvement or volunteering class, bring back shop (includes carpentry, engineering, electrician basics, metal/woodworking) and cooking, and instead of gym class, there will be physically intensive classes such as agriculture, animal husbandry, and survival skills (includes swimming, CPR/first aid, identification of various poisonous versus edible wild plants, and basics typically taught in Boy Scouts or similar). Those who express interest (and all can take an aptitude test depending if the district's school wishes to require such a test or not) can go on to university, where the number of 'core' courses will be reduced to the essentials so that students can spend more time in real-world scenarios such as internships and apprenticeships. Instead of brushing everything aside as 'kids will be kids', or 'boys will be boys', teachers take a proactive approach when they see or suspect bullying. There is some sort of social after-school programme that integrates antisocial kids into the community.
I don't claim to have it all figured out. I'm just spitballing here; this is my vision of a fantasy society. In my ideal personal life, I would live in this sort of society, as sustainably as possible. I think there is something to learn from everyone - why not take the best of the 'olden days' and the best of modern times? We can use technology to make our lives better. I personally would want to spend less time online and more time doing something that physically makes a difference, but I can't imagine living without music or the internet, nor would I want to. Being able to connect to people all across the world is an incredible gift and I want to continue doing that. In my fantasy life, I would travel. Not to the extent of living in hotels - but seeing how other cultures live, and being part of them for some time. I'd live in a small community, where I know most of the people or at least recognise their faces, and my household would consist of a dog and a significant other and maybe an adopted or foster child or two. You ever watch those 'tiny house' videos? Those that have solar panels and are largely self-sustaining? I'd want to do something like that. Maybe not quite as tiny, but the idea of building my living space with my own hands and growing my own food excites me. Independent and self-sustainable. I'd feel a sense of ownership, pride, and dignity in knowing that I tangibly contributed to my surroundings. It would be really fucking cool to raise some goats and chickens too. I would want to make music (definitely learn guitar and DAW such as Ableton - collaborate with others too), maybe write fiction and poetry, go into journalism. Perform in theatre. Design research studies, conduct and write about them. I don't fucking know. There are so many POSSIBILITIES.
Of course, none of this is remotely possible. Where to even begin? I'm a dropout failing through my university course (yes, I somehow got into university, thanks to the confusion that the pandemic wrought my equivalency exams were postponed and eventually made moot); I have no credentials whatsoever. To do anything I mentioned I'd have to undertake some sort of training course which would take many months if not years. I've had a handful of jobs, most of them summer positions, none of them really 'real' or 'important' - eg, I currently work in fast food. It's been about eight months, which is the longest I've ever held a job. Throughout writing this, I've felt anger - nay, rage - at the current state of society (for fuck's sake, how can I prattle on like this when Russia and Ukraine are AT WAR WITH EACH OTHER and the rest of the world's government isn't much better) and at myself for not having the skills I mentioned and then despondency and despair regarding the aforementioned. When I think about the magnitude and impossibility of improving society and getting my shit together, it's so much easier to just give up. As difficult as it is to kill oneself, changing one's life is even harder. I wish I had the strength to do either one.
I don't know what to do. I feel like I will explode. I know cutting is 'bad' and it doesn't help long term, but in the short term it helps me release these feelings of tension and stress. I feel like a caged animal. I'm somewhat seriously debating running away, maybe going to a commune (where would I find one of those?) and starting an entirely different life off the grid. I may as well be dead from how my life is now. Why not do something radical and spontaneous? But how? Fuck. It's terrifying. Every option I foresee, for lack of a more poetic term, sucks. I need to get out of here.
What are your thoughts? I know I wrote an essay. Thank you for even reading it.
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