is it an utopia or is it possible?

Should I refer you to Orwell's Animal Farm? All animals were equal, some more so than others.

please elaborate on these rights and powers. would a person have the right to infringe on other's rights such as the right to live?

Human nature wouldn't allow it. Some like to be led and others to lead.

Meerkats can and do.

I think humans could, if everyone wanted to. but there is always someone who opposes an idea.. and they would be the downfall.

marooned
Sure when fish can fly and monkey's can talk.

I would hate a society like that. Who would deal with my garbage, for instance? I couldn't concentrate on programming because I would have to take my trash to the dumpster etc. No-one would want to work when they could just sit around!

robotic ferret servents... duh

Utopias are not possible. If you were to describe our world at the beginning of the 21st century to someone who read "Utopia" hot off the press, they would think you were describing Utopia.

The ability to travel anywhere in the world in less than a day. Six lane highways stretching across the continent with minimum speed laws that are faster than locomotives could travel in the last quarter of the 19th century. Giant ships that can cross the oceans in a week, without sails and a crew of less than 50. Hundreds of people flying through the air far above the clouds. Humans who have walked on the Moon, and returned alive. The exploration of Mars by "intelligent" vehicles created and ultimately controlled by humans.

The ability to talk with people on the other side of the earth in real time. A world where ordinary people can watch a war as it happens. Machines that correct grammar and spelling. Much of the world's information available at a keystroke. High rates of literacy, and free books available to the public. School children whose knowledge base is larger than that of the greatest geniuses of even one hundred years previously.

Cures available for many of the most fatal diseases. The deaf made to hear, and the blind to see. Infant mortality in the single digits, and adult life expectancy over 80. The complete elimination of Smallpox, and the virtual disappearance of other diseases that in the past killed thousands each year. Painless surgery and dentistry. Plastic surgery and liposuction. The ability to reduce bad breath and body odors.

The poorest citizen having more power at their command than the wealthiest and most powerful rulers and aristocrats had in earlier times. Ordinary individuals able to summon up an almost endless range of music performed for their individual pleasure. Electric lights that make it possible for humans to work 24 hour. Power tools of all descriptions. Clothing that doesn't wrinkle, and is so cheap that it can be disposed of long before patches are needed. Starvation virtually a thing of the past in much of the world. Climate controlled living spaces with running water and sanitary sewage disposal. Tasty packaged foods that are resistent to spoilage, and that can be served in minutes. Fresh fruits and vegetables available in all seasons.

The abolition of slavery, and governmental guarantees of fair wage and employment practices. Universal suffrage, regardless of sex, ethnic origins, or property ownership. Police forces restrained from abusing their power. Open and fair trails for those accused of crimes. prisons based on the notion of rehabilitation rather than punishment and revenge. The death penalty a relative rarity. Free and open elections generally untainted by fraud.

Social security and medical benefits to ease the burdens of old age and extreme poverty.

The list could go on, and on, and on. Those who were born before automobiles became more common than horses lived to see humans walk on the Moon. Electricity was a novelty to our great-grandparents, and they lived to hear the promise that Atomic power would provide unlimited electricity. Blacks were lynched for violations of Jim Crow Laws little more than 50 years ago, and now I don't believe a single Jim Crow Law exists anywhere in the U.S. Thurgood Marshal and Collin Powell may have had a hard time just owning a little farm 100 years ago. Even our grandparents would be astounded at things that we now take for granted. Flat color televisions that can be hung on the wall!

So aren't we living in Utopia? I don't think so.

Wow. That was amazing, Asherman. Your grasp of history is extremely impressive. I can't believe I just read that for free.

I'm going to save this and forward it to the next idiot that sends me one of those "good 'ol days" e-mails.

Again......Wow.

Ditto (as my new best Rush would say)

Jeb

Always the pain of living each day causes us to pine for what might have been. What was when we were infants and before our time seems golden compared to the dreariness of today. Nostalgia deadens us to the pains of the past, and we forget the sorrows of childhood. Every generation as far back as the beginning of written history has looked back to a Golden Age, and decry the loss of virtue and value. The next generation is always as bound for perdition, as the last was for glory. The further away we are, the more dimly we see.

There were wonderful things that happened just yesterday, and a century ago. There was often a sense of community, and families were close knit because no one ever ventured far from the place they were born. Hard physical work and the absence of chemical laden foods was a healthy life style. It was possible to know a large percentage of all the human knowledge that had been collected. There was the possibility of discovery that didn't necessarily depend upon giant organizational structures. The individual merged less easily into the crowd, and their character was known to all. Americans were almost insufferable in their enthusiasms and optimism as they literally conquered the continent. Today we decry Manifest Destiny, but without it all that has resulted since would not have been possible. Imagine a 20th century where the United States did not include California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, or Texas. If the Indian tribes and the buffalo had not been pushed to the brink, the bounty of the Great Plains would not have fed a large part of a hungry world. A reduced United States could not have been the Arsenal of Democracy, and either the Nazis or the Communists might have prevailed.

The thing is that every age has both "good" and "bad" points. Every generation, in every nation, individuals are faced with challenges. How we face those challenges will determine what sort of world our children will inhabit. We overcome one set of problems only to create a whole new set of problems. That is one of the constants of history. Another constant is the importance of how each individual reacts to their world. Some choose to avoid problems, others to attack them head on. Some have courage, and others shrink from even mild risk. Optimism is weighed against pessimism. Often we fool ourselves into believing that things are eternal, and trends will continue unaltered.

Excellent writing again! Perfect conclusion to the piece above. You should submit this for publication. Hmmm...to where, I wonder?.....hmmmmmmm.....