Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll And The Perfect World

Essay

This is gonna be some post, brothers and sisters. It's not just one big topic, it's THREE. Hell, an entire generation of people believed that the key to happiness WAS sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll. I call it the Hedonist's battle cry.

But what place will these have in the World Family? Will they cease to exist when we're all happy and fulfilled, or will there always be a desire for them? Let's take them one at a time, from least volatile to most, starting with:

A) Rock 'n' Roll and the Perfect World

What will music be like in the World Family?

The short answer is-- much like it is now.

Music isn't a vice. It isn't a biological imperative. No, music was a brilliant discovery from early man, who emulated the lovely sounds of wind and water and creature calls with his own voice and later, with his invented instruments. Music is as different in the far corners of the globe as humans are similar, but all musicians seek to move the human soul, to lift our imaginations and send it flying through the universe, to leave in its wake a subtle longing for ever more of its harmonious power.

Enter money. At a point in human history some of us sought to bottle music up for a price, turning it into a commodity. They saw it as a value of 'x' in the equation of greed. Pure lovers of music disagreed, and as soon as the technology became available they made their feelings known-- with magnetic tape, Compact Discs, and finally, digital files on the Internet.

And now, while lovers of music are ripping songs they like for their own bitchin' playlists, unsigned musicians everywhere are now uploading their own tracks for the world to experience. Anyone can place an audio or video stream onto YouTube, and with a little shameless self-promotion can be seen by thousands or even millions of people. At some point the video will have large enough numbers that it will be recognized by a record label and the musician will be asked to write an album, and their career takes off.

Similarities exist. In the Perfect World of the future, anyone can also record a song and have it distributed for thousands or millions of people to listen to. Those listeners then rate your song, much like is done on YouTube. Now things change.

With Perfect World, when enough people like your music you can give a concert, without needing to be 'discovered' or 'signed'. You are assigned venues according to the size of your fan base, a room which will be large enough to fit them, whether it be a small club or a vast stadium. Multiple nights might be necessary, which would be fine.

If you draw a more intimate group of followers, you can ask for and will be assigned a smaller locale, even a hotel foyer or private living room-- success or failure is not an issue in Perfect World society-- as long as one person wants to hear you play, an audience can and will be granted. There is no concern for seating costs, or nightly attendance-- in a society not driven by profit, those concerns simply don't exist.

Using the nuclear family as an example, imagine your parents decide to build a playroom as a wing to their home. After it is built, do they 'book' time in the room with your family to make sure it is fully utilized? Of course not. It is used whenever it is used. If it turns out nobody wants to play in that room, then the family decides what other uses that room could have-- maybe it becomes a practice room for one of the children's musical careers, or an extra storage room for junk-- whatever happens, it's a family decision, and nobody is charged for using the room. That's what families do, and that's how the World Family works.

The musicians who perform for their fans don't get paid. The venue doesn't get paid. But the fans don't have to pay anything to see their favorite musicians, either.

This entire concept boggles the minds of organized number-crunchers because they see the potential for abuse in the system, and how an imbalance like that could be unsustainable. But getting back to the nuclear family example, how is greediness handled?

Mom comes back from grocery shopping with many bags of fresh, delicious food. Do dad and the kids attack the booty, stuffing their faces with days worth of food in mere moments? Not really, although that bag of marshmallows might mysteriously disappear. No, the family understands that they each have to be fair to the others, and though a little guidance might be necessary for the youngest or most self-centered at the outset, pretty soon everyone is being polite and taking only what they need. This is the essence of the World Family.

The bottom line is that music will be a vibrant part of the World Family, and without a 'superstar' machine in place the quality of music will only continue to improve.

B) Sex and the Perfect World

Modern America began with pilgrims, who came here to escape religious oppression. Once here they were free to practice their faith, complete with restrictive rules on human behavior, specifically on sexuality. While that might have been fine for the religiously driven, natural human desire flies in the face of that directive, and is therefore difficult to maintain without severe punishment.

The World Family seeks to become pragmatic about our own biology, and sexual desire is the first to be studied since, well, it seems to be on everybody's mind. Biologically speaking, sex is necessary to ensure survival of the species. Well, we have more than enough people on planet Earth today (some say ten times too many), so why hasn't our predilection for copulation diminished?

Because there's much more than just a biological component to sex. Sex is the closest physical interaction living creatures have, and for us sentient ones, there's a powerful emotional component as well. The act of coitus brings about strong emotions; not just the ecstasy of orgasm, but also pleasure, love or longing; and even sorrow, fear and hatred. Chemical reactions are taking place all over the body-- the brain is aglow with information. Sex can be the most important part of a person's life, or the most feared. It is THAT complex.

Today, sexual confusion in all its forms contributes greatly to the world's pain. Homosexuality is misunderstood, regulated or even banned. Marriage shackles partners for life. Laws prohibit and punish the least type of deviance from normal. Misinformation runs rampant. People who are starved for sex are forced to seek out streetwalking professionals or faceless strangers on Craig's List. People unqualified to give sexual advice are doing so. Childbirth complicates all but the most traditional of arrangements. If ever there were a society in flux over a behavioral norm, it's ours, about sexuality.

Some schools of thought believe in separating the thinking mind from the emotional mind. Perfect World Theory is not one of those. The awakening of sexuality in humans is to be encouraged, and awareness of its full aspect needs to be attained. When the transition to World Family is complete, human mating, pairing and sexuality will be viewed in an entirely different way. Let's look at a few categories:

Marriage- Many couples are built for marriage. They are extensions of each other; incomplete without their mates. Everyone can tell as they walk down the street-- their happiness practically glows.

For the rest of us, marriage is full of hidden pitfalls. For some, it is the loss of privacy. Others dislike the gender neutralizing effect, as men hold their wives' purses in the store and women watch sports with their husbands. But for the vast majority (of men), it's the idea of never again holding a new woman in that special way.

It may seem callous to view it in that manner, but remember... Perfect World Theory seeks to build a society AROUND human needs, not one which IGNORES them. You may find various human desires repugnant, but that's just the 'judgmental you' immersed in our current society, unable to separate yourself from the idea of 'normal'.

It has been speculated many times that the biological imperatives of men and women are different, a fact which contributes to the war of the sexes. While it may be true, it lacks acceptance. Women (not all, of course... just the large majority) want to be with a man who desires family. Many men, on the other hand, would feel strangled if attached to one woman for life.

The biological imperative dictates that men spread their seed to ensure a wide variety of genetic difference in progeny, which reduces incompatibility in the next generation of mates. Conversely, women seek to nurture a family, which ensures that there will be a new crop of mates to survive into maturity. It's obvious that species survival needs both sides. Perfect World Theory accepts those needs, and makes accommodations for them.

Marriage would become less about tying men and women to their children together in a tight knot (which, by the way, can lead to societal bottlenecks) than a guarantee that children will not experience the loss of a parent through divorce, or the misery of being a trapped pawn in a jealous game of tug-of-war.

Age Limits- Today, there is a strict age limit for sex. Children beneath that age are not to engage in sex. Adults over that age may not have sex with children under that age at any time. There is a good reason for children not to have sex until they are emotionally ready-- doing so can have dire impact on an innocent. Unfortunately, the assignment of an arbitrary intimacy age can achieve almost the opposite effect from what had been intended. The fact is, people develop at different rates, and many of them are ready to try sex before the legal age... and do. The other side of that coin is that many feel undue pressure to succumb because, even at the 'legal' age they do not feel ready, but others may be checking the calendar, then urging them to indulge.

One modification society might employ might be the addition of a test which checks for adequate knowledge of the consequences of sex, plus a section which assesses emotional readiness. It would be requested by the youth and a 'legal age' license could be issued to those that pass. Those who don't pass but still desire sex would have the option of attending a workshop to learn about emotional intimacy.

Location, Location, Location- Under the mantle of prudence, sex is considered a private affair, to be carried out in private. World Family agrees in principle, because like with yawning, being in the vicinity of sex tends to make others want to have sex themselves. Society could quickly grind to a halt by allowing sex anywhere, at any time. Perfect World Concept also understands that many people require copious amounts of sex.

Both situations could be resolved by the establishment of indoor Sex Playgrounds where people congregate for 'congress'. They will be very different than today's playground (the 'rent-by-the-hour' hotel), which is simply a 'discreet' place to perform acts which are considered illegal or immoral by today's standards.

Sex Playgrounds can vary widely in design, but all should be divided to keep opposing sexual concepts separate in order to minimize tension. In a drastic example, it would only be prudent to keep the 'foodies' (smearing and eating food during sex) in a different room than the 'scatties' (oh, you can guess).

Other divisions would be to separate public versus private sex, hetero versus homo, vanilla versus deviant, couples versus groups; and a multitude of other ways to ensure healthy, stress-free sexual encounters. A playground of this type in a typical city could be enormous, serving thousands of people in hundreds of rooms, each catering to a unique sexual appetite. Gone would be today's 'meet markets' (or is it 'meat'?), bars where alcohol, loud music and darkness all cloud the senses in a vain attempt to enhance attractiveness. Instead, it's more like a health club with lockers and showers, and a computerized check-in that helps direct you to the room of your tastes for the evening. Orgasm by the numbers.

Business- Selling sex has long been considered the 'oldest' profession. In a moneyless society like Perfect World sex will still exist, so the question is, how do we ensure sex to everyone who desires it? We can't ask a group of people to be sex workers without compensation-- how many of today's professionals would continue if there were no money in it?

Truly there will always be people who enjoy it more than the average, just as there are people who like it less, or not at all. Once we have rid ourselves of intimacy barriers, the frequency of sexual encounters will likely shoot up. Creating a comprehensive way to find partners with our own predilections will also increase positive encounters. The future of sex as a business will probably be the modern equivalent of a matchmaker-- the Sex Website.

For example, let's say you want to meet someone who also likes to eat food off their partner's naked body. Go to the website. Enter your specific desires. The site searches among ALL people in the area whose profiles have matching data, generating a list of profiles. Each profile shows a video of that person in everyday life, along with a short interview, which is available for all others to view. Pick and watch the videos. Choose several to communicate with. Those people receive your request and review your profile.

Your responses may vary; some may enjoy nibbling potatoes from a pectoral or licking gravy off a gluteus; others have tried it in the past but now prefer their pasta on a plate; others might say 'no thanks'. In any case, it eliminates the uneasy broaching of a subject deemed sensitive by one or both of you, and allows you to find each other without the prying eyes of an uninvolved third person-- all matches are found by computer search requested by the user.

But what if a person is, for one reason or another, deemed unworthy? Currently a prostitute will have sex with almost anyone so long as their price is met. What you're asking is, How can an ugly guy get laid in the Perfect World? Well, remember the Sex Playground? Head over to the Kink Wing-- there's bound to be several rooms which would work: Sex In The Dark room, Sex In Mud room, Sex With An Automaton Surrogate room... or even Opposites Day room. And don't forget, one of the perks of Perfect World Society is phasing out many of today's issues, like obesity, physical shortcomings or flawed emotional responses.

Shyness- A large number of people have trouble expressing their sexual desires. That may or may not continue under the World Family. Using the Sex Playground or the Sex Website, though, you will more than likely find the perfect person to help change all that. Because while your profile has the entry 'shy around the opposite sex' in it; the person you meet's file will probably say 'enjoys building confidence in others'. Viola. Problem solved. And that's assuming the people of the World Family will even feel shyness-- it's also likely that 'leaving nobody behind' will have its expected outcome in creating emotionally healthy people.

'Normality'- Or do you like things the way they are? Do you prefer meeting and talking with new strangers, getting to know them, playfully flirting with them, arranging a series of dates, one of which will end in intimacy; then committing to each other, creating progeny and a life under one roof together?

There are Civil War buffs, too... so please, do what feels right for you, modern or traditional. In the 'Perfect' World, as we know, there's no wrong way to do things. What makes the Perfect World perfect is not that it's perfect or we're perfect, because we're certainly not perfect, and neither is the Perfect World going to be perfect. What IS perfect is the perfect arrangement between us imperfect creatures, and our system, which caters to imperfection. (Perfect!)

Our current system creates laws which, if followed to the letter in their entirety, could only be followed by perfect people who never ever make mistakes. Does that sound like you? It sure doesn't sound like me. The only reason why I don't get 400 traffic tickets a day is that there is no automated ticket robot following my every move. And I am certainly not alone in that, if what I see on the road is any indication.

So if the status quo is what you seek my friend, then achieve, Achieve, ACHIEVE!

But then why on earth are you reading a blog about changing everything?

Childbirth- is a topic for another blog. Yes it's true, childbirth is the inevitable result of prolonged unprotected sex, but that's where the similarities end. Children, as it turns out, are one of the world's great contraceptives, and as such, are ANTI-sex. But look for a discussion soon-- how we modify our approach to children is a vital part of Perfect World Theory.

And finally,

C) Drugs and the Perfect World

Will there be any?

If there are, then how can it be a Perfect World?

If there aren't, then how can it be a Perfect World?

Truly an interesting conundrum, because if we establish that people take recreational drugs to escape from the misery of reality, then having drugs in the Perfect World infers that there is misery. If we believe, however, that people take drugs for reasons besides escape, then not having them in the Perfect World assumes that the world we've designed isn't so perfect. What is the answer?

We've already established that the word 'perfect' refers to a society well-matched with its populace, not an inference to the unattainable concept of 'perfection'. Let's investigate how drugs are used today and try to arrive at the 'perfect' use for them...

Drugs As A Coping Mechanism

The World Family guarantees your health and wellness in a society with few roadblocks to happiness. Still, we know that no matter how we civilize ourselves, our loved ones will still die of illness or old age. There will always be accidents. Nature is merciless when it wants to be. In other words, there will always be sorrow-- it can't be helped.

Will the World Family encourage new therapies for grief? Will we learn the secret to moving on from monstrous loss with lessened pain and greater awareness? Or will drugs always be an alternative to acceptance? What tools do we have besides time, and the occasional sympathetic embrace from our friends and loved ones?

I toyed with writing a story where we would one day be able to use modern computing power to mimic the personalities of our departed loved ones and have them displayed onscreen or as projections, to ease the pain of our losses. I felt that if every person imprinted themselves on computer software while they were alive by answering an extensive line of questions and having a 3-d impression of them stored, and by using a voice analysis modulator and facial emotion emulator, then a fairly accurate representation of themselves could be made-- one which could hold a meaningful conversation with a person... as their loved one! We're not far from creating software to do just that, but even if we produce it tomorrow, will it work in practice? As real as the image seems, we will always know our loved one is dead... but will we be able to suspend our disbelief when the image SOUNDS and ACTS like the original?

These tools for dealing with negative emotions each have their drawbacks. I've heard the arguments for 'being strong and barreling through' the anguish, but I can't in good conscience rule out the use of mind-altering substances as one more tool, whether it works for me or not. People have always sought to find a way out from under their grief, and numbness works just fine... for awhile.

Drugs For Recreation

Hey, it's the Perfect World, people! There are no laws, but there are guidelines. For a situation like this, the rule would be:

"Do what makes you happy, as long as you don't hurt anyone in the process."

Accidental death by overdose falls into the sorrow category, so if you feel drugs are the way to go for you, don't overdo it! Because another rule would be:

"Everything in moderation, because excess prevents success."

Refer to the chart below to find your 'healthy' drug of choice. Notice that the widely used drugs of today, alcohol and tobacco, are not particularly safe nor low on the dependency scale. Definitely in the 'caution' area. Stick to the safer, healthier drugs-- the ones in yellow.

But we all know the draw of drugs and alternate reality in general... it's easy to partake a little at first, only to slowly build up until you don't realize how often you are using. Perfect World Theory seeks to discourage drug abuse while not prohibiting drug USE. But when you are a member of a World Family, everyone you meet cares about you as family. With a support system so huge, how can anyone fall through the cracks?

Today's drug users can be certain they will receive one of several 'punishments' if discovered. They could be intervened upon, which usually leads to forced de-tox in a month-long treatment center. They could be arrested, charged, and sentenced; which leads to either forced treatment or in repeat offenses, jail. Sometimes they will be ostracized from family. Regardless, rarely does discovery lead to acceptance. Boy, I'll bet that screws with a person's confidence.

And why are they treated that way? Because of political reasons, mostly. We've all seen government-sponsored drug testing that yields results which the government approves of, but fly in the face of independent testing... how else could that occur than when ulterior motives are attached? I could speculate that the leaders of government want all their peons to work at top ability, so won't accept drug use because of abuse potential, or they deny drugs because the businesses which legally inebriate us (alcohol & pharmaceuticals) lobby hard against acceptance. Both are probably true, to one degree or another, shining a spotlight on how individuals get trampled when standing in the way of profit.

Drugs and Profit

Drugs are illegal. This means it can't be taxed, like alcohol and tobacco is. Instead, the government spends truly huge amounts of taxpayer money to combat drug use (an effort which fails miserably, I might add) through various visible and covert methods, many of which infringe on taxpayer privacy. Millions are spent abroad to combat manufacturers and importers, who fight back with warlike weaponry and zeal because the profits are so good.

On the other hand, the government takes in enormous profits from taxing alcohol and tobacco. Logically, government is making no sense. Several problems could be ended at once with a change in policy.

The problems:

• Drug users have to find dealers, many of whom are disreputable and violent and overprice their goods.
  
• Some users are forced by addiction to commit crimes for money, some of which are violent.
  
• Manufacturers will stop at nothing to make sure their product is bought.
  
• Millions of people take illegal drugs without knowing the potency, and some die because of it.
  
• Otherwise decent taxpaying citizens now have a criminal record or are doing time, thanks to unjust laws.
  

If government were to ignore big business by legalizing all drugs and regulating them, they could squeeze out illegal importers by pricing drugs reasonably; eliminate street dealers by having drugstores and liquor stores handling distribution; keep an eye on abuse by having doctors prescribe stiffer drugs like cocaine and heroin; create new industries by allowing manufacturing in the US; reduce overdoses by regulating quality control; and use the taxes collected for drug treatment centers, school funding and other valuable programs.

The amount of abuse varies with the economy and other factors. Keeping people employed helps drive down abuse. If government DID adopt this position, since profit is their motivating factor, it would be interesting to guess how television slogans might change:

Coke: It's What's For Dinner

Got... Weed?

This Is Your Brain On Drugs... Wheeeeeeee!

Less Don't Mean Never

Slowly we morph from today's world into the Perfect World, and slowly our pain subsides. Our worth increases incrementally, as does our collective self image. Over time, the nightly news becomes dull as we stop hurting each other or lying to them. Television crime dramas hold nobody's interest, but the an interesting scientific documentary is seen by everyone. Enjoyment of life and its pleasures-- all its pleasures-- become the norm. Activity rises as we stop watching televised sports and instead try new and breathtaking activities. Competition fades and cooperation reigns-- we strive to better our own last record, to better ourselves. We can't compare ourselves to others; our strengths run too varied and wide.

And the joyous partying! No more insecurities, no more judgement. We set up and attend regular gala events in enormous halls and gardens, because beauty walks with joy. Every desire is catered to, and experimentation is the scientific way; anything goes that fits our cardinal rule-- nos ago in consensio-- "we live in harmony." As much as we cherish taxing our intellect, equally we must treasure our liquid mindlessness.

And whenever are we more mindless then when we are on drugs?

Whew! As I said earlier... BIG topics. Worth broaching though, because ultimately, when we all agree on one perfect future, we will work towards that goal with fervor as one.

I would like you to come away with a vision of this future world as one of safety, harmony and comfort; a place to learn and to teach, to share and give, to love and to laugh; and most of all, a place to LIVE.

A world in which we can feel confident will survive and flourish for untold millennia. And one day perhaps, we may become a beacon of good among the stars; a kind, angelic people... or perhaps, a race of benevolent gods.

Or maybe the drugs I'm on are too strong.

Copyright 2009 Bruce Ian Friedman