| and then we all had our own little places that would start radiating maybe a quarter mile out from the center. That would be the first outside circle. There would be a green belt outside of that, that would involve agriculture, in a much more sophisticated way than we're used to - it would look like wilderness
That would be cool, because you'd have space, but you'd also have your neighbors at your level of the circle, and others further out, who would help to guard what would keep reframing itself as the perimeter. - and some people could have their living places further out. Total population? 10K? Too much?
Yeah, possibly. 5K. But the model is flexible.
Everybody would have some freedom to move further towards the center, or further out. This kind of setup would be especially helpful for the kids, because the center would be the safest place, where there were guaranteed to be wise, kind people in charge.
And the kids would always know that they could go there, if things got rough. And they would always know where that was, because that would be part of the deal, that everybody knows that's the safe place, where you go if you get in trouble.
The people out on the outlying fringes of the circle, would include those who could not handle society too much, but who were exceptionally good at paying attention to the physical world. They would include some of the hypersensitive, including hermits.
They, too, would have a job. They would be guardians. And they would be mentors, occasionally, as appropriate, for the kids who showed signs of needing to be reclusive, sensitive, oddballs.
The guys might well tend to migrate especially toward the outer circles, but it wouldn't be a given. Everybody of any gender would have a choice as to where to seek their places, and also to change, adapt, evolve over time.
And eventually, the circle would get so big that people would spin off into starting other circles. And then they would run into people from other circles.
But there would be language, and people riding back and forth, on horses or donkeys, or camels or llamas. And there would be things traded between the circles, and there would be marriages.
So far, so good. But what happened when everybody ran out of room?
Oh, horrors.
It stopped being about circles, then. People started running out of space, so they started thinking about squares, because you can put more squares into the same space, than you can circles.
Unfortunately, squares require corners, and corners are always the furthest away, and besides; when you're in the corner, you're cornered.
Corners imply not having enough room. Otherwise, we'd still be running stuff with circles.
Nobody wants to be in the corner.
That's where you get trapped.
You might ask, where are the jails in this model?
I'll answer that. What I'm trying to dream up here is a model of civilization that doesn't require jails, where jails are anathema.
Where people who are getting into trouble know they have someplace to go for help - to the center. Where the guaranteed grownups are. The wise kind ones. The old ones. The young and extraordinarily talented ones.
The ones who know that rules are for fools.
The ones you know will be there for you, if you get into trouble. Because that's how it works; everybody knows that! That's how we roll here.
Sure, we all have problems, and sure, we like to diss the people in the center.
But we still know in our hearts they are there for us, even in all of our corners.
All we have to do is come out and come in.
That's my vision.
Miep Rowan O'Brien
July 28, 2010
All of my writing should be considered Creative Commons; i.e.; you're free to copy, post, anything - just please give me credit. Thanks!
|
