- Jan 1, 2005
- 772
- 47
If you could found a new colony with like-minded people on another planet what would your ideal culture, society and government look like (this doesn't have to be practical)?
In my ideal culture :
-all sentient non-human animals would be considered persons and respected as equals
-there would be a strong emphasis on universal empathy and egalitarianism (moral egalitarianism - equal consideration of everyone's well-being and social egalitarianism, not necessarily political egalitarianism - democracy or literal economic egalitarianism- everyone having the same amount of resources, although I think moral equality implies distributing resources according to need) which would be the ultimate basis of this culture ( I don't care about all human beings but I'm not my ideal moral actor)
-there would be a strict emphasis on value monism, happiness would be considered the only thing of ultimate, inherent value in addition to everyone's happiness and suffering being considered equally valuable and dis-valuable
-attitudes about sex and romantic relationships would be casual and there would be no concept of romantic commitment (monogamy, romantic commitment and sexual conservatism wouldn't be discouraged but if this is my ideal society then the people would have similar attitudes. The competitiveness, possessiveness and blackmail that monogamy as a formal contract implies would be discouraged). If people chose to raise children or live together it would be on the basis of friendship
-sincerity, humility and compassion would be culturally more valued than confidence or high self-esteem
-there would be no social hierarchy, everyone would have the same social status
-'feminine' traits like co-operation, affection and generosity would be favored over 'masculine' traits like competitiveness, aggression and self-interest (in both men and women)
-the official state ideology of my ideal government would be either hedonistic altruism or hedonistic utilitarianism (I no longer ascribe to the idea of universal empathy ; I consider myself to be an agent-relative consequentialist - I only care-to some degree-about most, or at least some, humans and all non-human animals but I still think universal empathy is a better principle to build a society and culture on
-my ideal society would be 'anarchist' in the sense that government coercion would be unnecessary but not in the sense that the initiation of violence or the threat of it would be considered unjustified for any reason other than protecting autonomy and property rights - both of which would only be respected as a means to an end (raising the general standard of living). A law and the government coercion needed to support it would only be considered justified if it was genuinely assumed to be the only way to minimize more suffering than it caused
-legal rights would protect the interests of non-human animals as much as is practical but certain practicalities would probably make full-blown legal equality between humans and some non-human animals (like insects or other very small animals) impossible. Factory farming, vivisection, zoos, circuses and commercial breeding of animals etc. would be illegal
-I wouldn't necessarily favor a democracy over a genuinely benevolent dictatorship or oligarchy but if it was a democracy I would extend the right to vote to 16 year olds (and maybe older children) as well as prisoners and ex-convicts (life sentences without possibility of parole would also be abolished)
-there would be no money and no private property and resources would be distributed exclusively on the basis of benefit either through a voluntary gift economy (preferred) or an economy that was centrally planned by an explicitly hedonistic utilitarian or hedonistic altruistic government. Education (including post-secondary) and health care would be free
-beyond accepting basic moral values like mutual respect and universal compassion, immigrants would not be encouraged or expected to assimilated into the dominant culture, they would be allowed to maintain their ethnic and cultural heritages (it would be like the Canadian cultural mosaic in contrast with the American melting pot)
-corporal punishment and non-medical circumcision (of children) would be illegal
-euthanasia would be legal but restricted (including physician assisted suicides for people with a low quality of life but not suffering from any terminal physical illness)
-government, schools and public organizations would take an active role in promoting good health. It would be a very health conscious culture. Schools, hospitals, prisons, retirement homes etc. would not serve foods containing refined carbohydrates, sugar, salt, oil, caffeine, or animal products. The cultural diet would be comprised of healthy plant foods ; unprocessed whole grains, fruits/vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds
edited to add : -impersonal titles like 'Mr', 'Mrs' and 'Miss' would no longer be used. People would refer to complete strangers as 'uncle', 'aunty', 'grandfather' etc. (for example, public school children would refer to their teacher as 'aunty' or 'uncle' so and so or brother or sister so and so instead of Mr. or Mrs. so and so and the elderly woman on the bus or down the street would be 'grandmother' or 'sister'). It would also be acceptable for children to call adults by their first names
What about you?
In my ideal culture :
-all sentient non-human animals would be considered persons and respected as equals
-there would be a strong emphasis on universal empathy and egalitarianism (moral egalitarianism - equal consideration of everyone's well-being and social egalitarianism, not necessarily political egalitarianism - democracy or literal economic egalitarianism- everyone having the same amount of resources, although I think moral equality implies distributing resources according to need) which would be the ultimate basis of this culture ( I don't care about all human beings but I'm not my ideal moral actor)
-there would be a strict emphasis on value monism, happiness would be considered the only thing of ultimate, inherent value in addition to everyone's happiness and suffering being considered equally valuable and dis-valuable
-attitudes about sex and romantic relationships would be casual and there would be no concept of romantic commitment (monogamy, romantic commitment and sexual conservatism wouldn't be discouraged but if this is my ideal society then the people would have similar attitudes. The competitiveness, possessiveness and blackmail that monogamy as a formal contract implies would be discouraged). If people chose to raise children or live together it would be on the basis of friendship
-sincerity, humility and compassion would be culturally more valued than confidence or high self-esteem
-there would be no social hierarchy, everyone would have the same social status
-'feminine' traits like co-operation, affection and generosity would be favored over 'masculine' traits like competitiveness, aggression and self-interest (in both men and women)
-the official state ideology of my ideal government would be either hedonistic altruism or hedonistic utilitarianism (I no longer ascribe to the idea of universal empathy ; I consider myself to be an agent-relative consequentialist - I only care-to some degree-about most, or at least some, humans and all non-human animals but I still think universal empathy is a better principle to build a society and culture on
-my ideal society would be 'anarchist' in the sense that government coercion would be unnecessary but not in the sense that the initiation of violence or the threat of it would be considered unjustified for any reason other than protecting autonomy and property rights - both of which would only be respected as a means to an end (raising the general standard of living). A law and the government coercion needed to support it would only be considered justified if it was genuinely assumed to be the only way to minimize more suffering than it caused
-legal rights would protect the interests of non-human animals as much as is practical but certain practicalities would probably make full-blown legal equality between humans and some non-human animals (like insects or other very small animals) impossible. Factory farming, vivisection, zoos, circuses and commercial breeding of animals etc. would be illegal
-I wouldn't necessarily favor a democracy over a genuinely benevolent dictatorship or oligarchy but if it was a democracy I would extend the right to vote to 16 year olds (and maybe older children) as well as prisoners and ex-convicts (life sentences without possibility of parole would also be abolished)
-there would be no money and no private property and resources would be distributed exclusively on the basis of benefit either through a voluntary gift economy (preferred) or an economy that was centrally planned by an explicitly hedonistic utilitarian or hedonistic altruistic government. Education (including post-secondary) and health care would be free
-beyond accepting basic moral values like mutual respect and universal compassion, immigrants would not be encouraged or expected to assimilated into the dominant culture, they would be allowed to maintain their ethnic and cultural heritages (it would be like the Canadian cultural mosaic in contrast with the American melting pot)
-corporal punishment and non-medical circumcision (of children) would be illegal
-euthanasia would be legal but restricted (including physician assisted suicides for people with a low quality of life but not suffering from any terminal physical illness)
-government, schools and public organizations would take an active role in promoting good health. It would be a very health conscious culture. Schools, hospitals, prisons, retirement homes etc. would not serve foods containing refined carbohydrates, sugar, salt, oil, caffeine, or animal products. The cultural diet would be comprised of healthy plant foods ; unprocessed whole grains, fruits/vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds
edited to add : -impersonal titles like 'Mr', 'Mrs' and 'Miss' would no longer be used. People would refer to complete strangers as 'uncle', 'aunty', 'grandfather' etc. (for example, public school children would refer to their teacher as 'aunty' or 'uncle' so and so or brother or sister so and so instead of Mr. or Mrs. so and so and the elderly woman on the bus or down the street would be 'grandmother' or 'sister'). It would also be acceptable for children to call adults by their first names
What about you?
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