Well, we're all moving house. What a thrill.
It's great to have to put everything we own into little boxes, pick them up, carry them to another house, put them down, empty them and place everything in their new locations.
I had a theory once. I have a lot of them. Most of them quite painful to those around me.
This theory pertains to home ownership in a utpoian society. What a gas huh?
I believe that in such a society it would everyone's birthright to have a house. In a similar way that all Amish have a barn. No, in the same way that all people have air to breathe.
As soon as you're born, you are allocated a house which will be held in trust by parents or some impartial governing body. Now, you may exclaim:- "that's insane as there will be an over-abundance of dwellings". Right you are, but let's ignore the technicalities.
A house may be bought, sold or bartered as they are now. They may also be leased until the rightful owner is of age. Take for example a man and a woman living in Athens deciding to move to Western Australia for a temporary period. They may sell their house but, better still, they may lease to other people that are in a similar position (remember, in a Utopian world, people would be free to travel from anywhere without restraint or conditions). By doing this everyone will retain their home that was bestowed upon them during childhood but they have no responsibility to stay there their whole lives.
You may also be wondering about the difficulties in giving everyone a home eg. a couple would have two between them, what happens then? Well, one could sell, or they could hold on to it for one of their children.
Also, you may be concerned about all these houses and the problems of those surviving on the streets. This is a Utopian society remember, but there is always the possibility of people becoming homeless. This will be solved however as those who have a surplus of homes (eg. a family with 6 children under 16 only requires one house but they have 6) would then lease their other homes to people in need for a nominal fee. This could be something as simple as the upkeep of the property; gardening, maintenance etc. Also, it will be forbidden for rent to provide a source of income for owners. It will only be enough to cover upkeep in all circumstances. This way, owners will have no recourse to discriminate against those who could not afford exhorbitant rental fees. Even in utopia there are rules.
There you are, that's it in a nutshell.
I'm going now, to put more things in little boxes in lieu of being able to pick them up and take them somewhere else so that I might put them down again in a flurry of house-moving excitement.
Cya.
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