We need more inspiring stories where normal people deal with real problems in a reasonable, sensible, and compassionate way. There are very few books that I know of that describe utopian, egalitarian societies. Some noteworthy examples would be News from Nowhere by William Morris (1890); Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach (1975); and Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy (1976). Of course, there are more utopian books, but I have no doubt there are far more dystopian novels than utopian ones, and I think it’s worth asking why—is it a failure of our imagination?
I wish more people would share their visions of how things could be different if we lived in a perfect society. I would have loved to say “perfect world,” but that would be too fantastic and childish. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need to face the sadness of death. But both death and that sadness are a natural part of life, and they help us grow, evolve, and become better. Accidents are tragic, but it’s incredibly naive to imagine a world where accidents don’t happen or people don’t make mistakes. Mistakes happen, and the sooner we acknowledge them, the quicker we’ll be able to learn from them and take measures to protect ourselves from other mistakes. A “perfect society,” however, is something I personally believe to be achievable—a society where everyone cares for one another, where no person is worse off than their fellow human beings. Some people will still be naturally more talented than others, and some will be more hot-tempered, but envy will not lead to resentment, and anger will be channeled constructively.
Personally, I don’t drink alcohol, but in my utopian world, people will still drink—sensibly and moderately. They will still drink to enjoy themselves and have a good time, but the community won’t let them drink to cope with trauma or tolerate life’s hardships. This brings me to the first “house rule” of my utopian world: People can do whatever they want as long as they are mindful not to hurt anyone else in the process. Homosexuality exists; whatever other people fancy is none of anyone’s business but their own. Religion exists, at least in theory. However, it shouldn’t prevent people from sensible critical thinking. In practice, I believe that having solid community values will remove most of the need for religion.
I would be more than honored if anyone chose to expand the world that I write about in my stories. My stories take place roughly 100 years in the future. I intentionally don’t provide a specific date to give a little bit of hope that maybe one day we will get there, as opposed to setting a deadline. The world population is about a tenth of today’s current population. I intentionally don’t explain how this came to be, as I’m aware that it’s a necessarily painful and worrying step we will need to go through somehow, and at the time of writing, I’m not sure we’re ready to discuss this. Climate change will still affect our lives, but I would like to think that a major portion of the population will focus their attention on tackling it by restoring nature and worrying less about paying next month’s rent.
My society doesn’t have money—not as fiat money that requires trust in institutions susceptible to corruption, nor as a trade economy. It was replaced with fairness, and mutual respect has replaced greed. I have addressed this in my story, but I welcome further exploration of how such a society with its limited resources can function. Personally, I’m a strong believer in universal basic income and the basic human right to food and shelter. I also support heavy progressive taxation, and as I believe that money can unbalance and destroy egalitarian societies, I think taxation should cap the richest people’s wealth in proportion to the poorest in society. However, all this is irrelevant, as in my utopian world there is no money.
In my utopian world, natural resources—and particularly land—cannot be owned. It doesn’t make sense to me that an arbitrary right over a natural resource grants someone wealth without any work or contribution to society.
One day, mankind will learn to treat animals according to their intelligence level and with respect. I’m hoping we will learn to communicate with most of them in one way or another and find a humane way to integrate them into our lives as equals while allowing them to maintain their animal nature.
Building a better future doesn’t require us to be perfect, but it does ask us to be brave enough to imagine one. I hope my stories serve not as a blueprint set in stone, but as an open door—an invitation for you to bring your own vision, warmth, and hope into this shared world. After all, the story of tomorrow is a story we are meant to write together.
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