RAPTURE

A Utopian Society Founded By Jason Ly & Ben FitzGerald

The perfect world. What every person on earth strives for. However, there are many different definitions of a utopian society. Examples are found throughout literature: 1984, Brave New World, Utopia, Fahrenheit 451, The Giver, and many others. Each has their own pros and cons that make them unique and “perfect” in the author's eyes. This stands true for Jason Ly and Ben FitzGerald, true heroes in today’s society (almost gods among mere mortals). In the search for the perfect world, we, as a well-oiled machine, have created our own version of utopia, Rapture.

In our perfect world, people, or as we like to call them, Splicers, are our greatest resource. Anyone is able to join our great land, along as that agree to follow our rules and prove that they are worthy. Our society stays around a population of 1,000 Splicers. We accept around 20 new people a year by a three step process: fill out an application form, have three interview determining character of person, and fight to the death in our Arena of Ingress to decides which twenty are worthy enough to step foot in our golden town. Our society will work towards ending racism by issuing random breeding for the first ten generations of our so great city, creating one super-race, The Race of Rapture. They will be the fuel that powers the engine of productivity and efficiency. Each person will have a job that contributes to society in some way shape or form, but the jobs will not be unfair. Each person will have a profession that fits their skill set so no person can be angered by unfairness of labor. The people have to right to work, the right to speak The Pledge of Rapture, the right to improve Rapture, and the right to vote for a preselected leader.

In Rapture, the children are held to be the future of the society. They will be the fuel that powers the engine of productivity and efficiency.That is why education is so important to the Splicers. Students are the property of the state. All children are taken from their parents at age three. They are taken to a state run, public boarding schools where they receive a better education than they would ever get from their parents. Thriving children, even if they are the children of lower class parents, can still rise to the elite. This completely eliminates the problem of the upper class advantage. Most children never even learn who their parents are. Early on in their education, they are sorted based on their skills and intellectual aptitude. They are usually sorted into their job based on what their talents are. The dumb and lazy children are singled out and put down to the lowest levels of society. This way future children will be motivated by their fear of failure. As long as you are hard working, smart, and strong, you will have the ability to rise up to the summit of Rapture.

All economics are completely government run. The government is the fuel that powers the engine of productivity and efficiency. This is because non-government officials cannot be trusted with something as important as the economy. Therefore all employees work directly for the government. Where they were sorted upon their graduation from school they will remain there for the rest of their lives, or at least until they can’t work. The government decides wages and the wages are fair.. People such as farmers and unskilled laborers get paid less than a government official or a scientist. It wouldn’t be fair if they got paid the same. The unskilled laborers became unskilled laborers because they failed to apply themselves in school. Remember we have eliminated inherited advantage. This is the same reason why there is absolutely no wealth redistribution. There is no currency, just government regulated and issued credit cards. This way the government does not waste any money on printing bills or minting coins. Rapture believes it should be completely independent from outside influences and therefore does not allow any trade with the outside world. The daily life of an average citizen varies from person to person. A scientist may work for many hours doing scientific research, a teacher may spend a few hours teaching students, an unskilled laborer may spend up to eleven hours doing hard, grueling labor. This may seem unfair but we have eliminated inherited advantage so all this difference in work is the result of a citizen’s failure to succeed in school.

Most of the technology is focused on protecting our perfect culture and society from evil outside influences like Canada. Other advances in technology will be used to improve the state of living for the population so that everyone has clean and healthy living quarters and can maintain a healthy state of being because if they are not healthy, they can not work and there is no place in Rapture for people who can not work. The government will even allow the commons to buy genetic modification, or plasmids for short, to improve their physical and mental strength to be able to reach the goal of higher classes. There will be no restriction on technology because technology is the fuel that powers the engine of productivity and efficiency. It will stay like that as long as it does not interfere with the government or Rapture as a whole... but it will never get that far. We made sure of that. Rapture is not a stagnant society. We strive to advance our sciences and technology so that Rapture is will always be one step ahead of our enemies, or as other people call them, our neighbors. Scientists who discover these advances are rewarded platinum cards preloaded with one billion credits compared to an average laborers’ wage, which in twenty-seven credits. These might seem unfair, but government raises the cost of good brought by 1,000% for these scientist, so as you can see it really is fair. These credits really mean nothing. Rapture strives for a greener world, so that is why we implemented every possible renewable energy: solar power, wind power, human labor in hamster wheel-like turbines, hydroelectricity, and nuclear fusion (again, we strive to make scientific discoveries), making renewable energy 95% of our town’s energy. The last 5% turn to waste resource but our society has implemented a solution to solve this problem. We give this to the poor to build house, buildings, and other infrastructure. We know this is an unfair solution. This is 5% of resources that the other classes to not get, but this is a sacrifice we were willing to make.

Here at rapture, we are totally open to any religion for any person as long as it does not go against the government or Rapture as a whole. Religious freedom is an integral part of our society and we feel that no one should be discriminated by another person for their sexuality, race, or, gender. The government decides your worth only by how well you contribute to society. Freedom is the fuel that powers the engine of productivity and efficiency.

All art must capture the glory and awesomeness of Rapture. This way they don’t inspire uprisings and dissent among the people. There is one radio station which plays the national anthem of Rapture on loop. There is one news network and one newspaper. Both of which are run by the government as most other aspects of Rapture life are. This way everyone has the same opinion which will relieve tensions that may form among the people which is good. Art and media are tools that Rapture believes should form unity among the people. Unity is the fuel that powers the engine of productivity and efficiency.

The landscape of Rapture will be filled with greenery and many nature landmarks. A society with no nature should not be a society at all. The skies would be clear blue on an average day due to the lack of air pollution. We would find the perfect balance between nature and modern society. Trees would be seen in perfect harmony with the mansion of the upper class and the slums of the lower class because this is an equal society. Each building will be built government, design by the government, and used by the government. This way each building is the same and no one feels left out. The government will plan the placement of each building with care to streamline all movement, resources, and people. We eradicated the idea of private property so the government controls all space and all space is considered public property. The people will live according to their class in society. If one individual is in the upper class and one individual is in the lower class, then one will live in a mansion while one lives in a box outside the mansion. There is no complaining. We have eliminated inherited advantage so it is the people’s fault where they end up. Physical structure is the fuel that powers the engine of productivity and efficiency.

Our perfect society has many characteristics that make Rapture unique from our enemies. There is no racism in our society but only one super race of Rapture that reign supreme over all. All children, no matter the class, has the possibility to receive an education. Not only through an unique education system have we eliminate inherited advantage, but, in the process, we have become completely independent from other enemies (countries). Our scientists have become some of the most advanced thinkers in the world through a system of fictitious rewards. Freedom of religion is an unalienable right for the people of Rapture and the people are all accepted at an equal level. Through government-funded art programs, Rapture has created a melting pot of the arts to bring out an undying sense of unity towards the town and its government. Finally, our golden society has learned to respect nature and its power so that Rapture and nature become one. This is what make Rapture the fuel that powers the engine of productivity and efficiency.