May 4300As Hutori, and the world, enters into the next century, people from across the globe wonder what the future will bring. For some, the future will likely be one of the same, nations will fight each other over resources and political ideas. For others, the future looks a bit brighter, with newer technologies promising people better lives. For the Ataraxians in Hutori, the "future" is already here. For more than a century, the Ataraxians (who used to call themselves "Proletarians" under the now succeeded Hutorian Proletarian Party) have lived in underground mini cities in Adelia, 51,200 of them to be exact. In total, there are 64 constructed and operating Ataraxian enclaves in Adelia, which since March 4298, have formed under the new legally recognized Ataraxian Confederation, which effectively acts as the singular enclave to represent them all.
While each commune is structurally the same, they all operate with virtually unlimited political autonomy, enabling them to enact and enforce whatever policies they deem fit. Each commune houses 800 residents, who can reside there for the remainder of their lives if desired. Each commune relies on geothermal energy, utilizing binary cycle power plants (a kind of closed-loop system) to generate their power. These power plants require deep drilling, but do not emit any greenhouse gas emissions.
The construction of these communes was definitely not cheap, costing about $50 million per commune. While they require high capital costs, they have proven to be economically sustainable. According to their financial records, communes generate an average net income of about $2.7 million after taxes. This means that it would take about two decades for a commune to make up its initial investment cost. Since the communes have been around for more than a century, they have long since paid off their capital costs. As a precaution, most communes invest in gold reserves in the event the HLR significantly declines in value. They use the remainder of their net income to invest in future commune development and extra internal projects.
Communes generate income from a combination of food sales, supplementing energy back into Adelia's power infrastructure, furniture, clothing, selling computer server space, electronics and even medical services. Any research and computer programs created internally are shared freely to the world. Since the communes are in remote locations throughout Adelia, import and export can be costly on their budgets however and there has been talk of construction of an underground monorail to improve transportation efficiency. Until then, communes either rely on outside businesses to transport their goods and or make use of a dedicated team of teamsters who help ship supplies.
For Project Ataraxia, a new commune will be built for $10 billion, utilizing cutting-edge technology in hydroponics, geothermal energy production and manufacturing equipment. Ataraxians hope to be able to upgrade the other 64 communes to similar specifications, most importantly, switching over from organic farming to vertical hydroponic farming that maximizes space and does not require soil. This new investment is planned to improve each commune's profitability and increase their living space from 800 residents to 1,000. The Commune of Ataraxia, the $10 billion technological marvel currently in planning stages will serve as the Ataraxian Confederation's central R&D location, along with being the effective capital.
Dr. Vinal Parish, Ambassador of the Ataraxian Confederation wrote:Eventually, we will have enough communes to effectively self-finance the creation of new communes as our combined resources make up a sort-of "economy of scale". Right now, we are still very reliant on outside donations to finance massive projects such as Project Ataraxia. While our communes have proven to be very economically successful considering they are planned economies, they still simply cannot fund a project at a size of $10 billion without making sacrifices to their own internal future projects.
Despite these communes being highly egalitarian in nature, their structure is very different from the more "traditional" communes found in left-wing movements:
1. Ataraxians live like introvertsEach resident has their own living space that is basically a small one room apartment. This living space includes their own bathroom, kitchen and desktop computer. As these communes are underground, their climates are controlled at a constant temperature of 22 degrees Celsius (about 72 degrees Fahrenheit), with temperature variances found in areas requiring differences, such as in food growing facilities. While there are public bathrooms, they can only handle one person at a time and are meant for guests or emergencies. There are no cafeterias, although people are not prohibited from eating outside their rooms.
Vinal Parish wrote:We are council communists, so we share and manage all of our resources collectively. That said, we still want to live comfortably and have our own personal space to relax in. Sharing spaces such as bathrooms and kitchens is unhygienic and therefore uncivilized. Some items are effectively owned by individuals, such as articles of clothing and individual computers. We don't believe in the idea of "communal living" in the sense that we must live constantly around other people, we greatly value the individual and see the importance in giving them space.
We see no shame in living comfortably.
2. Code of conduct is strict and surveillance is universalResidents are forbidden from engaging in sexual conduct with others, using recreational drugs and even using profane language. Violation of these rules either results in the offender being rehabilitated (imprisonment and torture is forbidden) or deported depending on the situation. Pervasive public surveillance and strict enforcement of internal laws has resulted in a virtually crime free environment. Public bathrooms are even fitted with cameras that remain inactive while the room is in use, when the user leaves, the camera captures the condition of the bathroom, ensuring that hygiene laws are being adhered to. A security force of roughly 32 residents are responsible for external and internal security.
While the death penalty is authorized for offences such as reproduction, torture, murder, aggravated assault and even illegal immigration (or refusal to leave on deportation order), there have been no reported incidences of such events occurring. Given that residents are required to be sterilized, reproduction is essentially impossible. With their fertility rate at zero, the communes rely on outside immigration to continually replenish their numbers.
Vinal Parish wrote:We have hundreds of thousands of potential residents just waiting to join one of our communes. Every resident knows the rules when they join, they can leave at any time and most people are accurately profiled before joining. We have had only a few "defectors" if you will that decided to leave after finding that living in the communes was not working for them in practice.
Our reliance on immigration may seem like a flaw to some, but in actuality, it is tremendously advantageous. We don't have to raise children and can import already educated and experienced people at any age. This allows us to perfectly prevent problems such as an aging population or issues with overpopulation. If the outside world decides to stop reproducing, then we will cease to exist, but we will have no net contribution to any population size. It helps of course that Hutori is a mostly civilized country and as such, there are many good people that surround us.
3. Natural death is virtually extinctAlmost all Ataraxians die from euthanasia (voluntary) at varying ages. Life expectancy can vary significantly from person to person. According to Ataraxian law, once a person has become permanently "unproductive", they must either be euthanized or leave the commune. Those who are permanently and severely disabled to a point where they cannot contribute to Ataraxian society on even a small intellectual basis, are deemed to be economically parasitic. While cancer is present in the elderly, the Ataraxian system does not permit victims to die from it, requiring that patients either leave or opt for euthanasia in advanced terminal cases.
Vinal Parish wrote:The very idea of retirement is both economically and socially unhealthy. People are most happy when engaging in meaningful labour, work that they and their communities directly benefit from. While leisure activities are fine as a means of temporary distraction, they ultimately lead to boredom in the long-term if heavily relied upon.
Most of our people work on average 4-6 hours daily. This may seem less productive than your standard 8-hour workday, but you have to remember that vacations simply don't exist in Ataraxian society. What would you take a vacation from anyway? Our people live in one of the most, if not the most utopian societies existing today. There is simply no need for weekends or vacations. Our people approach tasks one problem at a time, opting for gradual completion rather than trying to push themselves beyond their limits. We hold the view that comfortable workers are productive workers. Better to spread the work out than to concentrate it and cause needless stress.
As for our euthanasia policies, I think you will find most people do not desire to live when disabled to a point when even enjoyment becomes nearly impossible, when even engaging in critical thinking becomes a painful chore. Such a state may still permit one to exist, but to have very minimal positive and or productive experiences. While it is true we require euthanasia in some cases, we do so to both protect the individual from a futile doomed existence and to ensure society remains economically sound.
Lastly, death is viewed differently here than it is in contemporary society. Yes, we view at as a permanent end, but not as something to be feared. After all, you haven't existed for the vast majority of time, such a state caused you no harm nor pain, so why fear it? In comparison, existing opens the opportunity to feel pain, to experience suffering. "Hell" does not exist in death, but rather in life. That said, we still respect the right to life for those who can contribute to it, to work to improve not only their life, but also the lives of their comrades. A human "vegetable" has no such capability, prolonging their existence is futile and cruel, as is allowing someone to die a slow painful death from disease.
We respect the right to a peaceful death on request for all of our people.
Vinal Parish wrote:To put it simply, the cost of utopia is a good economy, system and people. A good economy does not accept going into debt or running deficits, it lives according to its own physical capacity. A good system is one that is designed to serve its people and remove those who cause problems. A good people are compassionate, charitable and civil in their actions.
This is what makes a utopia, if you permit poverty, debt and malignant individuals in your system, you will never have a utopia. Trying to make a society that tolerates everyone is futile, some individuals want to cause harm, some individuals don't want to help society, why tolerate their presence? They can go ahead and make their own dystopian paradise, where hunger, disease and squalor thrives, but we aren't going to tolerate that here.
