Background
Politics
Social Structure
Education
Marriage and Family
Labor and Economics
Religion and Morality
Crime
Gender
Relations with the Outer World
Technology and Ecology
The Main Text
The education system allows each child to choose a career based on his or her interests. After the time of structured moral conditioning and fostered intellectual curiosity, all pre-teens are encouraged to travel to the various other villages. Children spend as much as several years traveling. In this freedom, they learn to think for themselves and be resourceful while learning the culture and ways of communities around the world and acquire trades as apprentices. When the teens return to their village or decide to stay in one of the villages, formal education is again taken up. Whereas moral education has been completed long before, students now become experts in their chosen fields while also learning management skills. Though formal education gives way to steady employment, work takes up a maximum of six hours a day, and the rest is devoted usually to improving the mind and soul.
She spoke quietly because Papa was asleep and carefully because she knew her daughter waited for her every word. "Tomorrow you will begin your freedom," she said as her eyes gleamed. Yes, freedom; freedom to be and freedom to live as one chose and to live as one ought. Tomorrow Rachel would suddenly blaze into the world of free-thinking adults. She had completed her years of moral training and was ready to explore and to learn what the world had to offer her.
Her mother was not so eloquent as the community mother who spoke at the commissioning ceremony this afternoon, but her words had a strange tearing power which seemed to rip through Rachel's childhood years, bringing back all of the lessons learned and the convictions reached. She seemed to direct every word with this purpose - remember. Remember! Every new thought was either a predecessor to or a successor to an old one. They were inextricably linked.
The women continued long into the night, discussing everything from finding and choosing to follow a purpose in life to the latest development in mathematical number theory. Rachel no longer sat at her mother's feet and looked up into the shadows that the fire cast upon her face. Now, both sat on chairs of equal height and looked into each other's eyes.
From her small town of Paris, Rachel boarded a train to Florence. She would begin this right of passage with her closest friend, but inevitably they would split up along the way. That was good. Companionship is nice at first, but the journey was something that Rachel wanted to do for herself. She did not want her thoughts and learning to be merely a copy of someone else's. She wanted to truly find her own calling and her place in this vast world of possibility. She wanted to see real problems and solutions, and then find her own solutions to life. She wanted to explore, and her excitement was not without cause. As she disembarked from the train, she remarked to Abigail, "Being in a village again is so refreshing. Last week in Discussion, we heard how a new solar panel had been developed in Brazil. A Parisian proposed that he could develop a train which could get us from Paris to Florence in only fifteen minutes instead of the thirty that it usually takes. I can hardly imagine."
"Yes," said Abby. "I would have been content with the forty-five minute train just a few years ago, but progress has always had a knack at overwhelming us. I suppose it's good that there are a few who not only solve problems in the present but also predict and solve inconveniences in the future. This should make trade around the world much easier. I think I might like to work in an industry which requires trade. Then I should look forward to my year of management and the traveling advances of that day. But then again, I may just spend my afternoons and nights traveling even before my year of management. Although each place has similar basic characteristics, each is so unique and so exciting. They all offer so much to learn and to become. I suppose it is just my youth swelling up inside of me, but it just seems so wonderful to at last be able to apply my intellect to reasoning for myself and exploring such vast opportunity."
"This is true," said Rachel, who by now was more interested in her surroundings than what her friend and all of the others had been repeating for months. She smiled and stopped to talk to random people about their thoughts and occupations, trying to decide which apprenticeship she may find interesting tomorrow. "How is it that this village is no more than one thousand people and it is larger than any village I have ever imagined? And yet I read that there were at one time millions of people in one place. How could that be?"
Abby replied, "Why should people stay in a crowding place when they can simply decide to move to another village or simply found another where others would join them? That is the advantage of this system. We live in villages, not crowded cities. We realize the need for community simply so that we can all do what we want. For example, I can make shoes and not be forced to farm as well because someone wants to farm and doesn't want to have to make his own shoes. Thus, we all provide for each other if we should choose to accept the advantages of the village. And the villages remain small simply because of communication. The smaller the population, the more we all know each other and can care for each other, the better we can provide for the children, etc. Yet no one is trapped because he is free to move or just not participate for a while. When we meet for Discussion both in our small groups and en masse, we are comfortable enough to be honest and open because we all want to be there and we all know each other. Thus, decisions are reached most creatively and efficiently. Everyone works, everyone thinks, and everyone communicates."
"Look, there is the Grounds of Discussion!" cried Rachel.
Indeed, the Grounds assumed the central, most magnificent role in the city. It was the only building large enough to house all of the population for Discussion, and it assumed its role majestically. The names of all of the individuals of the village were carved on the pillars of the building. As the two girls walked past the building they found that the community was gathering for a weekly Discussion. People poured into the gathering from all directions, stopping to say hello to the girls and catch up with friends as they went. The two explorers ventured into the great common place. The meeting began by asking God for guidance in the choices that would be made by each individual. Then several people arose in orderly fashion to give announcements of workers needed in various industries, lectures to be given that week, or an outing to see the sea - first the necessary, then the useful, then the pleasing, always in that order. Then a seemingly ordinary individual arose from his place and began to read from Rousseau. "Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains... the only way they can preserve themselves us by uniting their separate powers" (49, 59).
Rachel swelled with pride as she watched the interchange of ideas and remembered the words of her mother. "Knowledge is power," she used to say. "And ignorance is the root of all evil" (Plato). Yes, Rachel relished knowledge and reason, and she enjoyed the personal triumph of being able to say that Rousseau himself was wrong. Mankind was not in chains on Earth any longer. Liberty did not have to be traded for the general will. The general will would be an encumbrance, for here all are ruled by their own will. Each individual remains sovereign over himself. Yet the cherished principles held by Rousseau were firmly ingrained in each individual. Liberty and equality found their way into every facet of life. These two were the only government and law. Rousseau was right in that "to renounce one's freedom is to renounce one's humanity, one's rights as a man and equally one's duties" (55). Rachel remembered her horrifying experience as a child being made "the unequal". Each child's only experience with inequality was made so horrible that he or she could never wish such a thing on anyone. And each individual's conviction is much stronger than anything mandated from a government and its ideology. Even a theocracy based upon God-given rights, liberty, and equality would not be so ideal, for a hierarchy would still exist between common man and government officials and no man can rule as God would anyway.
Rachel reasoned that in order to preserve themselves and their freedoms, people need law and order, administration of resources, and protection from outside forces. Civilization in the past has opted for an established government to take care of these needs, but a social and/or a financial hierarchy must be created in order for a government to have the authority it needs to be effective. Thus, absolute equality and liberty are impossible in any true government. Anarchy preserves equality and liberty for the individual while duties of government are taken care of. Earth now is one society, so there is no need for defense. Administration is taken care of by rotating the responsibility. Order is assumed because of childhood conditioning. thus, anarchy can be successful.
The groups continued to talk about Rousseau and each individual, like Rachel, reasoned within him or herself based on what they remembered so well from their early lessons, their treasured values, and their freedom to allow their minds free reign. Eventually, the gathering broke up as people grew bored of intellectual talk and wandered to the leisure activities of their choice. The two girls left after a few hours and found their way to the dormitory constructed for young explorers like themselves. Along the way, Rachel pointed out the various gardens and greenery throughout the village. They passed several waterfalls along the way. These waterfalls were familiar as they were a universal tradition in villages worldwide. While the sound of the trickling water promotes peace and the glistening drops are the clearest and simplest beauty, the constant flow of the streams is symbolic of the constant flow of communication and progress and in each individual.
The trickling water also reminded her of the trickling of her mothers thoughts in so many of their dialogues. She could remember taking her mother and her community mother by the hand and walking through the village following the waterfalls. She had discovered how the falls worked and then she would ask about each monument or building to which the falls led. Education was driven by her own curiosity.
The next train ride brought Rachel to a village in the Middle East. Here she joined an archeologist on his digs and lectures. At night, she stayed with his family if she did not want to walk back to the dormitory. Conversations in this family went on for hours much like those with her original family had.
"Why was history really necessary? Why are do you want to learn about digging up some old rocks with me?" Jeremiah demanded of her.
She would recalled her youngest memories of history. They were always pleasant, stories of triumph over life's ills and hero's valiant fights to preserve equality and liberty. Yet each history "lesson" grew more and more meaningful though they soon were more often unpleasant. Here in the Near East, for example, Rachel had been exposed to the history of the wars between people over land in this area before the Crisis brought them together. She learned of the terrible groaning of humanity through the Holocaust as well.
"We must learn what suffering means," she said, "in order to avoid it now. We must know what tortures inequality and restrictions bring to the human mind and body so that we will treasure the choices that we make. We must realize what suffering means and know that we as members of humanity have all pulled through it together. This is our bond. People have to know that they are truly happy now. Otherwise, their happiness is useless. Likewise, people must choose to protect happiness."
Rachel watched wide-eyed as the doctor sewed his final stitches. He pushed a button and the patient on the table slowly awoke, never having felt the pain of the operation nor the dangers of anesthesia. Nor the rare occasions which actually call for surgery are not nearly so dangerous sue to the KPO which allows the doctor to slow down the patient's heart rate, raise his temperature slightly, and decrease his breathing rate, basically instilling a false and very controllable hibernation.
In the wake of her amazement over various encounters with medicinal technology, Rachel battled more questions. Logically, how was it possible for anarchy and altruism to exist simultaneously and even thrive off of each other in society? The problem with anarchist attempts in past history was that they were by nature societies of selfish people striving against each other to meet individual desires. However, each individual here is conditioned in Christian values. Whereas living for the eternal may indeed harm a state, such values improve person to person relations, vital for the survival of an anarchist world. They are taught to care for each other. Everyone does not belong to everyone else, but everyone has freedom from selfishness and logically sees the need for caring for one another. Individuals maintained sovereignty by refusing to let themselves be controlled by others or even by their own sovereignty. For "to be governed by appetite alone in slavery" (Rousseau, 65).
There are no motivating factors or incentives in society aside from personal desire and moral peace. The whole concept was summed up best in a verse that the community parents sing the children to sleep with, "I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free." (Psalm 119:32) A doctor does not receive greater amount of food or even honor because of his service to humanity. It was just expected that he would satisfy his own need to be of service.
In Wittenburg, Rachel chose to intern with two professional educators, a community mother, Mary, and a community father, Paul. At first, Rachel merely observed how the community mothers and fathers treated each child. There were nearly as many doting "parents" as there were children. These adults supervised the education of all of the children. Because technology had made contraception so easy and effective, it is very rare for a child to be unwanted. However, if this was ever to occur, the parents could chose before the birth of a child whether to keep it or give it to willing parents who were unable to bear children. No child is ever to know or even suspect that he or she is adopted. All records of the family change are destroyed. In efforts to standardize compensate for educational differences from parents themselves, a specific team of researchers devotes itself to continually studying each child's home life. Children who for whatever reason do not receive as must attention or instruction at home as the others, receive more care at school. Group activities are also encouraged to help maintain uniformity and equality among children in the same area. Annual world-wide conferences are held for the managers of the year to keep all informed of the latest truths in cognitive psychology and conditioning while maintaining standard goals and procedures for the entire world in the teaching of its children. Many conditioning techniques are used, though usually positive reinforcement (love conditioning) and hypnosis/ dream manipulation are the ones most relied upon. Educators recognize that if even one person fails to take to the conditioning treatment, society will be severely injured. Thus, while intellectual curiosity is fostered, very strong moral guidance is necessary.
The community parents were quick to explain to Rachel that every action a person commits is not a conscious decision, many of them are reflexes. However, and every conscious decision is governed by some unconscious factor in the past. The goal of conditioning is to provide that subconscious motivation which governs reactions and to be the early influence which guides conscious decisions. Like Skinner, the educators said, "We control not the behavior but the inclination to behave" (93).
Mary also explained to Rachel how she was not only expanding herself and her education through her journey, she was also helping many communities. "The journeys provide an outlet for the energy of youth while making sure that each person has an expanded knowledge of other cultures. This also helps communication between villages as enthusiastic youth bring news of ideas and developments from the communities they have visited to the new communities," she said.
Rachel later visited a group of students just a little older than herself who had just returned from their journeys to settle in Wittenburg. They were extremely excited to see her and prattle on and on about their traveling experiences, "Oh, you really must make sure you get to London, and Mezda, and Rukme, and Cancun..." They then began to tell her of their new book experiences as they gained expertise in their desired fields of knowledge and training. Each one also spent at least a year with the community parents learning about the education system as well as gaining instruction in parenting skills.
The youth at in the Rome Discussion witnessed something unusual in the world. A criminal trial took place. The defendant was accused stealing a collection of books. After bringing the charges against him, the defendant was brought into the center of the arena-like Grounds of Discussion and various questions were asked of him by members of the village. This testimony, defense, and questioning went on for hours until every one had made up their mind as to whether or not he was guilty. Most present found him guilty of the crime. The crime was not so horrible in itself. However, what it represented to those present was substantial. For many, this was the first time they has seen the sacrifice of honor. Not only did the criminal steal the books (evidence of pride and self-love), he also lied to try to prove his name. Because there was not enforcement or government or unwritten laws, each individual gave the criminal their own punishment. In the end this criminal was much worse off than any prisoner in jail could be. The other villagers made him and outcast, the only outcast. Because he had tried to make himself superior by taking property and adding it to himself, the villagers made sure that he was now the only inferior. They destroyed his utopian liberties and, in their opinion, he deserved no one to look out for him.
Rachel also visited the Discussions of several other villages. In Aix, there was a shortage of labor in the fishing industry. An administrator proceeded to address the assembly as to why the workers were needed, what they would be doing, and what the hours would be. Volunteers were solicited and, when they were not enough volunteers, discussion addressed the question of which industry might best suited to have volunteers fish for a while. Meanwhile, the Discussion in Baghdad consisted of a lecture given by the area's art experts. One sub-Saharan village sought for a definition of wisdom while Tokyo opened dialogue on greater efficiency and faster technological advancement.
There were thousands of others just like herself who this year would leave their homes to explore the world and a little bit of themselves. They all would leave clutching to a few words - those of their parents, those of the poets, those of God, those of friends, and those of themselves. But why had each one been released so carefully. Yes, everyone had felt for as long as he or she could remember that to care for each other was an honorable and necessary choice. Communication, waterfalls, equality, freedom, altruism, they all work together.
She remembered her mother's words....
Plato. The Republic. 420 B.C. London: the Penguin Group, 1955.
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Social Contract. 1762. London: the Penguin Group, 1968.
Skinner, B. F. Walden Two. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1948.