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The perfect world
In the perfect world, everyone will be born into households that take care of food, shelter and education up to an age (ideally 25 yrs) when the person becomes useful to society and has the rest of his or her livelihood secured. People will be freer to choose the type of work they desire, because there is no excess of manpower in any field due to a controlled population. Controlled in numbers and secured in living standards.
Crime will be effectively contained and will be minimal because there is far less need to commit crime. People will be able to both avoid situations where they are forced to commit a crime and be able to afford better security for themselves so as to prevent a successful crime. People will be more interested in enjoying their life rather than being driven to amass money, since the basic necessities of life will be secured by law. Also, existing laws would be better enforced since the government will have enough resources to do so due to a self-sustaining population.
Environmental safety standards will be upheld and maintained because such standards have become affordable and the great overload of demand on natural resources has vanished and been replaced instead by a state of excess natural resources and time, giving nature the precious time it needs to repair, regenerate and replace used and depleted resources.
Child labor or abuse will be better contained by the laws securing children and preventing abuse being effectively enforced. The laws would be better enforced because of the transparency that would be the result of the child’s better access to education, the media and government agencies who will, in turn be better equipped to both intervene and to take action.
The government will be equipped to enforce laws protecting the people who are weak or underprivileged in any manner because a poor people means a poor, cash-starved, resource-stripped, debt-ridden government, while a rich or prosperous people means a prosperous, well-equipped government with resources to spare. This government will find itself capable enough to protect your rights. We will not be left helpless when we are cheated. We won’t be harassed because the simple penalty for harassment, however small, will be imposed on the offender through law by a capable and effective government which can spare the necessary resources and it will be seen to it that he or she pays the price for harassing you in any manner.
Taxes could be eliminated as the government prospers with the people. Any and all forms of government control and regulation could be scrapped gradually as the need for it disappears. That government is best which governs least. We finally have that government which governs the least.
Machines or robots could be made to perform manual labor that’s now being done by humans since such technology would become more affordable to more people and humans would not be in a position where heavy labor is the only option available to earn a living. There will be a dearth of manpower since humans will only work to obtain extra luxuries, comforts or conveniences because law would secure his basic survival from birth to death before his birth. He would not need to work to survive. Hence, robots and machines would have to be developed to do painstaking, injurious or monotonous work that humans grumblingly do today.
Pollution of all kinds will be dramatically minimized, as most people would be affluent enough to switch to non-polluting lifestyles. Non-polluting vehicles, non-polluting kitchens, solar/wind/hydroelectric energy, efficient waste disposal, recycling of waste material, etc. which are affordable in the developed countries today, could become the norm throughout the world if all people are affluent enough to sustain such a lifestyle. People will live longer because they can afford healthier lifestyles and quality healthcare. Noise pollution would be reduced to a minimum because people would be more educated about it and prosperous enough to substitute the causes of it
In the perfect world, there would be joy and pleasure everywhere and in everyone’s life. Technology will simplify life and please all people at all times. There will be contentment because people will not have to work for survival. People will only work to get luxuries or technologies that are beyond simple survival. Survival will not be threatened by any factor. Survival will be guaranteed and no one will fear that he or she may starve or die of thirst tomorrow due to a lack of money.
Animals will be protected because the government will be able to afford enforcement of animal protection laws since resources and money have been freed up for that purpose. Besides that, a self-sustaining human population would not have the pressing need to encroach upon or destroy animal habitat or wildlife.
When everyone is born into a reasonable level of financial capability, the value of the human being in general will go up. On an average, more money will be spent on a human being in all matters. The life, desires, feelings, thoughts and wishes of all humans will be more easily recognized and fulfilled. Everyone will finally have the freedom and security required to live and act in tune with their natural selves. Self-expression would be more aptly rewarded and virtues would be appropriately honored.
All forms of escapism from life harmful to health and well-being would gradually cease to exist, as people would be more contented with life. Drinking, smoking, drugs, etc. as forms of addiction would end. People will still be involved in such lifestyles, but not to the point that it ruins their health or finances. More rewarding pastimes will be dearer and intrinsic to the people. Habits leading to addiction would be felt to be unnecessary as less injurious past times would be the learned natural inclination and favored activity of the people.
Religious, political or ideological fanaticism harmful to oneself or others would fade into oblivion as the opportunities to enjoy life will be more available and in plenty. People will find themselves recognized and respected without having to be a fanatic about anything. Inequality and violence that spur a person towards fanaticism would be vastly reduced. Hence, all fanatical institutions would become less powerful and therefore less dangerous to society.
The economy will not suffer due to stagnation of population growth because purchasing power previously distributed unevenly among many will be concentrated more evenly in the hands of a few. Therefore, lower average individual purchasing power will be replaced by higher average individual purchasing power, while the national purchasing power remains the same.
When manpower is scarce, machinery will have to replace manpower, which will further reduce the cost of production, while improving the quality of it. If people do not work if not paid well enough, we might think that the cost of necessities will rise, but in fact, the production of basic necessities was among the first of industrial processes to be mechanized and therefore is already quite well-mechanized today, making human labor quite dispensable and comparatively expensive. Hence, continuing to use human labor to produce the basic necessities of life will only make the basic necessities of life more expensive. Using the technological advancements instead, would make the necessities of life cheaper. So, we do not have to worry that inflation will make useless the money deposit made by the parents to secure the basic necessities of the child’s entire lifespan. In depositing the money and securing the basic life-necessities of their children, the people of the world have made manual labor expensive and unavailable, hence making a profitable shift to mechanization unhindered and effortless.
Once all people do not have to work for a living, only those who wish to become a parent or acquire a luxury will work. But who will provide such intermittent employment? The existing industrial machinery and business environment would not go away in a single day. They will continue to exist, but be far more mechanized, causing human intervention to be minimal. Therefore, a shortage of human labor would aid the economy through mechanization and consequent improved standards of production. People who want to amass money for luxuries or other purposes will still be in plenty and they will continue the business and economy of today. They will find ingenious ways to amass money and enhance the economy, just as they do today. The only change that will have happened is that people no longer work to secure the basic necessities of life; they will continue to work for everything else they desire, just as we do today. The chief difference is: they work because they want to work, not because they are forced to secure their livelihood.
Excerpt from Message of the Perfect World
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