"suddenly i see...why it means so much to me"
Today, ladies, is "Create Some Rules for Your Own Ideal Society" Day. I'll return to post mine later (seeing as how I've already procrastinated heavily on a literary theory paper coming up with a handwritten list) but maybe there'll be a response or two by then...
EDIT: to start with, though, here's a quote that exemplifies my ideal society, taken from my history textbook readings on the beginnings of the Scientific Revolution in Europe in the seventeenth century, "Support for academics was merely one form of public endorsement. Kings endowed observatories, cities founded musuems, well-to-do women helped establish botanical gardnes, and learned societies sponsored well-attended lectures."
Now, just a part of the list, in no particular order:
--Honest, well-researched, and holistic parenting classes would be mandatory before anyone had a child.
--For those who didn't have a partner to raise a child with, there would always be the option of a local and supervised place where the child could participate in activities with an adult female or male.
--No models whose BMI is less than a healthly minimum would be allowed to promote themselves through the fashion industry.
--Varieties of potential educational options should be offered to parents along with full support for whatever they chose.
--Like some of the Native American tribes in the seventeenth century, rape and other forms of sexual abuse would be an offense punishable either by life sentences or death. Particularly when the victim is a child.
--The age of consent for all things would be lowered, depending upon the perceived maturity of each individual through some sort of test adminstered every year.
--Sex education would be mandatory, truthful, and well-researched; free birth control for both females and males.
--Emphasis on communal culture distribution -- which, by the way, I might re-post that old argumentative essay which debated for a "communal culture distribution," that I wrote several months ago, if it isn't too cringe-inspiring upon a re-reading.
--Educators and education would receive the same amount of funding as people and things such as football and the war budget do, even if that likely means cutting down on the latter. Ditto for other undervalued careers such as nursing.
--The traditional literary canon would remain well represented in libraries, but at the same time, there should also be an embracing of both newer and recently "re-discovered" titles/authors/genres that would become incorporated into the literary canon as well.
--Apprenticeships and internships in many different fields in order to discover one's interests and talents would be encouraged and, as far as possible, provided for freely, instead of promoting a one-track mentality towards what will become your life's work.
--And a bit whimsically, each home must have a set number of books to read each month or so that are Literature.
--The primary motivation for tourism would be the quality of free musuems, libraries, art galleries, science fairs, reenactments, reminiscent coffee shops that encourage free thinking and discourse, and other cultural centers that each town would compete with each other for. In fact, it might even become mandatory for each town to have a minimum number and variety of adequately funded cultural centers, depending on the town's size.
--Learn to stop procrastinating by realizing its fine to begin anywhere and in any way. Make mistakes faster. And remember to forget about good. Good is a known quality. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good...As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth. (All parts of this rule taken from the Incomplete Manifesto.)
--A freer and more fluid view of time.
--The government could not control religion unless its practices were actively harming the emotional, mental, and/or physical health of others, but religion would not be divorced from daily life. It would be fine to practice your beliefs in public, to bow to the moon on a solstice or recite verses in a courthouse.
--I forget who originally said this, but: excellent poetry would be printed on the back of cereal boxes for breakfast.
--Love specialization for its own independent merits, but immerse one's self in interdisciplinary endeavors.
--According to convenience, trade and bartering would be introduced again as an alternative for too-easy credit cards and other such ways of conducating financial transactions.
--Cultivate learned societies that would help with and sponsor the cultural centers, and whose members, in the more elite societies, would be the ideal for the other generations to look up to.
--Practice an all languages literacy: the ability to be fluent not only in reading and writing, but in music, terms of literary theory, art, nature...
--It would be mandatory for all people to attend various quality performances of Shakespeare produced by renowned acting troupes free of charge
And that's just a sampling. ^_^ Now I'm off to begin reading Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's. I hope to post again in the morning, about that new piece of reading material and other details.
EDIT: to start with, though, here's a quote that exemplifies my ideal society, taken from my history textbook readings on the beginnings of the Scientific Revolution in Europe in the seventeenth century, "Support for academics was merely one form of public endorsement. Kings endowed observatories, cities founded musuems, well-to-do women helped establish botanical gardnes, and learned societies sponsored well-attended lectures."
Now, just a part of the list, in no particular order:
--Honest, well-researched, and holistic parenting classes would be mandatory before anyone had a child.
--For those who didn't have a partner to raise a child with, there would always be the option of a local and supervised place where the child could participate in activities with an adult female or male.
--No models whose BMI is less than a healthly minimum would be allowed to promote themselves through the fashion industry.
--Varieties of potential educational options should be offered to parents along with full support for whatever they chose.
--Like some of the Native American tribes in the seventeenth century, rape and other forms of sexual abuse would be an offense punishable either by life sentences or death. Particularly when the victim is a child.
--The age of consent for all things would be lowered, depending upon the perceived maturity of each individual through some sort of test adminstered every year.
--Sex education would be mandatory, truthful, and well-researched; free birth control for both females and males.
--Emphasis on communal culture distribution -- which, by the way, I might re-post that old argumentative essay which debated for a "communal culture distribution," that I wrote several months ago, if it isn't too cringe-inspiring upon a re-reading.
--Educators and education would receive the same amount of funding as people and things such as football and the war budget do, even if that likely means cutting down on the latter. Ditto for other undervalued careers such as nursing.
--The traditional literary canon would remain well represented in libraries, but at the same time, there should also be an embracing of both newer and recently "re-discovered" titles/authors/genres that would become incorporated into the literary canon as well.
--Apprenticeships and internships in many different fields in order to discover one's interests and talents would be encouraged and, as far as possible, provided for freely, instead of promoting a one-track mentality towards what will become your life's work.
--And a bit whimsically, each home must have a set number of books to read each month or so that are Literature.
--The primary motivation for tourism would be the quality of free musuems, libraries, art galleries, science fairs, reenactments, reminiscent coffee shops that encourage free thinking and discourse, and other cultural centers that each town would compete with each other for. In fact, it might even become mandatory for each town to have a minimum number and variety of adequately funded cultural centers, depending on the town's size.
--Learn to stop procrastinating by realizing its fine to begin anywhere and in any way. Make mistakes faster. And remember to forget about good. Good is a known quality. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good...As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth. (All parts of this rule taken from the Incomplete Manifesto.)
--A freer and more fluid view of time.
--The government could not control religion unless its practices were actively harming the emotional, mental, and/or physical health of others, but religion would not be divorced from daily life. It would be fine to practice your beliefs in public, to bow to the moon on a solstice or recite verses in a courthouse.
--I forget who originally said this, but: excellent poetry would be printed on the back of cereal boxes for breakfast.
--Love specialization for its own independent merits, but immerse one's self in interdisciplinary endeavors.
--According to convenience, trade and bartering would be introduced again as an alternative for too-easy credit cards and other such ways of conducating financial transactions.
--Cultivate learned societies that would help with and sponsor the cultural centers, and whose members, in the more elite societies, would be the ideal for the other generations to look up to.
--Practice an all languages literacy: the ability to be fluent not only in reading and writing, but in music, terms of literary theory, art, nature...
--It would be mandatory for all people to attend various quality performances of Shakespeare produced by renowned acting troupes free of charge
And that's just a sampling. ^_^ Now I'm off to begin reading Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's. I hope to post again in the morning, about that new piece of reading material and other details.