Appendix I: 100 Ideas from Ecotopia

Appendix 1: 100 Ideas for a better world, from Callenbach’s Ecotopia

Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach (self-published 1975) and its prequel “Ecotopia Emerging” (1981) describe an optimistic future taking place in 1999, 25 years from the present. The premise of the story falls under the category of “a visitor’s impressions” (similar to “News from Nowhere” by William Morris). In this story, an American journalist reports on his journey to the newly seceded state of Ecotopia. He recounts his impressions and encounters and ultimately decides to (spoiler alert) stay. Despite being saturated with interesting ideas, the plot is very thin, making it a good book for the converted who are willing to plow through.

To his credit, Callenbach explores the transition towards his ideal future and doesn’t assume it was miraculously imposed. He also doesn’t expect the entire world to become eco-socialist in one swoop, which forces him to address interaction between the old and the new world. There’s a great deal of (justified?) suspicion towards the old world that led them to plant hidden nuclear bombs in major American cities as a deterrent against invasion. I’m not arguing I would have had a better solution but it’s a bit disappointing that he opted for a relatively violent solution.

Describing a utopian society creates a conflict I encountered while writing my book regarding “good vs best”, as sometimes describing an ideal scenario means you can’t describe the small increments that should be implemented along the way.  Cars require special dispensation (meaning they are extremely rare), but at the same time engines are physically capped to 30mph and also easy to modify and fix. Those three concepts don’t really make sense when put together. Similarly, he mentions that bills have pictures of nature instead of famous people (like modern-day Brazil, by the way) but in all other aspects it seems that there is no currency in Ecotopia as money requires a finance system that very much contradicts the essence of Ecotopia.

Reading Ecotopia in 2025 feels to me that it is a place governed by how I perceived Berkeley’s hippies from the 60s used to be-  with a liberal, positive attitude towards sex, drugs and  alternative family structures. There’s also a glorification of American-Indian culture in terms of fashion, ornament and attitude towards nature and against anything corporate or industrial. 

He doesn’t mention much regarding cleanliness – I’d expect them to avoid industrialised cleaning-products and therefore be smellier than what we’re used to. Although they do have public baths, this was mentioned only once. It didn’t give me the impression it’s a daily ritual (unlike, for example, the repetitive reference to Japanese cleanliness in Shōgun by James Clavell). 

Transportation

1. Flight: No (commercial) flights over cities to prevent air and noise pollution. The nearest airport is 40 miles away from the city. Personally, I would argue that with the exception of emergencies, flights should be discouraged even further.
2. Cars: Combustion engines require special dispensation. He doesn’t refer to boats or airplanes and obviously EV cars weren’t a thing in the 70s. Personally, I would argue against car-centered culture (wasteful parking spaces, road accidents and time-wasting traffic jams) in general but he doesn’t refer to it directly. He also mentions that cars are physically capped to 30 mph but it’s not clear which cars he is referring to.
3. Trains: Small yet frequent MAGLEV-based trains. He describes in detail that instead of normal seats the trains have bag-like cushions and spongy carpets; huge windows and free refreshments. He also makes it a point to mention that the train is filled with ferns and small plants, and everyone knows their names, as well as recycling bins. Personally I’d prefer a proper seat.
4. Transitioning to trains: As an alternative to the train, while it was built, he suggests using fast buses on the highway. These in turn provided information that later contributed to the train’s schedule
5. Bicycles: Bicycles are highly encouraged for health reasons. Free white-painted bikes are available for everyone’s use whereas some theft is acceptable as it is still cheaper than providing more taxis or buses. I’m not sure who’d be interested in stealing them, assuming there’s an abundance of bicycles. A special “Night crew” returns the bikes every night to where they are needed. To me, this sounds like an unnecessary hassle.
6. Canals: Callenbach suggests the old-tradition method of transporting goods on water canals, while emphasizing the water is clean enough to fish and swim in. He doesn’t specify its efficiency (or its engine) but gondolas are roughly the speed of walking. Similarly he suggests a system of underground conveyor belts. Personally, I think that other techniques are actually more complicated than he describes.

Economy

7. Stable vs Growth: Callenbach is a strong advocate for “stable-state economy”, which I think is an admirable view for someone who has yet to see the growth of the 80s and 90s. However there’s no clear-cut distinction between “stable” (abundance) and “stagnation” (scarcity). In a stable society, elements are maintained to a functioning level while in a stagnating society, systems are slowly deteriorating. As he put emphasis on only using compostable materials, I’m not sure how he suggests preventing the economy from stagnation.
8. Pleasant workplaces: According to Callenbach, as part of a general economic overhaul the secession caused a financial collapse. Shortening the work week to mere 20 hours helped tackle the unemployment issue. However, he doesn’t explain how business owners simply double their staff. In Callenbach’s ideal workplace, people are treated with respect (and not as cogs). It’s more important that a job is pleasurable than efficient; It sounds like a very stress-free environment and I’m guessing there’s an economic burden that may cause the owner to worry about the employees’ ease. Worker-owned enterprises tend to be limited to about 300 people and beyond that they lose their efficiency. Enterprises care about work conditions as well as profits and members are happy with lower profit in exchange for a comfortable pace or better relations with their colleagues.
9. In the ribbon-cutting ceremony for opening a factory, it is the workers (the builders?) that are being honoured – the factory belongs to them. Without being explicit about it, he describes a communist society. 
10. “There’s no such thing as a thing-there are only systems” along with “Costs should include external margins and social costs”. Again, those are two nice ideas in principle but much more difficult to implement.
11. Small stores are easier to manage. This, I feel, is not true – bigger stores have less overhead, but at the same time small stores give a much better sense of ownership for the workers. Personally I’m in favour of small stores as they do a better job keeping the money in the local community.
12. Study groups from consumer co-ops that can put products on the “bad practice list”. Personally it sounded naive. I think more authority and enforcement is required for this at the same time for more accountability: how can we make sure decisions are implemented? How can we make sure the groups are keeping integrity?
13. Research: Research institutes are separated from teaching institutes; Scientists in Ecotopia are forbidden to accept payments or favors from either state or private enterprises for any consultation or advice they offer. He doesn’t explain how scientists are expected to earn a living and I find it baffling.
14. Apprenticeships are very common in the workplace. Personally, I think this is very useful, although I’m not sure if it applies to all kinds of jobs.
15. Everything should be easy to repair and modify while being sturdy and durable at the same time. People repair on their own (so no repair shops) and products are sold unfinished to allow custom design of the finished product. Applying this idea to the “Mac (well-finished product) vs Linux (fully-customisable)”, I think it’s a big ask to expect everyone to care enough and be able to build their own Linux system, as opposed to simply buying a ready-to-go Mac system.
16. The service industries (such as repair shops) are abolished. I’m not sure why he decided so – sure, it’s very admirable that everyone can fix their own broken equipment but that’s actually an unrealistic ask from the general population.
17. Time-tyranny: fewer people wear watches and there’s less time management. I support the idea, but at the same time I think it’s quite naive- the only way to be unbothered by buses running late is if there’s such an abundance of them so it doesn’t impede your goals. De-prioritising “efficiency” creates a more care-free relaxed state of mind which isn’t inherently bad but I’m curious how many problems are actually truly resolved and not simply patched, only to break down again later.
18. Lumber: Callenbach talks extensively about the “Forest service” (such as tree-planting) that needs to be sustainable: no clear-cutting; topsoil left intact to cut down on erosion; forests contain mixed ages and mixed species of trees; no export of lumber. Extensive areas, too steep or rugged to be lumbered without causing erosion, have been assigned wilderness status. He argues that livestock and agricultural production didn’t suffer from reforestation but doesn’t explain how (livestock requires huge areas to graze). He also talks extensively about lumber transport and suggests using electric tractors, tethered balloons, oxen and horses but eventually admits that trucks are still used to haul trees. This was one of the points he couldn’t find a sustainable solution.
19. Taxes: Callenbach’s tax system works slightly differently than ours – on one hand taxes are relatively low and there’s no tax on personal income or property but on the other hand there are no super-rich as he abolished inheritance rights and prohibited absentee ownership. The rich might flee from such a society but Callenbach argues that the true capital (natural resources, infrastructure and consumer-base ) is immobile. Tax is focused on gross income of corporations and land tax (to encourage concentration). The tax revenues are mostly used to finance local infrastructure and services. A pro rata share goes to the regional and national government to support operation of larger services such as trains or defense. Surpluses can only be “invested” by lending them to the national banking system, which in turn lends money to fund enterprises. 
20. Research: Money and manpower was diverted towards the construction of stable-state systems in agricultural and sewage practices, and in the scientific and technical deployment of new natural-source biodegradable plastics or durable plastic that “dies” when in contact with soil microorganisms. 
21. Materials: Callenbach argues to use compostable and reusable materials such as glass and pottery; Only metals that rust are acceptable; Alcohol, produced from grains and such is used as an oil alternative; however, there are few exceptions: rubber tires, silver fillings and some buildings made of concrete;
22. There’s a prohibition of highly polluting manufacturing and processing operations. Firms affected were to be bought off or helped transition to non-harmful operations; Highway departments were sent to restore dismally polluted waterfronts.
23. Universal basic income: Callenbach promises a lifetime “guarantee” of minimal levels of food, housing, and medical care. This is slightly different from a monetary earning that citizens can use how they see fit. Either way, as it’s a small stipend, it’s mostly useful for elderly and people with disabilities, but also those who wish to focus on non-commercial arts. UBI redefines our relationship with work as we are no longer coerced to work. This perfectly fits the theme mentioned earlier that work should be an enjoyable experience. On the other hand, there’s no involuntary unemployment in Callenbach’s future.
24. Fashion: High production costs and draconian tariffs keeping out sweat-shop products means most people wear home-made garments which is considered a virtue. This is a nice way of saying that people can’t afford to wear what we might consider “fancy clothes”.
25. Food: Many Ecotopians buy only bread, beans, rice, fruit and similar staples from these stores, relying on small independent shops for meat, produce, etc. —or shipments from fellow communes.
26. Medication: With the exception of Marijuana, no other behaviour altering drugs allowed, including tranquillizers, energizers, sleep-inducers, and other drugs such as cold remedies. This can be understandable in the context of modern-day America’s ease of access to such drugs but it feels to me like flipping from one extreme to the other.
27. Medical Care: Hospitals have more staff than patients, working longer hours but getting plenty of vacations; Instead of a centralised nursing station, the nurses provide personal care per patient; there is a strong emphasis on preventative care with regular check-ups. All doctors receive psychiatric training; Most births take place at home and the elderly prepare themselves to die at home.

School

28. Schools, privately owned by the teachers, look more like a farm and the mixed-aged classes take place either outdoors or in small cabins; 
29. The School admin is kept to a minimum and mostly managed by the teachers (Callenbach envisioned a school of 6 teachers and 60 pupils in total); 
30. Schools prepare children for nation-level exams, set by a committee of teachers, politicians and parents,  at the ages of 12 and 18.
31. Children spend only an hour or so in actual class time and busy themselves on projects for the rest of the time with no other structured class time. They learn survival skills, how to grow, catch and cook food; how to make simple clothes, woodwork and practical math used for their projects; Project outputs (a birdhouse for example) are then sold and the students decide how to make use of the money (sounds exploitative to me). They learn about their local fauna and flora in backpacking expeditions; They spend 2 hours working in the garden to supply their own lunch food which they later make themselves; They learn to work together, be their own bosses and how to organise their lives in a reasonably, orderly and self-propelled way.
32. Outside of school, children don’t have extracurricular activities, but instead they participate in adults’ life working in shops and gardens. They live with dozens or more people and more sexual experience around them that help them grow faster. Callenbach describes this as a positive experience but I can understand how a modern parent would see this as a traumatising childhood.
33. Students alternate studies and work annually; Apprenticeships are common.
34. No studies in political sciences, sociology and psychology. I’m not sure why Callenbach was against it. In my personal experience democracy devolves when it’s not taught.

Domestic life

35. Buildings made with rock, adobe, weathered boards. Instead of paint (as most paint is either lead or rubber or plastic which doesn’t decompose), houses are covered with vines or bushes. Wood is the predominant building material. I’m guessing Callenbach never visited Sweden where all the wooden houses are painted red with copper to prevent them from rotting. Expecting people to live in rotting houses is quite unrealistic.
36. Houses are built for communal living (big families with multiple adults)
37. Ecotopians gave up on many home comforts such as cars, spring-mattresses, soft toilet paper, prepared and luxury food, habitual new clothes, electric can openers, hair curlers, frying pans, carving knives, microwaves or dishwashers. Synthetic meat, processed food pre-cooking and packaging are frowned upon, and the same with soda drinks. Food is sugarless. Most furniture isn’t store-bought. Cooking pots are cast-iron and books are shared. That is understandable from my point-of-view, but an extremely hard sale for the less enthusiastic. In the modern day eye, this would certainly look like a type of poverty and unfortunately Callenbach doesn’t make much of an effort to explain why and instead assumes the readers would naturally agree with this sacrifice.
38. Ecotopians have noiseless home appliances such as refrigerators. The laundry machine and dryers were kept outside in a separate hut.
39. Houses aren’t well-lit – often used by dimmed light or candles (fluorescent is unfavourable); I’m surprised he didn’t describe homes as “cozy den” but I guess that is a personal preference anyhow.
40.  Many basic necessities are utterly standardized. Bath towels, for instance, can be bought in only one color (white) so people have to dye their own in attractive patterns. As far as personal goods are concerned Ecotopians possess or at least care about mainly things like knives and other tools, clothing, brushes, musical instruments, which they are concerned to have of the highest possible quality. These are handmade and prized by their owners as works of art

Nature & Environment

41. Flower-picking is frowned upon as flowers are to be appreciated where they grow.
42. The food cycle is based on a stable-state basis: all food wastes, sewage and garbage were to be turned into organic fertilizer and applied to the land, where it would again enter into the food production cycle. This was partly through sewage recycling, partly through garbage composting, partly through reliance on some novel nitrogen-fixing crops and crop rotation, and partly through methods of utilizing animal manure.
43. Garbage is separated at home although he doesn’t specify what non-organic waste they actually have, or how it’s being handled.
44. No large paved areas. Pavement has a big accessibility advantage (for wheelchairs, strollers and other carts) but yes, they’re not eco-friendly. Of course fewer cars will automatically mean less parking and fewer paved areas.
45. All waterfront properties become “water parks” (exclusive estates were commandeered); Dams were removed to allow salmon runs; Water streams brought up to surface level
46. Callenbach mentions efforts towards decentralised non-polluting energy sources, ideally geo-thermal, solar, wind and tides. Dams are complicated issues because of their effect on wildlife. Additionally, Callenbach dreams of photosynthesis-based electricity production.
47. Hunting is a meaningful tradition, done with bows and arrows (no firearms);
48. Farm animals are not in close confinement; Animals are kept as wild as possible and there aren’t many pets
49. Attempts at decoding animal languages of dolphins and whales

Social life

50. All people, regardless of job, position or stature, are treated with respect and expected to be treated as such.
51. Ecotopians are shamelessly expressive about their feelings and don’t shy from arguing; Unsuccessful performers will be treated rudely by the audience, which somewhat contradicts the idea of treating everyone with respect. 
52. Similarly, they’re very physical towards one another.  Again, personal space and boundaries are probably very different from modern-day society.
53. People live in communities of shared interests, and there’s a proactive effort to avoid loneliness. Mental health issues are of less concern because of that.
54. Callenbach’s utopia has gender-equality, although he argues that there are “natural” differences that lead men to violent “war games” and women towards political leadership and management. The basic idea is novel, but I feel that feminism evolved considerably since the 70s.
55. No distinction between amateur and professional in arts or science; One might understand this as “there’s no entry-barrier to become a professional”, but I think it’s a bit naive – to me, a “professional” is someone who can earn a living from their passion, otherwise they’re just amateurs with an expensive hobby.
56. Art: It seems that Callenbach held art with little regard or at least did see art as a way to convey a message.. For him art meant “high quality”. His Ecotopians spread their appreciation thin between all artists, as in a culture where everyone considers what they do as “art”, a Picasso or a Van Gogh no longer seem quite so special.
57. People prefer to entertain one another instead of watching TV for entertainment value. Every extended family has a musical group and most music played has a dance beat.
58. Sports: Despite everyone trying to keep physical fitness, the sports scene is set up for the benefit of the participants. Callenbach distinguished between “spectator sports” (such as baseball, basketball, football, boxing, wrestling and roller derby) which are abolished in his visions, and “everyday sports” (such as cross-country skiing, hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, swimming, sailing, gymnastics, running and walking). That said, he seemed to be ok with ping-pong, chess, volleyball, for whatever reason. 
59. War-games: Callenbach suggests organised “war-games” (in which men try to hurt one another) to allow men to let out their aggression in a confined manner. He argues about a physical competitiveness that seemed to be inherent in human biological programming that otherwise might come out uncontrolled. Personally I find the premise to be ludicrous and even if the idea of natural-tendency was true, I don’t understand why he ruled out aggressive sports (such as football or rugby) and instead opted for a game in which people are intentionally injured.
60. Population decline: There’s an aim to decrease population 15-fold by making abortions easily accessible and providing all women with relevant knowledge  and contraceptives (I’m not sure why but he emphasised there’s no pill for men). As a general principle, there are no “accidental” children.
61. Having fewer children around (he doesn’t mention “aging population” problems), people tend to live in communes instead of nuclear families and godparents play a much more crucial role in children’s upbringing.
62. Marriage: Marriage is a less central fact of a person’s life, and therefore it is not so crucial that it be altogether satisfying (as if anything or anybody was ever altogether satisfying.) Though people do split up in ways that are clearly very painful for them, divorce doesn’t project a sense of failure on the self. Monogamy is less of an issue but usually kept with the exception of the four holidays.
63. Callenbach mentions Eugenics but says it’s frowned upon or ignored. It’s a weird thing to mention as eugenics in the form of selective breeding can be as simple as speed-dating events for a specific population, which may sound very innocent. I would argue that merely mentioning it makes it a part of the culture.
64. Crime: It seems to me that Callenbach was a bit naive when he talked about the judicial system. He preferred Imprisonment over monetary penalties, arguing it’s more egalitarian. He also supported the idea of forced labour of inmates (instead of rehabilitation efforts). He argued that victimless crimes (gambling and drug-abuse) should be dismissed (ignoring the exploitation and their effect on society) and also claimed that violent crimes are rare because of lack of anonymity (ignoring violent crimes where the perpetrator is known). Pollution and white-collar crimes (such as fraud) are heavily punished.
65. He advocated for regular monthly town fairs with a stage for performing artists and booths and stalls for craftsmen and farmers to sell their produce, along with food and drink vendors, fortune-tellers, portrait-sketchers, musicians. It’s a very romantic and aesthetic notion although not fully aligned with his self-reliance economy and attitude towards artists.
66. Racial segregation: Oddly enough Callenbach argued that black communities preferred to handle their affairs separately. I found it a bit disappointing, or even racist that in Callenbach’s  ideal future he couldn’t envision a future where race is no longer an issue.
67. Callenbach repeatedly mentions the free use of marijuana. At the same time he calls to dismiss “victimless crimes” such as drug-abuse. From his point of view, in that sense, all drugs should be permitted. In reality, substance abuse (be it heroin, marijuana or alcohol) can cause real tears in society’s fabric and while I agree that punishment doesn’t solve the reason why anyone would use drugs, I would be a bit more cautious about encouraging people to any kind of mind-altering substances.

Politics

68. Global Politics: Callenbach didn’t believe in the idea of a world-state and preferred decentralisation: “Ecotopians propose only separatism, quietism, a reversion toward the two-bit principalities of medieval Europe, or perhaps even the tribalism of the jungle”. 
69. All government proceedings are open to the press and public, and are broadcasted live. The viewers can participate via video-calls when they are selected at random. A politician once warned me that open proceedings are more of a “circus show” and the actual deals happen in the background. It’s also important to remember that politicians don’t like to lose face and that might lead them to bad political decisions (for example stubbornness). 
70. The government is mostly woman-led and policies are derived from female attitude and interests; 
71. In a case of emergency, public officials must address the public within an hour and answer any questions; 
72. (political) Meetings work to address grudges and pains, as opposed to addressing planned agenda. There’s an active effort to make the meetings enjoyable, which makes me wonder how they manage to address sensitive topics.
73. Decisions are made through consensus (as opposed to a majority). I like the idea but I wonder how much it slows down the decision process.
74. Multiple ownership of news outlets (magazines, newspapers, TV, radio) is forbidden; advertisements are limited to “public service announcements”, served only between the shows and intentionally favouring small independent businesses (I’m not sure what “big business”, franchise or corporations exist in Ecotopia).
75. Army: Ecotopia’s army is based on decentralised militia-style guerilla units. According to the story they fought off a US army invasion but he didn’t particularly specify their training or finance. It’s not clear how they manage to obtain and distribute enough anti-air missiles, let alone train civilians how to use them in order to stop the invasion.
76. In Callenbach’s vision there’s no class differentiation – no “rich” nor “intellectuals”.

Urban life

77. Callenbach’s streets are incredibly picturesque, with the roads taken over by pedestrian areas filled with trees, fountains, sculptures, kiosks, food-carts, music bands, street performances, and little gardens surrounded by benches. They are also relatively quiet.
78. Streets are planted with thousands of trees and essentially allowing nature to take over, including the mess and insects it brings with it, although he didn’t mention that part.
79. Car-free urban areas.
80. Callenbach advocates for streets cleared of billboards, with only small signs permitted on the fronts of buildings. 
81. At the same time he argues for fewer gas stations (make sense as there are fewer cars) and fewer telephone booths (I’m not sure why it bothered him but at any rate with the invention of mobile phones this is no longer an issue).
82. Few street signs, I’m not sure why that was an issue, especially as he argued that all streets are named (as opposed to numbered). I’m guessing road signs bothered him aesthetically.
83. Potholes are filled with flowers. It’s a nice romantic picture but makes me wonder – if you’re not bothered with the pothole, why not strip the pavement entirely?
84. The roads have shrunk to two-lanes with electric taxis, automated minibuses and delivery carts. In addition, there are separate bicycle lanes.
85. Buses: free-of-charge, very frequent battery-driven driverless minibuses going at 10mph. These are physically very low for easy boarding in each stop, which takes 15 seconds. The buses have a bench in the middle and people looking outwards. I can imagine a lot of accidents happening with such an automated system but maybe I’m being cynical.
86. Skyscrapers converted to multi-functional residential buildings, where most of the dispersed residential areas have been abandoned. He doesn’t specify how these buildings didn’t turn into slums.
87. Buildings are connected with lacy sky-bridges
88. No security gates, doormen, guards or other precaution against crime;
89. No concealable weapons allowed – the streets are safe, day or night
90. Barely any night-lights, which is great against light-pollution. His argument for it was that the streets are safe anyhow. I would question the increased chances for accidents to happen in utter darkness.
91. Streets are named and hardly wide enough for two cars
92. A town is 9,000 people big, living within a radius of a half mile from the transit station. With a lot of small park-like places or planted gardens. Around the edges of town are the schools and various recreation grounds.
93. Self-contained communities are connected with BART (bay-area-rapid-transport). Public transport is just as efficient as driving when considering parking, traffic and pollution.

Technology

94. Callenbach predicted, back in 1975, that video calls and bi-directional television broadcasts would become a norm.
95. He also envisioned an underground conveyor belt system delivering goods in containers from the city edges inwards. As he mentioned, cities are mostly self-sustaining so I’m not sure how many goods this system is meant to provide and whether this justifies the construction of such a system.
96. No electric typewriters but lots of handy light video recorders. I’m not sure why he had disdain towards electric typewriters and I’m curious what he would think about modern-day computers but I’m guessing he would argue we should generally spend less time with our electronics.
97. Photography is discouraged. I would argue it would make sense as it might prevent people from being “present”, however his argument was prejudiced, which I found odd.
98. Books and newspapers can be easily printed either with fading ink or permanent; Prints contain colophons (credits to the creators) to assert responsibility. I’m guessing this is Callenbach’s reference to copyright laws.
99. He mentioned an imaginary bird-like suit that regulates heat and is rainproof. Perhaps he meant it to be an ideal article of clothing but it wasn’t very convincing – people are not likely to wear chicken-suits just because it feels good.
100. Buildings: Lego-like cheap portable, customizable and easy-to-fix buildings made from cotton-derived plastics. He also mentioned, for whatever reason, that these extruded plastic houses are easy to heat, the windows usually kept wide open and people often wear little clothing;

Indeed, Callenbach provides a plethora of ideas of what he construes as an ideal society. Some of these ideas might seem questionable or sketchy at best and perhaps this, with the added lack of plot, is the reason he opted for self-publishing but I can imagine him saying “Hey, this is my fantasy, I can do whatever I want in it”.

There are very few minor inconsistencies in the story, mostly regarding the economy. For example, on one hand Ecotopians are very self-sustaining and on the other they have a conveyor belt system of transporting goods. These inconsistencies can come from not knowing which future is preferred, or they can arise from “better is the enemy of good”: trying to solve problems in our current society vs describing the ideal scenario. In that sense, we can improve our taxes, jails or cars or we can argue that in an ideal world there’s no need for these things.

If I had to pick one idea out of all of these I would pick commune life as a way to deal with loneliness. There were plenty of other good ideas but I think that addressing mental health is a cornerstone for a healthier, more connected society. The ideas I wholeheartedly disagree with are the concept of war-games and the acceptance of racial segregation.