Abstract

For this paper I researched the difference between the quality of life in various nations in hopes to create some sort of list that defines what I would consider an utopia-like scenario. I compiled a list of what I felt like the key problems areas in our society were that greatly impact our quality of life. My utopian society focuses more on equity than equality that way everyone has a fair chance and ample opportunity to pursue life however they see fit. As long as no one is put in harm's way, we can all live a joyous, harmonious life.

Quality of Life

To answer the question of how do you improve the quality of life everywhere, one would have to first evaluate the quality of life where you are. The state of America is currently in turmoil. The world is rotting with injustice everywhere. Societal and social problems fill our brains and where are left to think what’s next? I feel like the world would be in a better state if these overbearing issues are addressed and resolved, however south central wasn’t built in a day so of course it is going to take some time to get where we need to be. This paper is a start. Just talking about it and bringing more awareness to these issues is a step in the right direction.

Being a queer, black, young teen girl living in America, you end up with a pretty warped world view. I grew up listening to the stories of Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin. Just two young kids whose lives were unjustly stolen. In my teen years I had to sit and bear witness the tragedy of the summer of 2020. The civil unrest after the death of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery made me further question the way our justice system is set up. It makes you think about what equality really means in this country. 

The choice to no longer follow the religion I was raised with also changed the way I think about things, especially when it comes to the law. Not everyone is a Christain, however the justice system in the US is deeply rooted in Christian values ie., abortion and gay rights laws in various states. I feel like religion and law need to be more separate for people to live a more harmonious life. 

These may seem like minute aspects of life but if we shift the way we think, adn change how much of an impact these things have, our quality of life is sure to improve. 

Religion

Just like my mother, I was raised Christian. I got baptized when I was a kid and all. It wasn’t until my early teen years that I started to question the way organized religion worked. We never had a lot of money growing up, yet every Sunday, we were giving money away to the church. Anytime I would ask my elders about why, they would just tell me that we were giving the money to God. Comedy and time sort of opened my eyes to the reality of what was going on and pretty soon, my mom realized too when our dear, beloved pastor went to prison for stealing money from the church. 

Organized religion is a scam and it always has been. Yet we, as a society, have let it weasle its way into our everyday lives. I feel like if we were to detach ourselves from religious values we would be better off.

The graph above shows the stats on religious affiliation throughout the world. As you can see, there are many different types of religious beliefs people fall into. There is even a percentage of people, like myself, who aren’t religious at all. With that being the case then judging everyone based on the same basic religious code just doesn't make sense to me. For example, it isn’t unusual for a homophobe to blame their hatred of homosexuality on the bible because “homosexuality is a sin” according to the bible. I don’t believe you can hold everybody to the same moral standards as you because you’ll just end up disappointed every time. In a perfect, utopian society people would be able to live freely without fear of someone trying to force them into a lifestyle they don’t agree with. My utopians know how to mind their business and live in harmony with themselves. 

Environmental Support

I feel like as a society, we are very divided. The introduction of social structures such as race has done more harm than good in my opinion. There is no improvement in the quality of life without a serious social shift. For starters, people would have to change the way they look at race. Some people walk around proudly saying they “don't see color” like it’s a good thing. I feel like it is very important to acknowledge cultural differences between people. An essential part of my utopia would be to be aware of the difference between equity and equality. Giving everyone the same opportunity to do the same things just isn’t enough. It is very crucial that we recognize the fact that everyone isn’t in the same boat and that other people have needs that must be handled differently. That would be one step toward peace among us all. 

Mental Health

Mental health is something that should be taken a lot more seriously than it is in my opinion. I feel like people talk about it to make themselves feel better for not really putting any real work towards being healthier. There are a lot of factors that can impact a person’s mental health. While having a strong support system is important and actually helps during the unbearable days, I feel like it would be a lot easier to manage if we made some societal changes. As it stands now, mental health support is pretty hard to come across. For example, if I were to tell someone in my family that I didn’t know how to control my emotions and I feel like my mind doesn’t belong to me, they would ridicule me and call me crazy. If I told them that I was depressed, they would tell me to try harder and stop making excuses for myself. Even if I only said I was considering therapy, I'd get called every name in the book and that just end up making more of a negative impact than staying quiet would.

The graph above demonstrates the percentage of the population that suffer with mental health disorders around the world. As you can see, millions of people suffer from something globally. In my utopia, there would be more of an effort to prevent these disorders from getting so high rather than trying to treat them with medicine. 

 To be honest, I have seen some improvement over the past couple months when it comes to mental health awareness, which is good. More people are starting to take things more seriously but it isn’t enough. It seems like people really only care once it's too late. They only acknowledge the signs that someone needs help after they have unfortunately taken the turn for the worst. In my utopian society, mental health and how to balance life is something that would be incorporated into the schools. That way everyone knows what signs to look for if someone they love is hurting. We have to be remind that everyone goes through things differently and handle them the same. 

Therapy would have to be looked at in a different light as well. However, that just goes back to how we educate people. I, like my parents and many people of color, were taught that if you needed therapy then you were crazy and deranged. It almost seemed like we were expected to just figure life out on our own. If we needed help to do that then we were considered weak. That isn’t what therapy is though. We are all humans and we go through normal human emotion. If a person isn’t taught properly how to deal with their emotions then they are more likely to go about them the wrong way. Therapy is just a vehicle to which one can learn more about the self and how to maintain inner peace. Honestly, I feel like therapy should be free to people because there is nothing wrong with needing a little help navigating life from time to time.

Law & Justice

The figure above shows the different crime rate indexes in different countries in the world. Right now, the crime rate index is around 47.3. In countries like Japan and Switzerland, their crime rate is much lower and that’s because they follow a different legal system. An article evaluating this difference states “Differences in law enforcement are the reason most often mentioned in professional journals for Japan’s low crime rate; these include longer professional training, a more efficient court system, and strict bans on handguns in Japan. [...] Public cooperation with the police is marked, both on individual and community levels.” (Becker). My research into the way the law works over in Switzerland proved the same thing. There is a better relationship between the public and the law enforcement. There is no surprise to why we don’t get along with the cops over here. They are loyal to a justice system rooted in anti-blackness and show no concern for the wellbeing of the public they are supposed to be protecting and serving. They feel as if they should be shown the utmost respect, but they have yet to earn an ounce of it. If they were trained longer like they are over in Japan, then maybe there would be less civilian casualties and more opportunities for people to build genuine relationships with the law enforcement in their community.

In my utopian society, we have demilitarized the police. I feel like the officers of today are the tyrants of tomorrow. We need to be reminded that we are all people. Putting labels on everybody creates these false narratives in our heads that some people are more important than others or that certain demographics are more dangerous and crime prone than others when in reality, we are all just products of our environment. If our protectors go out with the mindset of helping rather than being a superhero with a gun, there will be a visible difference in the response to the police. 

Conclusion

My utopian society focuses more on equity than equality that way everyone has a fair chance and ample opportunity to pursue life however they see fit. As long as no one is put in harm's way, we can all live a joyous, harmonious life. There are many, many things wrong with the world as it stands now. So much that there is no way it can all be fixed within a lifetime. It will take generations to fix the ongoing issues and generations after that to maintain the peace we worked so hard to get. However with the social shifts and different perspectives I have outlined, I feel like change isn’t so far off. Yes, it will take time and a lot of effort but it will all be worth it in the end. After all, isn't the whole point of a utopian society to live worry free?

References

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Becker, C., “Social Control of Crime in Japan” journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0032258X8305600311?journalCode=pjxa#:~:text=Differences%20in%20law%20enforcement%20are,bans%20on%20handguns%20in%20Japan.

Bajraktari, D., (2020, March) “Safety in Switzerland: How Safe Is Switzerland?” studyinginswitzerland.com/safety-in-switzerland/#:~:text=Law%2DAbiding%20Citizens&text=The%20higher%20the%20level%20of,are%20held%20are%20very%20peaceful.

(2019,) “Criminal Justice Facts” sentencingproject.org/criminal-justice-facts/

Van Reken, C., “The Church's Role in Social Justice” calvin.edu/library/database/crcpi/fulltext/ctj/68491.pdf

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(2019) “Crime In the US” ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019