Sunday, February 22, 2009

In "the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time", Christopher, a boy diagnosed with asperger's syndrome, visualizes a perfect world. His utopia is a logical haven filled with people like him, who live isolated and make contact only on scheduled occasions. In this place, Christopher feels ": )"

With his example, Sandra gave us a new project: invent your own Utopia, with your own idealistic geography, politics, economy, people, and etc.
We took this project with glee, stretching our imaginations to its limitless horizon.
Being a hippie at heart, the Utopia of my making consists of some serious love and peace mumbo jumbo.

Brief History
Things had gotten more than a little out of control by the year 4000. Most did not notice the madness, the rage and greed in their own eyes; and if they did, thought of it as a way of survival. If the Earth had a motto at the time, it would have been “survival of the fittest”. Technology was developed like no one in the past had imagined, and everyone itched to climb on top. Love was replaced by lust, friendship was for convenience and murder for power was common, even accepted. Many people lived in fear of falling behind, leisure breaks ending up in a breaking of a promising future; therefore no one took breaks; they just worked and worked until some bodies got too tired to function. This life of haste and greed inevitably led to despising of a friend and suspecting of a family member, thus the destruction of mankind. Male, female, young, old, religious or atheist, all fought for their power, resulting in a great war, later named The Last War.

Creation of Gaia
Decades have passed since the massacre of human kind, The Last War, where it finally and inevitably reached a point of madness and wiped each other out clean, from the face of this earth. However, there were a few survivors of the devastation, roughly a number of a million, spread across the Earth. After witnessing the bloodshed, each one of them, perhaps with the help of “god”, realized the madness of what had been done. The enormity of the war affected each one of the survivors. Mostly, they were scared, traumatized and remorseful, an emotion none of them had felt in a long time. The immeasurable shock had opened their eyes and allowed them to see the hell, each in their own ways, they had created and had been living in.

Having learned from their mistakes, the survivors of each continent, after great emotional difficulty, agreed to start over. They gave a new, reformed name to Earth: Gaia. In Greek mythology, Gaia was the daughter of Chaos, the wife of Uranus, the god of Heaven, and mother to her many offspring called the Titans. The time was difficult when dealing with the aftermath of the calamity; but after many complications, Gaia became a simple and peaceful place.

The new beginning seemed like nothing but scary to the new “Gaians” but with much bravery, the survivors put their heads together and tried to figure out what they had done wrong, and what had led to the destruction. After much contemplation, they realized what the problem had been; it was something most of them had already known deep inside, but were afraid to admit, for they would have to change their whole nature. It was their desire for materialistic things, willingness to step over others to be on top, and the thirst for power. After the Gaians had agreed upon the seemingly simple but intensely complicated problem, the solution wasn’t so hard. They would learn to live in love, harmony, and trust.

Gaia in the World of Today
It’s a place of freedom, and life itself is a relaxation. The civilians of Gaia live, not worrying about the past nor the future. They realize that they live for the present, and it is not a belief they try to convince themselves of, or try to understand, it is a known way of life that nobody questions and takes as a matter of fact.

Lifestyle
Gaians are a simple people, each with their own individual taste. Some love to paint, some love to read, some play sports, and etc. However, there are things all Gaians love: relaxation, good food, and company of each other. Gaians spend their days doing things they love.

Gaians are a huge fan of the sun and they migrate to a warmer climate whenever the sunny days come to an end. This is a great time for Gaians because they are able to see different places.

Gaians don’t use drugs or alcohol, for harming one's own body is a number one no-no in Gaia. All Gaians value their life very much, and don’t want to cut down a minute of life by harming their bodies.

Music is a huge part of Gaian lifestyle. From awaking to sleeping, music is constantly with them. A typical day of an ordinary Gaian would consist of going out to the beach and playing or listening to music, and enjoying delicious food and the warmth of the sun; and then surrounding themselves with the freshness of the ocean. Gaians, being very fond of animals, especially dolphins, would often venture out into the blue waters with them. After their adventure, they would come back to the beach, lie down in the white sand and just relax in the warmth of the sun.

A 100 years or so earlier, when the planet was still called “Earth”, the rate of poverty and crime was almost as high as 50 per cent. Now, considering the ample reduction in population and the change in people’s values, the poverty and crime rate has reduced to a clean zero.

Technology
Technology is very limited in Gaia. The Gaians have not found a need for technology; life is already very satisfying. However, it has tremendously advanced food-making technology; this, they have found a need for. Gaians like to lavish themselves with good food and drinks as a daily basis. Gaia is also advanced in medical technology; it has found a cure for every known disease.

Everyone in Gaia is equal, wherever they live, whatever their status. Considering the great distance between scattered Gaians all over the world, it is impossible to keep in touch with every single one. Gaians enjoy meeting other members of their large but a family-like society. Most Gaians enjoy walking around with nothing on or with a piece of cloth for warmth.

Politics
Although the lifestyles of Gaians seem overly simple with no responsibilities, they are all entrusted with a duty; a burden, in some cases. A grave task of protecting their own people and the lifestyle they so much enjoy. They have learned and observed, throughout many years, the core reason for destruction of mankind: themselves. Each Gaian understands that it is their responsibility to protect their own race, and the only way to do that is by protecting it from their own sadistic nature. They have learned the cycle of the world, the butterfly effect that takes place once even one Gaian attempts an act of greed. Although the understanding is global and widely embraced, the Gaians altogether have decided that they could not take even the slightest risk for another tribulation because sometimes the natures comes out in unintentional and subconscious ways. Therefore, the citizens of Gaia, although they despise and aren’t accustomed to order and discipline, formed simple consequences when breaking the law of love and peace.
1. Live alone on an isolated island for 3 months
Loneliness is one of mankind’s biggest fears and this, the Gaians believed, was the ultimate punishment for trying to commit an act against love and kindness.

Religion
Gaia is tolerant of all religions, as long as it teaches a person love, kindness and humility. Churches and temples are built and ideas are free to be exchanged; however, Gaian also understand that no one religion or lack of religion is right or wrong, thus the freedom to worship or not worship and no attacks on any religion.

Economy
Gaians are a race of wisdom, liberty, and integrity. They understand, by looking at the past generations go into ruins, that money is really the root of all evil. There is no such thing as money in Gaia; the citizens trade goods, mostly just share, and live free from materialistic desires. Gaians live a very domestic lifestyle; they manufacture their own stuff from raw materials and if there is something one can’t make, he/she would trade with someone else who does have it.Unlike their ancestors of the destroyed world, the Gaians, having learned a valuable lesson, are careful not to spoil the wonderful world they have created.

The society of Gaia run mostly on the will of the citizens, despite the minor security and penalties. The citizens of Gaia’s actions are not limited by the rules; for most parts, they are free to do whatever they want. However, their nature and their upbringing has taught them to be loving and caring, selfless and relaxed. They understand that in order to keep the world the way it is, it is their responsibility to stop any evil or even human nature from interfering with the perfect life.

So do Gaians live with a lack of choice and are forced to live in a world of love when they want to venture into world of wealth and power? No. Their good intentions and actions are merely for their own happiness and the planet they life in.



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