The ultimate success of Nutopia will be when millions of ordinary people choose Nutopia over the capitalist world they live in today. It should be an easy decision for those at the bottom who have nothing and who are trapped in a life where they have no hope of improving the conditions for themselves and their families. Most of the few people at the top are highly unlikely to initially embrace Nutopia because they are quite happy with the lifestyle that comes with their incredible wealth. For the majority of people in between though, the so called "middle class", who are not quite so desperate, the decision might seem more difficult. It is important for those people to understand that Nutopia does not mean a life of significant sacrifice, it is counter-intuitively designed to give them a much better life overall, while also creating a modern, technically advanced, and sustainable society, which preserves the environment for themselves and so that future generations can enjoy the same.
So how would life be different in Nutopia compared to how it is now?
Education
The education system today is completely out of balance with the needs of the community. Our kids are force-fed information for years, often being taught things that they have absolutely no interest in and much of which is lost shortly afterwards because it is not used. The stress we put on them to make sure they can compete against others is insane.
In Nutopia all citizens must complete their compulsory Essential Education if they are born in to Nutopia (between the age of 5 and 15), or whether they enter Nutopia. The Essential Education prepares citizens with everything they need to communicate, behave, contribute, live happily, and adhere to the Nutopia policies. After that they can simply contribute their labor to the needs of the community and develop new skills as needed to complete the tasks in the community. Unlike today where we put obstacles like student loans in the way of gifted individuals, the learning of new skills is encouraged and counts equally as labor towards an individual's required commitment to the community.
Work
In our capitalist society today, it is expected that most people work at least 40 hours a week, and with few breaks for vacation. Many people commute long distances so their workday might be more like 10 to 12 hours. There is so little time to sit down for meals with the family, or play with the kids, or spend quality time with friends, because we all have to spend so much time working in order to survive. Nutopia society focuses on providing services that are needed by the community as a whole rather than economic growth. The collective labor required to provide those services is significantly less than the labor available. A typical Nutopia citizen might only need to work a 4-hour day for perhaps 3 days a week. Variety of work is encouraged in Nutopia communities so that people work on a number of different tasks and interact with many different people in different environments. A person might work some days as a maintenance technician on the public transportation system, other days working on a farm, and other days working in a meal production facility. Nutopia uses technology sensibly so that mundane, boring, and repetitive tasks are automated, while enjoyable and rewarding tasks are shared between citizens in the community.
Economy
There is no concept of an economy or economic growth in Nutopia. Today the economy is either doing well, in which case the world as a whole is worse off because it accelerates our use of finite natural resources which will ultimately destroy us, or it is doing poorly, in which case millions of people are suffering due to lack of employment and increased poverty. In Nutopia if work needs to be done then it is shared by the citizens of the community. People work less and enjoy more spare time if there is less work to do. People don't worry about coming up with the next product or service to drive consumption and employment. If there is a real need for a product or service in the community, then the community takes the appropriate action to make it happen. Community landscapes are not spoiled with huge office towers, factories, railways and highways, and boarded up buildings as a result of failed businesses. The community has certain needs and all citizens share the work that is needed, nothing more, nothing less.
Money
Today we cannot survive without money and it is needed so that products and services can be produced in the economy. The global financial system is extremely complex, corrupt, and utterly flawed. From it's beginnings millennia ago, money was created so that people could be rewarded for their labor so that they could then buy things that they needed that someone else had produced with their own labor. In Nutopia there is no money or financial system because all natural resources used for the production of things that we need are not owned by an individual or group, and all labor is tracked by the Guardian System to make sure that all people are contributing their labor as needed by the community and all people are fairly treated. No one needs any money to buy possessions because nobody "owns" anything, but all people share goods and services equally in the community.
Possessions
Today shopping and buying possessions are an essential part of our socioeconomic system. If we went back to the way we were a century ago before we were cleverly turned in to dutiful consumers of an endless stream of products and services, then we would be in serious trouble. In the 1920s, the combination of mass production, consumer credit, and effective advertising, turned a whole population into an army of consumers. The accumulation of possessions became a sign of ones success and people were encouraged and coerced into buying anything and everything, often overextending themselves beyond their ability to pay for what they wanted and the beginning of a lifetime of debt.
In Nutopia there are no "possessions" because no one "owns" anything. People share everything from homes, to furniture, to clothes, to boats, to skis, and so on. You are born owning nothing and you eventually die owning nothing. Everything you have used in your life such as your home and the furniture in it is returned to the Central Sharing Facility when you die. During your life you can change the goods that you use anytime you want and the Guardian System ensures that you are using only your fair share. For example if you enjoy using a motor boat on a lake then you can request that you want it on a particular day, but the Guardian System will make sure that it is only allocated to you if others who want it have had a chance to use it too.
Leisure time
Today most of us have neither the spare time nor the money to enjoy leisure pursuits. We work so hard in school and our jobs and we often have to commute long distances. When we get home we are so tired and on the weekends we mostly take care of chores we couldn't do during the week. We are salves to our homes which require us to constantly maintain and upgrade them. Most enjoyable leisure pursuits like skiing, camping, sailing, snowmobiling, zip-lining, caving, mountaineering, and numerous others, all require expensive equipment which most of us can't possibly afford for the few days a year we might do them. All these take time to organize and we need to travel, and plan equipment and supplies, all of which again takes time and money which we don't have.
A Nutopia citizen has much more free time available so that they can lead a less stressful life, and so they can spend more time with family and friends, and more time on doing things they enjoy. No one owns any leisure equipment such as canoes, skis, skidoos, RVs, tents, scuba tanks, etc. because all of this is available to everyone from the Central Sharing Facility. So you don't need to "own" a motor boat to enjoy a few days a year on the lake, you simply request the days that you want and the Guardian System ensures that the motor boat is shared fairly among all those who requested the use of it. The public transportation system means that all leisure activities are easily accessible to anyone who wants them any time. Think of how much planning and effort it takes today to organize a simple camping trip for a family of four with perhaps a kayaking day and a mountain biking day. In Nutopia you simply enter your wishes in the Guardian System and your transportation, equipment, and supplies are all organized for you and ready for whenever you need them without you having to do any organizing, planning, or anything else to enjoy it.
Housing
Today, billions of people live in squalid conditions in slums and shanty towns in crowded cities with human waste running through the streets, where little clean water, disease, poverty, malnutrition, and hunger make conditions rampant. In more affluent countries conditions are better but like everything else in our capitalist world, homes are built with the cheapest materials and the lowest labor cost so ultimately the buildings are mostly poorly designed, poorly constructed, and are susceptible to damage from the weather and nature. Even the best homes are made from wood so the condition of the home will deteriorate over time and homes just aren't designed to last. Moving house is a very stressful experience and it involves a lot of negotiating, planning, and organizing of financial matters, moving, and coordinating with utility companies. Because of this people tend to stay in their home instead of moving, often taking on remodeling projects themselves and producing more shoddy construction, or staying in a house which is now too big for them because their children have left.
In Nutopia all buildings are well designed, and constructed with materials that don't deteriorate over time, so all housing is of excellent quality and is built to last. There are no imperfections from poor workmanship and all are energy efficient, have smart functionality, and have comfortable climate control. Many have gardens, roof top gardens, and pools, and neighborhoods are designed to promote community without being too close. Regular scheduled maintenance means that buildings last for hundreds of years. Homes are never remodeled because people can easily move from home to home without any concern for financial matters, moving furniture, or organizing utilities, because no one owns any property or furniture and all utilities like electricity, water, and communications are always running on all buildings. People live in homes which are "right-sized" for the number of people living there.
Transportation
We live in a world where pollution and traffic are the major characteristics of our transportation system. We have millions of miles of roads, and millions of square miles of parking lots (there are 500 million surface parking lots in the U.S. alone and in some cities, parking lots take up one-third of all land area), and thousands of square miles of driveways, because cars are immobile 95% of the time. Many people commute to work so they leave early, sit in traffic with other drivers all with one person per car, and after work they arrive home late.
In Nutopia the the Under Ground Pod Network and the Above Ground Pod Network are efficient, fast, reliable, convenient, only use clean electrical energy, and are a pleasure to use. Pods can be summoned anywhere in the community because there are Pod Terminals in every building and public place. There is never any traffic and people can travel long distances in just a few minutes. People also walk, use bicycles, and small low-speed electric vehicles such as scooters, wheelchairs, and segways on the Path Network, and the landscape is not littered with cars, and trucks on streets and highways, with pollution, noise, endless traffic, and huge parking lots.
Energy
The carbon-based energy world we live in today is playing havoc on our planet. The burning of coal, oil, and gas continues to be the main sources of energy for a growing global population with ever-increasing demands for more. Renewables are starting to have some impact but it is too little too late, and alternatives such as wind and solar have their own scalability and dependability problems, and can't possibly keep up with the energy demand on their own. While no one knows for sure when, it is well known that carbon fuels will get harder and harder to find and will gradually deplete over the coming decades.
In Nutopia, underground Geothermal Plants alone provide all the clean energy needed to power everything from buildings, to transportation, to Desalination Plants. These clean energy electrical plants are positioned all around the globe directly under the Nutopia communities and electricity is delivered to the communities through the Under Ground Network and the Above Ground Network.
