Leaders: Brian Yee, Chloe Lee, Griffen Hamilton, Lindsey Ryan
Education
Education is of utmost importance, but unlike the schools we know there is one school for all ages. Instead of being in school for 12 years, they graduate at 16 years old so they can join the community and work. They learn of George Washington’s life, and career. What the main curriculum is about is early American history and values. That is something taught for all 10 years. They are also taught basic math, and science, subjects that can help advance the community. Everything taught to the students either correlates directly to their religion or to advance the workforce in the community. The school will be free for everyone and all teaching necessities will be a high priority when it comes to taxes.
Religion
Religion is very strict in this utopia, however, there is only one religion the citizens are allowed to follow. The religion is a new age form of worship directed toward a bronze statue of George Washington. Everyone has to attend every ceremony and service which is held every night at midnight. Citizens are free to worship at any part of the day but they are only allowed to hum the worship songs to George Washington. Their voices are only allowed to be used in song when they are at their nightly services. Nobody is allowed to have real teeth in honor of their savior George washington. At age seven, all real adult teeth are removed and replaced with wooden teeth to be more like George Washington. In addition, all people have to get their head shaved at age 5, because they can’t have real hair grow past their ears. Everyone has to shave their head once a week to maintain short hair. Each meeting it is mandatory that citizens wear white wigs like Washington, however, it is against religion and the law to wear the wig anywhere outside of the service.
Law & Order
For those who break the rules, they will be put first placed into a camp to reevaluate what they did wrong and to be conditioned correctly. They will be put under a strict schedule. After, they will spend a few weeks or months, depending on what rule they broke, painting new artwork of George Washington. They will be reevaluated at the end to make sure they will not do anything bad again.
For those who harm others, they will be put in another camp that will train you how to serve people and be their assistant. After the camp, there will be a test to make sure you are obedient, and they will end up serving the person they have harmed or their family.
For conflict resolution, the two people involved in the conflict will do a coin toss. If things still aren’t resolved, they have the option to ask an appointed official that is in charge of making decisions.
To enforce the rules of the society, there will be watchers who seem like regular citizens. They will patrol the streets casually to make sure that nobody is doing anything wrong or out of the ordinary.
Economics, Work & Leisure
For production and distribution of goods and services, there will be a set amount of citizens assigned to these positions that will specifically make and distribute any goods and services needed. Each family will receive a basket for each week. Families will be able to submit forms if there are any dietary restrictions or requests, but it will be the head of the production and distribution team that determines if the request is fulfilled. There will be no need for currency since everything and everyone should be equal and have equal opportunity. Wealth is not distributed.
The economy is reliant on the rest of the world with the government controlling everything. People will have specific jobs assigned by the government, and as long as they are fulfilled, each citizen will receive their necessities, and sometimes their wants.
Declaration of Independence
George Washington, often referred to as “Father of (Our) Country,” plays a significant role in forming our utopian society. Our society places great emphasis on history and facts, which is why the first president of the United States is a perfect leader to look up to, who also drafted the U.S. Constitution. Our society loves equality and being fair, so having one school for 16 years, strict guidelines, uniform haircuts, and equal distribution is key to our society. Having one school creates uniformity and community within our society while also giving equal preparation for work afterward. In the current society, different levels of schools for various ages like middle schools, high schools, and universities create a broken balance in education and a segregated group of students without unity amongst every student. Religion also plays a big part in our society, and having one religion with one focus on George Washington unifies the citizens by having an image to look up to and follow without much deviation. In the current society of freedom of religion creates problems with people’s morals and values based on their different gods. A more perfect society needs to be formed for harmony and efficiency in the community, which creates peace and uniformity. There will be less deviation and wrongdoing. Our society is different as we stress George Washington’s values, footsteps, and goodwill. Our society has some of the same characteristics of our current society with the importance of the U.S. Constitution, basic levels of education are taught, and prison-like camps to rehabilitate wrongdoing and promote moral actions.
List of Rules
- Remove adult teeth when age seven
- Shave head at age 5
- Shave head once a week after the fourth ceremony of the week has finished
- Must attend every ceremony and service in honor of George Washington
- No using the voice for worshipping outside of service
- Must wear wig in ceremony only and not outside of it
- Women’s dresses must be exactly two inches past the knee and only black
- Men have to wear black pants everyday
- Men and Women can only wear gray turtlenecks that go past their hands
- You can only marry within the family
Governing Body
The government of the utopia is structured like a mixed government since George Washington is a figurehead, a lot of power comes from his bloodline and those close to him dictating the rules and making sure people follow in his footsteps. Also, there are watchers over the city, making sure people follow the rules and are kept in their place to avoid corruption and chaos. Most of the utopian society/government revolves around George Washington, so his actions mainly dictated the rules and decisions that should be made in the perception of what Washington would have done based on the facts in history. This could go wrong as people decide to revolt against the government. No person is 100% likable, leading to some disgruntlement of Washington as a figurehead of the utopia. People have strong opinions and act upon them, which could lead to a revolution. Citizens could feel powerless and unworthy compared to watchers of the city.
After you have created your society, write down the ways (brief list) in which it could go wrong.
In general, people are not perfect and are bound to make mistakes. Independence and freedom are what promote a diversified and creative society that thrives and one that is not robotic or controlling. There will come times where people lack motivation and do not do their part in keeping the society working and thriving, in turn, not learning in school and not following in Washington’s footsteps. A society can never please everyone, and there will be ignorant or naive people that do not follow the rules and choose to be a rebel, therefore, disrupting society. Since there is authority/watchers in society, there will be people that feel powerless and want more control of society. George Washington might also not be perfect in everyone’s eyes.
ENG 206 - Chloe Lee 