This project has certainly been one of the most exciting, enjoyable and thought provoking projects I have ever completed. And just barely at that (Ha Ha Ha)! The way I had to link everything together certainly kept me up at night, tossing and turning in my bed sheets to find out why thinks could be as I wanted them to be. Now, here, I will try to explain that as best as I can. For each of the Subtopics (Geography, History, Culture, Government, Social, Judicial, Religion and Economics) I will provide explanations as to why I made some of the choices I did, and how that affects other things.
Geography
The main explanation needed for geography is why I chose the location I did. As I am from New Zealand, when I was thinking about this it instantly sprung to mind. I've never lived there before, and I wanted to see how I could make it a utopia. I was familiar with the environment of New Zealand, as I frequently travel there to visit family. Personally I believe that there are more benefits to a non-tropical environment. These benefits include better environments for crop growing (Such as fruits and vegetables) and avoiding some tropical only diseases. The habitat of New Zealand is also one that would provide it with a very fresh atmosphere and a very diverse biodiversity. This is necessary for some of the ideals I wanted to set up in the social factor and in the agriculture part of the economics. The elevation in New Zealand provides opportunity for defense and agricultural benefits. The agricultural benefits comes from the water sources in the mountains, providing fertile land.
Culture
I knew instantly that I waned to have a very diverse culture. While some would argue that a society that has many different aspects is a more split or separate society, I would rebuttal with the fact that a very diverse society would bring many different points of view to the county, ultimately providing a more balanced culture. A culture that is free to express itself in multiple different directions and ways. Having different religions represented allows the people to have different voices in things and events that matter to the importance of the country. I chose to have sports as a major focus, as I was basing this of real New Zealand. I've been to many sports events, and often they're ones I have no interest in. But there is something about being in a crowd that wants to make you cheer and join in. Sports brings people together in a way I rarely seen replicated anywhere else. While I personally have very little interest in sports, being together really makes me feel apart of something larger.
Government
As stated above, I chose to base most elements of my utopia off of modern day New Zealand. This meant it was obvious for me to pick the same government system, a parliament. I personally believe that the system of voting for parties that better represent your views and values instead of individual leaders to be better. The people of Aotearoa would have a more wide choice, and I also find that the system I created of government transparency adds an extra element of giving the society a voice in government matters. I wanted to represent all cultures through past prime ministers, such as Valerie Smith and Rick Sanchez. In my government these two PMs introduced gender and sexuality tolerance laws that prevented discrimination. A society without inner or outer discrimination against people or groups is ultimately one that will function better among itself and internationally.
For the military section, I knew it had to have a solid history of military use, to show that will the nation is relatively peaceful it will protect itself, its allies and what it believes in. I chose to greatly limit my current military, as there isn't much use for one. A utopia shouldn't be at war with anyone, and I personally dislike military involvement with government matters.
Judicial
For Judicial, I chose Common law, again because it is the system modern day New Zealand uses. It gives many benefits, such as a jury and being lead by lawyers. Ultimately, the best benefit it provides is the innocent until proven guilty. This relates to the UN declaration of human rights, which my country accepts.
As for prison and punishment, focusing on rehabilitation and behavior correcting/education would be the best way to go. The inmates are expected to become functioning members of society once they are released. I find that if they are punished for there actions instead of being taught how to properly act, how will they learn and turn from the criminal ways. I avoided capital punishment for this exact reason, giving people a second chance they would otherwise never get. Of course there are serious crimes, and that is why I use life sentencing.
Religion:
As a non-religious person, religion has always been interesting to me. I enjoy learning about myths and legends, and religion is really no different to me. I found that, like gender and sexuality, if religion wasn't to be tolerated the society would always fight itself and never progress in the direction of a utopia. Religious tolerance was something I had to set up early on in the history, for it to make sense. In our world, religious tolerance isn't anywhere near where it should be. Wars are being started over religion, in a world where we should be working together to preserve our planet and push the human race forward. This reason is also why the country has no specific religion. If the country were to assign one, it would be like saying this religion is better than all the others. Having a religiously diverse culture would also make a more accepting culture in general, an ideal Aotearoa would strive for.
Economy
For economics, I took the economic system and slightly increased it. I chose a free market because freedom of choice is something that I set up in the history. Freedom of thought, speech and choice has always been something the country stood for. I increased the values because of exporting all of the coal and crude oil sources Aotearoa has, at it is 100% green energy powered. I also did this because in the history I implied the country built up strong relations between multiple countries around the world, meaning more trade partners.
Social
For this section, I will go subheading by subheading.
For basic human needs, I wrote that the country takes priority in keeping the population safe from disease. This is because the country wanted to preserve both the environment and its society, as it firmly believes it's society to be one of the strongest globally. The water sources were provided by the location I chose in the geography section, as New Zealand has many water sources. The shelter section would also relate to wanting to preserve the community. Allowing fewer people to be homeless would mean a more productive society.
For Foundations of Well being, I wanted to have education be a very important factor in the society. This is because with a strong education the population would be able to maintain its utopia status. I mentioned that the government would be transparent to avoid any misconceptions, making a more efficient government and a happier community who was updated and knew the current political status.
For Opportunity, I reinforced the ideas of social acceptance of race, gender and sexuality. These things are needed all over the real world, and I though repressing them in the hypothetical utopia could show how much of an affect this has on society/
History
History was by far the most fun to write. The best aspect of the history was how Sam, Mikas, Luca, Tim and I had made our countries exist in the same universe. This provided us with an extra challenge of adding to the history without overwriting the global history we all established. Over my history I had to introduce key events such as the declaration of independence and the Wars, showing how these would result in a better country. The wars, for example, showed how the relationship with Aotearoa's neighbor Egania (Sam's Country) would strengthen over time. The decoration of independence showed how the country could stand up for itself and its values, and gave it an opportunity to cement the ideas that it was formed on: tolerance, acceptance, preservation and progress. The history section also included key figures who would branch out into the government section, establishing laws that would bring the society and culture together.
Geography
The main explanation needed for geography is why I chose the location I did. As I am from New Zealand, when I was thinking about this it instantly sprung to mind. I've never lived there before, and I wanted to see how I could make it a utopia. I was familiar with the environment of New Zealand, as I frequently travel there to visit family. Personally I believe that there are more benefits to a non-tropical environment. These benefits include better environments for crop growing (Such as fruits and vegetables) and avoiding some tropical only diseases. The habitat of New Zealand is also one that would provide it with a very fresh atmosphere and a very diverse biodiversity. This is necessary for some of the ideals I wanted to set up in the social factor and in the agriculture part of the economics. The elevation in New Zealand provides opportunity for defense and agricultural benefits. The agricultural benefits comes from the water sources in the mountains, providing fertile land.
Culture
I knew instantly that I waned to have a very diverse culture. While some would argue that a society that has many different aspects is a more split or separate society, I would rebuttal with the fact that a very diverse society would bring many different points of view to the county, ultimately providing a more balanced culture. A culture that is free to express itself in multiple different directions and ways. Having different religions represented allows the people to have different voices in things and events that matter to the importance of the country. I chose to have sports as a major focus, as I was basing this of real New Zealand. I've been to many sports events, and often they're ones I have no interest in. But there is something about being in a crowd that wants to make you cheer and join in. Sports brings people together in a way I rarely seen replicated anywhere else. While I personally have very little interest in sports, being together really makes me feel apart of something larger.
Government
As stated above, I chose to base most elements of my utopia off of modern day New Zealand. This meant it was obvious for me to pick the same government system, a parliament. I personally believe that the system of voting for parties that better represent your views and values instead of individual leaders to be better. The people of Aotearoa would have a more wide choice, and I also find that the system I created of government transparency adds an extra element of giving the society a voice in government matters. I wanted to represent all cultures through past prime ministers, such as Valerie Smith and Rick Sanchez. In my government these two PMs introduced gender and sexuality tolerance laws that prevented discrimination. A society without inner or outer discrimination against people or groups is ultimately one that will function better among itself and internationally.
For the military section, I knew it had to have a solid history of military use, to show that will the nation is relatively peaceful it will protect itself, its allies and what it believes in. I chose to greatly limit my current military, as there isn't much use for one. A utopia shouldn't be at war with anyone, and I personally dislike military involvement with government matters.
Judicial
For Judicial, I chose Common law, again because it is the system modern day New Zealand uses. It gives many benefits, such as a jury and being lead by lawyers. Ultimately, the best benefit it provides is the innocent until proven guilty. This relates to the UN declaration of human rights, which my country accepts.
As for prison and punishment, focusing on rehabilitation and behavior correcting/education would be the best way to go. The inmates are expected to become functioning members of society once they are released. I find that if they are punished for there actions instead of being taught how to properly act, how will they learn and turn from the criminal ways. I avoided capital punishment for this exact reason, giving people a second chance they would otherwise never get. Of course there are serious crimes, and that is why I use life sentencing.
Religion:
As a non-religious person, religion has always been interesting to me. I enjoy learning about myths and legends, and religion is really no different to me. I found that, like gender and sexuality, if religion wasn't to be tolerated the society would always fight itself and never progress in the direction of a utopia. Religious tolerance was something I had to set up early on in the history, for it to make sense. In our world, religious tolerance isn't anywhere near where it should be. Wars are being started over religion, in a world where we should be working together to preserve our planet and push the human race forward. This reason is also why the country has no specific religion. If the country were to assign one, it would be like saying this religion is better than all the others. Having a religiously diverse culture would also make a more accepting culture in general, an ideal Aotearoa would strive for.
Economy
For economics, I took the economic system and slightly increased it. I chose a free market because freedom of choice is something that I set up in the history. Freedom of thought, speech and choice has always been something the country stood for. I increased the values because of exporting all of the coal and crude oil sources Aotearoa has, at it is 100% green energy powered. I also did this because in the history I implied the country built up strong relations between multiple countries around the world, meaning more trade partners.
Social
For this section, I will go subheading by subheading.
For basic human needs, I wrote that the country takes priority in keeping the population safe from disease. This is because the country wanted to preserve both the environment and its society, as it firmly believes it's society to be one of the strongest globally. The water sources were provided by the location I chose in the geography section, as New Zealand has many water sources. The shelter section would also relate to wanting to preserve the community. Allowing fewer people to be homeless would mean a more productive society.
For Foundations of Well being, I wanted to have education be a very important factor in the society. This is because with a strong education the population would be able to maintain its utopia status. I mentioned that the government would be transparent to avoid any misconceptions, making a more efficient government and a happier community who was updated and knew the current political status.
For Opportunity, I reinforced the ideas of social acceptance of race, gender and sexuality. These things are needed all over the real world, and I though repressing them in the hypothetical utopia could show how much of an affect this has on society/
History
History was by far the most fun to write. The best aspect of the history was how Sam, Mikas, Luca, Tim and I had made our countries exist in the same universe. This provided us with an extra challenge of adding to the history without overwriting the global history we all established. Over my history I had to introduce key events such as the declaration of independence and the Wars, showing how these would result in a better country. The wars, for example, showed how the relationship with Aotearoa's neighbor Egania (Sam's Country) would strengthen over time. The decoration of independence showed how the country could stand up for itself and its values, and gave it an opportunity to cement the ideas that it was formed on: tolerance, acceptance, preservation and progress. The history section also included key figures who would branch out into the government section, establishing laws that would bring the society and culture together.