judicial BRANCH
PHYSICALITY
Physical Health
mentality
Mental, Emotional, & Social Health
The Judicial branch, divided into the three departments of Spirituality, Mentality, and Physicality, functions as a sort of auditing system. Their responsibility is to inspect and analyze the Executive branch and the city at large to ensure that the city-wide directive of prioritizing health is optimized. They constantly search for flaws or opportunities to improve and propose solutions to keep Augury at its best. That being said, governing officials should not receive preferential treatment immunity to any laws; their position must be one of public service. No abuse of their authority should ever be tolerated and they must be held to a higher moral standard than the average citizen, not less.
spirituality
Spiritual, Ethical, & Moral Health
Culture of Health
Augury should not be described as a paradise or utopia— the concept does not fit the definition of either word. A utopia, by definition, is imaginary—and is innately characterized by perfection. The primary definition of “paradise” has a similar connotation of perfection, as the concept of heaven. Make no mistake: Augury will never be perfect because people cannot be perfect. If our expectation is perfection, we will be constantly disappointed and disillusioned at best, and at worst, we will create a dystopia in a misguided attempt to achieve perfection through means of control.
The secondary definition of “paradise,” however, suits Augury quite well: “an ideal or idyllic place.” Ideal (or optimized) conditions are a worthy goal to reach for, though never a prize we will hold in our hand. It will take work—ongoing, never-ending work in the pursuit of the ideal habitative environment for humans. The core of this environment is our culture, what it values, what it prioritizes, what it tolerates, and what our norms are.
So—how do you create culture?
The writer Will Durant interpreted Aristotle's teachings as such: “we are what we repeatedly do.” The only way for us to have a culture of health is for every one of us to repeatedly agree upon it. We must work together, diligently and daily, to pursue our own health and the health of others, facing problems where they develop head-on and without hesitancy. This is important at every level of society—if we do not prioritize the health of the weakest and most vulnerable of us, but show preference to the strongest and most powerful, we become hypocrites. We must consistently advocate for each and every member of our community, especially those who are unable to advocate for themselves. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to personal health. Some need food and housing. Some need therapy or healthcare. Some simply need a sense of purpose, or the opportunity to serve others. Some need nothing more than time and rest. How can we provide the same things for all people, when any amount of support will be too much (and therefore wasteful) for some and not enough for others? We must strive for equity in addition to equality. We must actively pursue success for each of us; we cannot neglect anyone. We must not be selfishly satisfied thriving while our neighbors are struggling. We can tolerate having no outcasts. No rejects. No ghettos, slums, or poor neighborhoods. We cannot tolerate intolerance, and must be intolerant of discrimination, for we are all one. A problem in any part of our community is the responsibility of us all. When the health of all of our people is high, the health of our community will be high. We must choose to pull together—repeatedly. Constantly.
So how do we care for others? Think about someone close to your heart. How do you care for them? Do you make sure they have enough to eat? Do you care if they have somewhere to sleep, and would you take them in? If they were sick, would you care for them? If they were in trouble, would you visit them? Are you a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on for them? If they are incapable or ignorant, do you help them learn and grow? Do you include them in your social life? Do you give them help when they need it? Do you sacrifice for them? So it should be for all our fellow human beings. Not everyone to the same extent, of course, as we hold special fondness for family and friends—but we must not be strangers to our neighbors. This is the fundamental purpose of Augury: altruism. There is a real (though unmeasured) threshold of true care and compassion we are able to extend to those around us before triggering a sense of defensive tribalism to break down our communities into more digestible portions; for this reason, Augury should remain a relatively small community, never more than maybe ten thousand in population for a single colony. We have to be aware of our capabilities and limits, so that we can set attainable goals.
Our Fundamental Needs
In 1943, Abraham Maslow proposed a hierarchy of human needs, arranged in a pyramid with survival needs at the base and self-actualization at the top. His theory posited that human motivation is not just concerned with tension reduction and survival—but also with growth and development. He suggested that once we take care of our lower, more basic needs, we are more willing and more able to pursue higher needs. I believe the same. We must care for the basic needs, not just of ourselves, but of each other, in order to be a healthier, kinder, more moral culture. Combine this hierarchy with the Japanese concept of “Ikigai,” where our passion, aptitude, livelihood, and sense of purpose overlap.
If any of these four aspects fall out of balance, we ourselves feel unbalanced. But when these needs are fulfilled, we feel fulfilled, and complete. At the core of our beings, we have many needs, all of which must be balanced with the rest. But are we capable of meeting all of these needs adequately on our own? We must tend to all of them, but in a society of people, the full responsibility of needs fulfillment cannot fall on the individual alone. We need a shift in fundamental perspective and priority, and revisit what the social structure we live in is for.
What should the structure of a society do for us? We choose to gather together in mass settlements and colonies rather than fend for ourselves in the wilderness—how must a society serve its constituents to justify itself? What defines a society, technically speaking? Most simply: “a voluntary association of individuals for common ends.” I identify two crucial parts to this definition: “voluntary” and “common ends.” Voluntary—meaning we choose it. Why would we willingly persist in an association that fails to benefit us? If we choose to make the association—why would we not make it in such a way that collectively benefits us all as much as possible? If our mode of interaction merely centers around competition, why cohabitate at all? We live close to each other to benefit from each other, to operate as a team. To pursue common ends. The word “community” has a similar definition as society when used in one sense, but in another, it is “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.”
In an excellent article published in the Open Journal of Social Sciences, authors Hossain and Ali describe the relationship between an individual and the society they inhabit, and describe the ultimate goal of society to “promote good and happy life for its individuals. It creates conditions and opportunities for the all round development of individual personality. Society ensures harmony and cooperation among individuals in spite of their occasional conflicts and tensions.” They go on to assert that “a human being…cannot live without association. So man’s life is to an enormous extent a group life. Because individuals cannot be understood apart from their relations with one another,” and “ [a human] has to live in society for his existence and welfare. In almost all aspects of his life he feels the need of society. Biologically and psychologically he is compelled to live in society.” An ugly picture begins to emerge when we consider this and see how isolated we are now, the loneliness we suffer from. The community we need as human beings is slowly killing us. As long as we are in our current culture, health will never be a priority—the profits of industries such as pharmaceuticals, energy drinks, entertainment, pornography, tobacco, alcohol, and more will never allow it.
“What We Owe to Each Other” is the focus of Professor T.M. Scanlon’s (excellent) and best-known book, and a crucial question we must ask ourselves if we choose to live among other people. Some believe in individualism or libertarianism and assume no responsibility for the wellbeing of others. But I believe in the obligation of the social contract. I believe to be a healthy community we must each think beyond ourselves, not be narrow-minded in selfishness, but look to the wellbeing of others and the community at large as a priority. The collaborative nature of community requires us to adopt a delicate balance in our mindset—we are obligated to contribute what we can, but without a transactional expectation of others to do the same. Instead, we should do the best we can—serve the common good and others, with or without thanks or reciprocation. In kind, we must care for our neighbors whether or not they are able to compensate us or support themselves unassisted. As R. Buckminster Fuller wrote to New York magazine in the late 1900s,
“We must do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living. It is a fact today that one in ten thousand of us can make a technological breakthrough capable of supporting all the rest. We keep inventing jobs because of this false idea that everybody has to be employed…because, according to Malthusian-Darwinian theory, he must justify his right to exist…The true business of people should be to go back to school and think about whatever it was they were thinking about before somebody came along and told them they had to earn a living.”
Our technology has advanced exponentially since Fuller’s time, and this goal has become all the more attainable. The abilities of the strongest and most powerful are sufficient to support the weakest and most feeble—and we, like the ancient Athenians, should consider the opportunity an honor. Will some lazy people take advantage of such a system? Of course they will. Someone will always take advantage of any system—but that is no reason to punish those who struggle. With all our achievements, can we boast for anything while our poor, addicts, disabled, elderly, and orphaned still struggle? Are they not still people? Are you worth more than they are because you are not struggling? “Let the person who has never done anything wrong cast the first stone.”
The truth is: the vast majority of us don’t have to struggle to survive anymore. We have advanced to the point that we can produce excess of our needs with progressively less input—which enables us to pursue higher goals.
For this reason, the culture of Augury will be audited and safeguarded by the three Judicial departments, to fulfill the hierarchical needs of all people—physical needs; mental, social, and emotional needs; and spiritual needs. What we treat as a priority will define our culture. How we treat each other will define our community.
“Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like ‘struggle.’ To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.”
—Mister Fred Rogers
Public Service Announcements
Much of the design of Augury’s culture will be unfamiliar to immigrants. To encourage new cultural norms, consider a campaign of simple animated PSA’s to demonstrate appropriate public behavior and etiquette and manage expectations. Manipulative imagery or phrasing should be carefully avoided, as this could easily turn into propaganda. Data-driven sources should be cited where appropriate.
When new residents emigrate to Augury, they should be required to undergo induction training which will familiarize them with cultural norms, as well as Sign Language and emergency protocols.
Simpler Living
No doubt some readers will find the inclusion of this section strange. In an underwater facility with submerged data centers and self-healing walls powered by nuclear energy, one would expect life to be complex, filled with technical data and specialized knowledge. But in fact, proper application of technology is exactly what will enable us to live more simply. I refer primarily to bureaucracy. American culture is tainted by the influences of bureaucracy, at the expense of making life in a community far more difficult than it needs to be, mostly due to the complexity of our law and justice systems. I know people who will not let their childrens’ friends play in their yard, because if a child gets hurt they as the homeowner are held liable by insurance companies. The concept of “legal liability,” a corruption of accountability, prevents us from normal interactions with others. People won’t say “sorry” when they are at fault because it assumes liability in court. Codes and zoning prevent efficient civil design. We cannot become truly self-sufficient: we cannot grow our own food, wire our own network service, build our own houses, run our own businesses, or harvest electricity from wind and rivers without government fees and interference. You can hardly do anything in America without having to fill out a form for the government (except buy a gun). And even if we could become completely self-sufficient, we do not truly own our own land: you still have to pay property taxes, and if you don’t, your land and property are taken back. Government organizations themselves are so encumbered at every level by documentation and oversight that they are rendered ineffective. Laws and regulations have become nothing more than obnoxious hoops to jump through, boxes to check, without exerting much real power. Lawyers make a living taking advantage of people who don’t know the law as well as they do (because most people have better things to do than decipher our disaster of a legal code) and sue them for all they’re worth. Then, on the other hand, gigantic corporations like McDonalds get away with unsafe business practices and turn their victims into laughingstock with corporate propaganda.
Our rules are not strong enough to stop the powerful, but for the rest of us, they are an inscrutable mess that can bankrupt or imprison you if you get on the wrong side of it.
I do not know what the perfect or optimal legal system is. But I do know that a code so massive that the average person has no hope of ever understanding it is not the answer. I believe the key is simplicity—laws have their place, but there are always loopholes. The structure of our legal system has reduced justice not to what is right or wrong, but who has the better lawyers or can sway public opinion and popularity. Regardless, the strength in our community will not be the exhaustiveness of our laws, but in the relationships of our community. We must share a sense of honor: to apologize when we make a mistake, and to right our wrongs. This is another reason to keep Augury small: we should not be anonymous in our community. We need to know the people we live and work with, so that we are less willing to take advantage of them, and more likely to show them compassion. We need to know the people at every level of our organization hierarchy, so no one in power can hide behind a title or a corporation. We need real accountability, and it needs to be personal.
