Utopian Overlay

Actors
Individuals

Associations of Actors
Families, relationships, friendships, communities, non-market associations, cooperatives, employee owned companies, limited ownership companies, governments.

Principles
Maximum individual freedom consistent with the same freedom for all. Adequate access to the basics of life for all. Well defined definitions of private and common property. Product information. Product alternatives. Resource sustainability.

Trends
Conscious, sustainable consumption. Two part economic life, living simply on a basic income and freely chosen projects. Status from knowledge, character, and skill rather than from appearances and things. Great advances in permaculture, biotechnology, and renewable energy leading to the cheap, efficient and sustainable provision of the basics of life. Great advances in knowledge, communications, and virtual artifact infrastructure. Great advances in decentralized and dispersed workgroups and decision making. Local physical culture, global virtual culture, and just enough physical transportation to sustain a global civilization. Small, effective governments that focus on protecting individual freedom.

Pull the Other One
A soft landing like this would be nice, but it is not the most likely outcome. We should do what we can to bring it about, but at the same time we should think about the hard landing. Suppose we do not change, or that we change too slowly, and there is a global collapse. The only hope for us then will be our local bioregions and our local communities. We need to get to know them and to build up some alternatives.