Food for deep thought

[prelude] Sometimes I let my imagination get the best of me and I let ideas flow freely. A few weeks ago it happened again and I decided to put some of them down. I wasn't sure about posting this, so I waited a few weeks to see if I'd return to this post and still feel like publishing it. I do.....

So I was thinking.... I often wonder how our society, how our world would be different if there were even some slight alterations in our environment or the way we do things.

I try to imagine the effects of these changes and think about if they are good or bad in the long run. I try to take into consideration that some of these ideas already exist in other parts of the industrialized world while others border on Utopian ideology. Each of these ideas are meant to be considered individually, on their own merit. This is not to be interpreted as a 'wish list', nor is this exercise to come up with excuses or reasons why these things could never happen. It is simply a list of things to consider.

Since I don't have a forum other than this blog to discuss these with people, feel free to chime in with your own offerings and/or your own takes on any item in this list. [in the comments]

What would it be like if.....

1 ...teachers were paid as much as engineers?
2 ...stores were closed at meal times and only open 8 hours (total) per day?
3 ...transit was free to ride?
4 ...roads and highways had to be funded only by gasoline taxes and other fees that only drivers pay?
5 ...most neighbourhoods had a tool sharing co-op?
6 ...your doctor was allowed to prescribe an outing to an improvisation or comedy show or movie as prescription medication?
7 ...we spent as much money developing renewable energy technology as we spend trying to get every last drop of oil and natural gas out of the ground?
8 ...there were highways in the sky (for easy-to-fly personal low altitude aircraft)?
9 ...every day had a siesta from noon-2pm?
10 ...there were no convenience stores?
11 ...cars and trucks were shared like a big co-op? (not unlike the business model of ZipCars)
12 ...doctors got a financial incentive for making you healthier? (quit smoking, lower cholesterol...)
13 ...even post-secondary education was free (paid by taxes - or industry)?
14 ...schools treated the arts with the same importance as the sciences?
15 ...the media could only report the good news stories?
16 ...group projects were just as important as individual results in school?
17 ...you had to grow your own food (either individually or as a neighbourhood)?
18 ...countries solved all of their own problems first?
19 ...graffiti artists were instead paid to paint murals?
20 ...you purposely went to meet a new neighbour every week?
21 ...junk food was more expensive than healthy food?
22 ...children were taught that our way is not the better way, just another way?
23 ...bearing a smile had the same actual value as giving a dollar?
24 ...every military was instantly converted into an equally sized and funded aid organization?
25 ...all textbooks were available online and they were collaboratively updated in real time?
26 ...we seriously invested in the power of the sun to meet our energy needs?
27 ...we truly made an effort to rehabilitate criminals?
28 ...we closed all zoos, but made studying and observing animals in their natural habitats possible using technology?
29 ...it was not morally or ethically acceptable to promote atypically thin men, women and children?
30 ...children were guided and groomed into the right career(s) by professionals who knew how to thoroughly assess their potential?
31 ...we could cross North America on high speed rail in 24 hours?
32 ...politicians received no special privileges whatsoever (including no financial contributions)?
33 ...we accidentally discovered that the cure for cancer was joy?
34 ...artists (of all stripes) had to promote their own works but got to keep all of the money (not impossible with today's technology)?
35 ...there were no organized TV networks? (we'd still have the technology, but we get to choose everything)
36 ...meditation was taught in school?
37 ...we worked a longer day, but a shorter 4 day work week?
38 ...it was no longer safe to eat any kind of meat at all?
39 ...schools provided every child with a free, nutritious breakfast?
40 ...high school students adopted (and went to visit) a senior in a home?
41 ...society eventually abandoned the use of cosmetics?
42 ...religion was kept out of schools?
43 ...you were not allowed to alter pictures of people? (in other words, no photos can be retouched)
44 ...access to water was entrenched as a human right and could not be sold?
45 ...marijuana was legal and standardized by the medical community?
46 ...a deadly virus came into existence that only affected 'closed minded' people?
47 ...there was no such thing as cigarettes or cigars?
48 ...it was perfectly acceptable to fart in public?
49 ...we didn't know how to lie?
50 ...we actually intercepted a message from another world?

Many of the items on this list are considered to be absurd. So what? Just imagine how the change would affect the world. That doesn't cost anything and that's where all change begins - in your imagination.

photo by Stratocasterman