Features of the Perfect Society
In this
article, I present the nature of the truly perfect society, as opposed to the
entirely admirable Nordic model that would have to be adopted and followed for
many years before societal perfection could ever realistically be pursued, I
noting also that Taiwanese society has already gone very far in acquiring the
most important features of the Nordic model and has many of the traits of
communality and social cohesion to be attained as precursor to the advent of
the ideal social formation.
Edward Bellamy,
in his novel Looking Bac, is interesting in predicting that the nations
of the world would have since 1887 gone a long distance on the path to societal
perfection by the year 2000. And, for an individual nation to
eliminate violence, war, and the need for a military (worthy aspects of the
ideal society), the universal rejection of violence would seem to be necessary.
I return,
then, to two chief endeavors: identification of the societal and
international precursors of achieving perfection; and description of
the truly ideal society.
My focus
is on national sized entities that develop the prerequisites for societal
perfection; and on similarly large geosocial formations that develop
individually and in confederation the truly ideal features of life.
The Nordic
models have very good (if not excellent as defined by my tough standards)
education systems, both pre-college/university and at the college and
university levels; universal, affordable health
care; long-term paid family leave at the birth of each
child; national, high-quality affordable child care; and
a communal, empathic societal spirit seeking a good life for each person with a
high level of economic equity. Those features constitute a necessary
benchmark for moving toward genuine perfection; and for any nation
to attain perfection, that benchmark must be reached by all nations of the
world.
Then the
question becomes, if the preconditions for societal perfection are met, what
would be the features of the perfect society?
Features
of the Perfect Society
>>>>> The
perfect society would feature absolute gender equality and recognize all gender
identities; no features of patriarchy would remain.
>>>>> Egalitarianism
would describe social and economic relationships: social and
economic class differences would not abide.
>>>>> Money
would be unnecessary: people would labor willingly for the good of
society, giving of their labor in a manner consistent with their talents,
skills, vocational inclinations, following a natural tendency to fill societal
needs.
>>>>> Widespread
agreement would have for many centuries been achieved as to crops, industrial
goods, and economic enterprises needed for the public good; any
changes, diminutions, and additions would occur via discussion in local,
regional, and national forums.
>>>>> Such
forums would be all that would be necessary as to government, with leaders
emerging organically according to obvious organizational and managerial
ability; no elections to formal office would be necessary.
>>>>> Thus
a pervasive spirit of cooperation would abide, developed over many centuries,
far beyond what existed or could even be imagined by most people in the 21st century.
>>>>> Violence
and war would have ended.
>>>>> The
need for lawyers or prisons would no longer exist.
>>>>> Mental
illness would be rare, only traceable in those few cases to genetic rather than
environmental conditions, and treated empathically; over millennia,
natural selection would almost totally eliminate genetically produced mental
illness.
>>>>> Education
would emphasize the acquisition of knowledge across the liberal arts
(mathematics [from arithmetic through calculus], biology, chemistry, physics,
history [which would include the study of past forms of government and economy],
literature, grammar, multiple languages, visual art and music); and
would provide training to all students in the manual and technological arts.
>>>>> Pre-college/university
education would proceed over nine grades, generally beginning at age five and
lasting through age thirteen; Stage One college and university
education would proceed for three more grades (grades ten through twelve,
generally for those at ages fourteen through sixteen); Stage Two
college and university education would then proceed according to vocational and
professional inclination, with further, advanced study also in the liberal
arts, generally for those seventeen to twenty-one years old.
>>>>> By
the age of twenty-one, therefore, a high degree of vocational and professional
training would have been achieved for all people according to their greatest
interest and talent; and societal members would have great knowledge
of all fields in the liberal arts, with considerable skill also in the manual
and technological arts.
>>>>> Members
of the perfect society would have perpetual quest for knowledge and thrive on
discussion with their fellows as to any improvements that might be
made; accordingly, they flock to libraries, museums, and public
forums.
>>>>> Those
in the perfect society would have a heightened appreciation of nature, the
visual and musical arts, and physical activity; and they would
pursue those interests along with vocational specialty throughout life.
>>>>> Those
living in the perfect society would have heightened knowledge of nutrition,
physical exercise, and healthy life habits; they are vegetarians who
drink no alcoholic beverages.
>>>>> People
would organize themselves into nuclear familial units and monogamous
unions; they would generally cook at home but have a wide variety of
options if they desire to eat in small establishments specializing in certain
types of culinary options or to gather with their fellows in large communal
dining halls.
>>>>> Those
living in the ideal society would sustain habits and live under felicitous
conditions conducive to life spans reaching on average for both females and
males to age 87, with many people living well past one hundred years of age.
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