Chapter 38: More on Infrastructure in Post-Transition Communities

In order for the new post-Transition paradigms to function optimally, certain basic infrastructures will need to be expanded and adapted to provide access to all members of the Community.

Establishing what exactly is needed for living is to some degree subjective and certainly variable from various perspectives, time-periods and cultures. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors needed bows, arrows, spears, nets, vessels to put water and other things in, fire, and similar items. They had no use for cars, TV's, computers, cell phones, cable, electricity, or Internet access. We, on the other hand, have no practical use for a spear, much less any idea how to use one.

The necessities also differ to some degree between city, rural, and outback living; between tropical, desert, arctic, rain forest, and temperate climates; between different stages of the human life-cycle (childhood, adolescence, adulthood, parenthood, old age, and varying states of health and/or disability); between cultures; and from individual to individual, family to family, neighborhood to neighborhood, tribe to tribe, etc.

Beyond air, water, food, shelter, and a safe place to sleep, it may be impossible to arrive at an absolute definition of what constitute the necessities of life. Certainly it is obvious that a private jet, servants, multiple real-estate properties, private clubs, and a large beach reserved for one's self are most definitely not necessities for anybody.

Given that this writing is occurring in the first quarter of the 21st Century in what could be termed a fairly typical modern “western" environment, we will use this a starting point. It is by no means an absolute. What we can say for sure is that for a community in the new Paradigms to function optimally for the happiness and well-being of each and all, certain infrastructures must be extended and made available to all members of the community.

This does not mean that anyone should be pressured to avail themselves of these goods and services. For example, a person who prefers to live in a tent instead of a house or apartment, shall be free to do so; but any and all persons, families, and other social units who desire a house or apartment to live in, shall have free access.

These necessities should logically include life, liberty, freedom, a safe place to live in reasonable comfort, healthy food, potable water, bathroom and bathing facilities, education from kindergarten through doctorate and beyond, communications media services and devices, healthcare (preventive and curative; physical, psychological, dental and other), transportation, preferred post-mortem arrangements, safety (including emergency response services of all kinds), entertainment and recreation (the arts, sports, etc.), scientific knowledge and facilities, tools, and more.

Current information technology will make information and resource sharing, collaboration and coordination possible on a scale never before imaginable. If used wisely and effectively, this electronic forum can be developed into a distributed network that will function as the central nervous system in the greater community. As the central nervous system balances, coordinates and facilitates the optimal flow of oxygen, nutrients, enzymes, hormones, waste, maintains balance, coordinates motion, processes and analyzes sensory data and synthesizes courses of action to ensure survival and thriving of the organism, so we can design and implement a distributed system that monitors and analyzes real need and consumption of goods and services, informing producers of how much is needed, becoming increasingly predictive as more data is gained and analyzed.

This same network will be a forum for sharing practical and philosophical ideas, inventions, discoveries, theories and hypotheses, observations, questions to be answered, artforms, and suggestions from all who have them to offer. Active dialog, discourse and interplay between lay people, scientists, engineers, developers and more will be facilitated. This will link and further engage what now are different sectors of society that usually do not interact much. Feedback will be given by any and all as to what is working, what is not, and how things might be improved.

This network can become a forum for lawmakers, legislators, producers, designers, planners, builders, engineers and so forth to use as a barometer and compass in guiding the ongoing evolution of the post-transition paradigms into constantly-improving, adaptive implementations. Thus post-Transition cultures will be adaptive and responsive to the real needs, desires and experiences of the people. They will be predisposed not to become rigid, dogmatic or set in stone as happens all too often as initially revolutionary, compassionately intended beginnings become institutionalized, corrupt and dehumanizing over time.

It would be a mistake, however, to be so dependent upon this technology that we would be crippled if it were to go down due to equipment failure, ion storms, natural disasters, acts of war or sabotage. It is therefore important that the distributed technology have multiple backups, along with a more low-tech system with similar functionality to be maintained and updated as a stand-in should the primary system fail for any reason.

Infrastructure software will need to be streamlined and redesigned in many ways. While inventory management, logistics, medical databases, etc. will largely remain in place in the new Paradigms, some fundamental design changes will need to be made. All banking, financial, credit-related, insurance-related, collections-related, payroll, billing, and advertising programs, for example, will be deleted and scrapped. They will be obsolete and have no function, except in limited international trade applications. Related functionality will have to be removed from merchandising, inventory management, shipping & receiving and related programs. Marketing programs will be modified and repurposed into public service, education, and motivational channels.

We can anticipate that more trade schools and institutions of higher learning will be needed as more people will have access to them. Some can be built upon the infrastructure of current for-profit schools that will become defunct once profit motive has been eliminated. Others will have to be created.

Modifications to the energy grid and transportation infrastructure are discussed elsewhere in this writing. Essentially there will be a shift from mammoth central generating plants to distributed diversified small to mid-size facilities. A road and trail network for bikes and other human powered vehicles, footpaths, and horse and donkey paths will be constructed along with appropriately-spaced rest areas, restrooms, food stops, first-aid stations, emergency telephones, supply depots and hostels. Public transportation will be expanded and diversified, both within and between population centers and regions.

We will undertake large-scale projects to reforest, replant and otherwise reclaim and restore areas that have been ravaged by defunct industrialization, mining, logging, landfills, and the dumping and disposal of toxic waste. Much human-waste sewage will be converted into fertilizer as citizens will be encouraged to convert their bathroom facilities into self-composting designs in each unit or building.

Clinics, mobile facilities and small hospitals will be built to service areas and neighborhoods that are currently underserved or far from medical facilities.

Existing manufacturing facilities currently operated by competing corporations will be blended into unified networks, optimized to best serve the needs of the people. Malls, stores, outlets and shopping centers built under Capitalist paradigms will be repurposed into distribution centers for the same kinds of goods and services as they previously sold. Additional distribution centers will be opened in areas not convenient to existing ones.

In areas where there is too much redundancy, some former malls, stores and shopping centers will be recast to serve different purposes. For example, a former department store across the street from a larger former competing department store, might be retooled into a sports center, a theater, an inn, a school, light manufacturing, or another function.

Where infrastructure is deteriorating due to age and lack of maintenance, upgrades will be given priority. Housing projects, neighborhoods and public buildings that are currently substandard, will be upgraded through efforts of a collaboration of residents and construction professionals, with needed materials freely made available for the purpose.

As the new paradigms evolve and stabilize, new infrastructure will develop and respond to new and changing situations and needs. In the absence of the barriers placed by Capitalist paradigms, new technologies and other innovations will be able to develop quickly into implementations that enhance the lives of all of the people, not just a few.

Tools, musical instruments, scientific equipment and the like will be made readily accessible in every neighborhood and community. There will be an increase in public parks, theaters and other performance and sports venues.

Freed from the stresses, distractions and tyranny of Capitalist consumerism and the constant pressure to acquire ransom money, the spirits and imaginations of the People may well turn once again to creative pursuits and the exploration of the unknown. It is to be hoped that this will lead once again to vigorous, aggressive, and practical space and deep-sea exploration programs, pure scientific research, and artistic expression in a true and lasting Renaissance of the modern era.