Architecture

Climate -

• tropical
• high temperatures 
• winters are warm (mild)
• average daily temperature is 80°F

Size -

• our island is sixty square miles 
• takes almost an hour from one side of the  land to the other

Isolation -

• not so far from other countries but far enough as to avoid any other political claims to the island

Energy Sources -

• some things are solar powered, but most electricity is generated from small factories around the island
• these factories are solar-powered
• solar technology is much more common and economical than anywhere else because our island is technologically advanced

Wall Surrounding Island -

• there is a force field engulfing the island to make sure there is no breaking in
• guarded "gap" in field where officials and immigrants do background checks and applications
• only entrance to the island 
• enforces independence
• generated by electricity
• semi-permeable like a cell membrane
• so it allows water and rain in but not bigger particles

Physical Features -

• island
• beaches
• jungle
• temperate forest
• semi-active volcano

Physical Layout -
  Part of the island is urbanized with the government buildings, housing developments, shopping center. The rest is more natural and environmentally friendly. Actually, it is a jungle/temperate forest.

A. Average Home Overview

1. Kitchen

2. Family Room

3. Bedroom

4. Bathroom

5. Down the Street

Note: Our houses are not that urbanized.

B. Governmental Buildings

1. Main  Hall

 

2. Dining Hall

3. Computer Room

4. Central Library

5. Shopping Area

Our shopping center is much  smaller in reality!

C. Leanna and Abby's Mansion

1. Indoor Soccer Arena

2. Indoor Cafe

3. A Princess's Bedroom

4. Another Bedroom

5.  Bathroom

6. Shoe Closet

7. Clothes Closet

8. Indoor Movie Theater

9. Main Lobby (with elevator)

10. Library

11. Top Secret Meeting Room

12. Game Room

13. Piano Room

14. Recording Studio

15. Office

16. Indoor Garden

17. Kitchen

What is Perfect?

Perfect is having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics. It is as being as good as it is possible to be. Perfect is to make something completely free from faults or defects, or to complete the requirements as close to the condition as possible. The President in the Hunger Games, a utopia, believes that their community is perfect in all prospects, but leads to failure.

 

 

Government

The government of Open Drip Community is a parliamentary monarchy. Its monarchs are Princess Leanna and Princess Abigail, who share equal power.

Parliament is divided into two branches: judicial and legislative. The judicial branch enforces the laws that the legislative branch makes. Monarchs have the power to veto laws passed by the legislative branch and also control the military (which is every able-bodied man over eighteen and under fifty-five in times of national threat). However, the legislative branch controls the financial aspect of running a country. They make the national budget. Deciding whether an offense of a law is excusable is the judicial branch's task. The monarchs and legislative branch have to abide by the courts' decision.

Monarchs pick those on the Supreme Court for a term of ten years or a life sentence. There are seven jury members and one judge. Trials are not witnessed by the general public for reasons of privacy.  There is a minor court, though, and its members are elected by the people in a democratic election. The judicial branch also includes a special law enforcement squad called SLES. They do not kill on a mission, but rather capture.

The seriousness of the punishment depends on the circumstances and gravity of the crime. The punishment for stealing is working office hours at whoever you stole from for an appointed amount of time decided by the court. Killing in self-defense or accidentally is excusable, provided there is enough evidence to clear your name of murder charges. If an offender has done something horrific, like a serial killer, they receive a death sentence and are thrown into the volcano. Death sentences are given rarely.We don't actually have prisons, because we believe in community service. That way, the offender can give back to the community instead of sitting in a prison.

If a person with a disability killed someone, then they would be contained and sent immediately to a medical facility until further notice. Since health care is free, that is not an issue. 

The legislative branch, or Senate, has two groups: conservatives and liberals, Reds and Blues. There are one hundred members of the Senate, fifty Blues and fifty Reds. In order to pass a law, there must be a majority of fifty-five votes.

Philosophy, Reflections, and Community Planning

You are allowed to have numerous children under the limit of ten, because more would be difficult to take care of so many. Babysitters are not encouraged because we want families to take of their own children (there are exceptions) but there is day care for those who work irregular hours. Marriage is encouraged and is a sacred matter. Therefore, divorce is not supported, unless there is a grave accusation. If there is, it will be taken to the court. In other words, the last resort in marriage is divorce. You can take breaks from each other, but divorce is certainly not smiled upon. As long as you're married, pregnancy is not a problem, but we highly recommend you wait a year upon marriage to make sure you're comfortable with that person enough to support children. This is a matter taken seriously.

You can practice any religion you desire, as long as that does not interfere with others' daily lives. There are temples, synagogues, churches, and other places of worship around the community. It is your choice to become publicly associated with any religion or not. Nor are you required to have any religion. We chose to allow you to practice any religion you want because we encourage individualism and the making of your own decisions. You are allowed to carry religious items publicly and privately. Religious societies are allowed to meet but cannot trespass on private property. Also, cannibalism and other physically sacrificial ceremonies are prohibited.

We will not discriminate against any race at all. The application process will be the same for each individual regardless of race, gender, or physical appearance. Business owners have the right to choose their employees, but should any sign of discrimination appear, there will be immediate consequences.

Concerning political views, you have to be respectful of others' views because they have to be respectful of yours. If you seriously disrespect someone's view publicly, this matter will appear in the minor court. 

The primary language is English, but in schools you are required to learn at least one different language. If English is not your first language, then you will be placed in a special home until you learn the language enough to join the community.

Wealth depends on your job, its danger, and how well you perform. Houses are based on family size and are paid for by the government with your taxes, but you decide how it is going to be decorated. Our main means of transportation are bicycles and monorails in order to be environmentally friendly and economic. There is a lower class, middle class, and upper class. Most residents are middle- and upper-class financially.

Once the elderly cannot take care of themselves, they can be placed in a special nursing home.

If a resident of Open Drip Community wishes to vacation, they just have to notify the government one week prior to leaving. 

Our philosophy:

We founded this community so that people in search of peace from the rest of the world may find it. Each person brings something unique to the community. Open Drip Community's philosophy is 'Attitude Determines Altitude'. The way one behaves affects how far he or she will get in life. Because our residents desire peace and sanctuary, our island flourishes and is truly a tropical paradise.

Reflection on 'No Man Is An Island':

This poem is saying that, first of all, humans are social creatures. Secondly, one life is part of a whole web of lives closely intertwined. So if one life is lost, the whole web is affected. It shifts. The web is diminished and not the same because of that life lost. But we should be prepared for our own death, because man is mortal, and we are all human. Your life might be the next one to be lost.

Being a Community Planner:

Community planning is a technical and political process in which people plan cities in order to keep them orderly (according to the Wikipedia website under Urban Planning).

Being a community planner takes work! Some of the tasks planners have to do are conduct interviews, surveys and site inspections that affect land usage, such as zoning, traffic, and housing; participate and support team planning (athletic or academic), and make reports using facts given to plan things such as population and housing, maintain files and records on data.

Community planners should be blunt, realistic, prepared and organized, avoid jargon, balance between different groups, encourage others, be able to communicate well, able to make this a group project, etc. 


Bibliography:
 http://www.mymajors.com/careers-and-jobs/Community-Planner
 http://www.communityplanning.net

National Symbols

Slogan and Motto -
"Bienvenido a nuestra isla"
That is, "Welcome to our island" in Spanish. It is the official secondary language after English because there are approximately 460,368,652 native Spanish speakers as of July 2012.

Our motto is "Amoris et personalitas" which means in Latin "Love and Personality", which is on our flag.

Seal - 

Our utopia is called the "Open Drip Community". We chose this name because we thought it fits for our open arms as we welcome any to our community. The "drip" is symbolic in many ways. It could mean a drip of paint coming from a masterpiece a citizen created. Or it could stand for the rain coming down from the sky as it waters the grass and plants with natural pure water. It's up to you to decide.

Our Flag -

We made our flag as best as we could to represent our utopia. Our utopia is primarily based on individuality on each single person, so we decided to add the two different colored circles with the unique star in the middle to signify that everyone has their own personality. The darkened background, with a slight grain effect along with the words of "love and personality" shows how in our community we encourage the strength of everyone to help others and create the discoveries within them.  

UTOPIANS

All the words you can spell with the word UTOPIANS:

1.  piano
2. utopia
3. iota
4. put
5. puts
6. top
7. tops
8. pot
9. pots
10. to
11. sot
12. tan
13. ant
14. ants
15. pan
16. pans
17. nap
18. naps
19. pat
20. pats
21. tap
22. taps
23. auto
24. opt
25. opts
26. pin
27. pins
28. nip
29. nips
30. pint
31. pints
32. an
33. pant
34. pants
35. not
36. no
37. on
38. nit
39. nits
40. tin
41. tins
42. it
43. its
44. at
45. up
46. pi
47. sup
48. pus
49. pout
50. pouts
51. pit
52. pits
53. tip
54. tips
55. out
56. ton
57. tons
58. nut
59. nuts
60. stun
61. paint
62. paints
63. punt
64. punts
65. pun
66. puns
67. out
68. pain
69. pains
70. apt
71. sun
72. son
73. post
74. stop
75. snap
76. spat
77. past
78. span
79. spun
80. sip
81. sin
82. sit
83. stain
84. sap
85. soap
86. snot
87. spot
88. snout
89. spout
90. spit
91. spin
92. patio
93. atop
94. pita
95. topi*
96. ptui*
97. oat*
98. ipo*
99. poi*
100. uno*

* ptui - the sound made when spitting
* poi - a Hawaiian dish
* topi - an antelope of eastern-central Africa
* ipo - initial public offering
* uno - Spanish word for the number one
 

Daily Life and Economy Part 2

Free Time:

Free time would be doing whatever you want-going on a computer, reading, writing, exploring-as long as the activity does not go against rules. For example, exploring an active volcano when there is clearly a skull and crossbones on a nearby sign. (Of course, that wouldn't happen, children would be kept a safe distance away from the volcano {field trips are an exception}).

Immigrancy:

Every applicant will be screened EXTREMELY carefully. There is an electromagnetic field encircling the island fifty miles away. There could be posts around the circle, kind of like the immigration system on Ellis Island. If an immigrant can enter and has all of the right papers and stuff, the field is removed only in that specific area. The only way to reach the island is by boat. If an unwanted aircraft or boat tries to cross the field, its GPS and navigational gear is disabled until they leave the area. It's kind of like a force field-impenetrable unless invited.

Technology:

There are no TVs, but desktops and laptops that are basically TVs at the same time. That saves money. But everyone has a profile, with a password and user name to access the technology, just to make sure a seven-year-old is not watching a R-rated movie. Saying this, the whole world's channels are available to our residents, because our residents are from all over. Our island is moderately advanced in terms of technology.

Economy and Agriculture Part 2:

Our food is mainly imported from other countries, but agriculture is still a large factor in our economy. Our soil is brown, meaning it's average. Some plants are grown on our island, the surplus of which are exported. Our island is renowned for its tropical fruits. Processed goods and other vital things we import in exchange for the tropical food we export, such as bananas, cacao, etc. This is where students who do not continue their education onto high school come in and become laborers.
Meals are prepared all in one giant area. Families pay for the ingredients and specify what meal they want and kitchen laborers make it for them. On birthdays and other special occasions, they can make their own food, since our utopia is based on individuality.
When a person gets sick, they go to the doctor. Being a doctor requires one to finish college and more. Health care is free.

Response to the Veldt

Don’t let yourself get carried away.

We think that this theme is important.  Ray Bradbury is trying to illustrate that humans  should not let themselves get carried away by their own intelligence;  like the idea that they could create a room that is not only telepathically linked to a brain but also changes scenery according to that brain’s wishes. The thought is exhilarating, as is machinery doing the laundry, making meals, and changing diapers. But that is not real life.

The three themes mentioned in the prompt are closely intertwined. As an example, humans cannot appreciate the simple joys of life when machines do everything for them. There is nothing else to do. Work is an essential part of life and we can find a simple joy when we successfully complete a task. There is no joy or pride in yourself when machines take over, except perhaps that you bought such a brilliant machine. That feeling will wear off because having a machine that will do things for you does not necessarily mean it will make life better. As of now, we have a choice not to get carried away by the technological world surrounding us. In The Veldt, the family did get carried away, and that was their downfall.

 

“I don’t want to do anything but look and listen and smell; what else is there?”

This sounds eerily similar to what an animal, or a being of lower intelligence, does in its daily life. We refuse to believe that humans are on this earth without a reason. This quote confirms the themes said in the prompt. Looking and listening and smelling are obviously used and helpful when in reality, but even babies can look and listen and smell. For them to only do that is expected, because they’re infants. They haven’t grown. But when they do grow, babies are expected to do more. If you’re in a society where all that’s expected of you is to listen, look, and smell, that society is going to be a complete failure. Nothing is ever going to be accomplished because everyone expects you to act like a child that cannot support itself. There has to be something more to do. We are not mere babies.

Here is another supportive statement: If everyone on Earth were unable to smell, then no one would know what that meant, and it would be the rule, not the exception, to be unable to smell. So if looking and listening and smelling are all we’re expected to do, then we wouldn’t see anything different or unusual about the matter. We would not be thinking about this. Therefore, we can conclude that there is more to do than just that. 

~Abby and Leanna~

Individuality

We believe in freedom of the individual and the right to make your own choices. Of course, we also believe in some structure of governments and legislation so there will not be chaotic anarchy.

Rights of the Individual

1. Freedom of Speech
2. Freedom of Press
3. Freedom of Religion
4. Freedom of Apparel
5. Freedom of Education
6. Freedom to Bear Arms (with government limitations)

Citizens can say what they want, write and publish what they want, believe what the y want, wear what they want, and live the life they want to live.
When we say freedom to all these rights, we are not intending violence and corruption. The society is entitled to some limitations, especially in public. But we want the people to make their own choices, and to believe that they are making the correct choice at the same time. Our hope for them to be self confident in their beliefs, but assured that the government will not persuade them otherwise.

Utopian Street Art

Street art is a public display of someone's art to the world. To us, one of our main strengths in our utopia is the individual personality of every person. So we chose this picture of a old, breaking down street corner that is slowly building up with colorful bricks of Legos. This represents how the government tries to build on each person's individuality and run the community on this. The people in our utopia are encouraged to be creative and make their own decisions and to believe they will make the right decisions. And we believe that if we build a community where the government is friendly and supports you in what you love, then it will be easy for the people to make smart choices.

Daily Life and Economy

Economy:
Our economy involves currency unique to our Utopian needs. The currency can be converted to different types of currency, such as the American dollar or euro. There is a designated area in which to barter. Also, the individual owning the product or service decides what the item costs. We have currency because we have taxes on items that you want but are not essential to your survival, like a book. Half of the taxes go to the government for the repairing of buildings, public transportation, etc. The other half goes to education and governmental help for the impoverished residents. Our industries upon which our economy is heavily dependent on are fishing, mining. Tourism is virtually nonexistent. We have a semi active volcano which produces diamonds. We mainly export diamonds and fish for imports such as manufactured goods from various countries (such as the United States or China).

Jobs:
People can have whatever jobs they want, as long as it pleases them and is useful to both the community and to themselves. There are three categories in determining pay: minimum, average, and advanced. Depending how long you work, how difficult, how much education it requires, and how good you are at your work (which is determined by evaluations from your coworkers), you will fall into one of these categories.
There are a certain number of sick days a student or employee should have. If the person has used all of his sick days and is missing without written explanation from some official then he is put on probation, meaning he can't do that again. To make this stress less, it will be an automatic message via email warning the receiver. If the offense occurs again, then the employee is released from his job and can only reapply after a certain amount of time and certificates saying he is much better now. Work hours should be all the same to avoid hassles. The hours would be eight to three. Of course, there are a lot of jobs with different time frames, like manual laborers. So that would be the infrastructure, but a flexible one.
   
Education:
Our utopia is all about freedom. Some basic education is required, but only up until high school. If you're really serious about your education and what you want to be, you'll continue. School is from seven to one-thirty o'clock. There are no magnet or private schools-only public schools or if you want, home-schooling. There is one giant elementary school, one nursery/day care center (which is not mandatory, only if you need it), one junior high, one high school, and then the student can be an apprentice for one who works in the area the student is interested it. Education should be free.
For elementary school through junior high, There is an amount of sick days but no expulsion or probation unless the student does something really bad. If the student is missing more than allowed, then government officials will look into the matter to ensure the safety of the child. However, for upper grades, it's their choice to stay, therefore it's their actions to leave. The same thing for jobs applies to upper-education students.
There is a special ceremony for when you turn fifteen, a "Coming of Age."

Retirement:
People have the right to retire whenever they want, provided they have enough money to support themselves. Applying for governmental help should be a last resort. But again, our utopia is about freedom, people's choices.

~Leanna and Abby~

The Just Right Island

This island has it all: three great beaches, protected deep water access suitable for anchorage and docking of large yachts, and decent elevations. There is also a small pond on the island that would make an ideal private harbor if the new owners wanted to create one.
 
The Just Right Island is located just to the south of Bock Cay where they are creating a wonderful super-exclusive private island retreat with a golf course and incredible homes. Our island is easily accessible and is in close proximity to all amenities in Exuma and excellent fishing can be found in nearby Exuma Sound.

Just Right represents the last great private island opportunity at a reasonable price with a crystal clear title, like the beautiful waters that surround it.
This island was originally purchased as Leaf Caye Island but its name was changed to The Just Right Community. We named it Just Right because our Utopian island is not excessive or insufficient.