2030

Every once in a while, I write a facebook post & it gets a little bit big & goes in some cool directions. That happened a few days ago.

In the midst of storms, fires, and systematized legislative racism stacked on top of all the other bullshit our communities deal with regularly, hope was hard to come by. But then I had a glimmer of it & I decided to focus my attention there. The results are below.

Hopefully, all of this recorded in one place can be a bookmark you feel free to revisit in those moments when you too find yourself running out of hope & could use a reminder of the dreams we have & the various ways we are breathing life into this future reality.

I started with the following vision:

“The year is 2030. Chance the Rapper is President. Universal basic income in the US is $100,000/year. Healthcare is subsidized, including mental health & massage.

Many of the buildings of condos that collapsed in the teens (with no one inside) were razed & the land has been remediated, which means there is now a community garden on each corner where there used to be an eyesore. These garden spaces are biodiverse, with big trees and play spaces for kids. The food is free, & people in neighborhoods work out their own schedule in co-tending the gardens.

With less stuff, less human travel, & less distance for our food to travel + many trees + community bikes + free & entirely accessible energy-efficient (& time-efficient) subsidized buses, climate change began to be curbed about 10 years ago. We’ve still got a way to go, but we’re getting there.

The US had finally begun an apology, accountability, & reparations process to first nations folk, communities of African descent, and Latinx folk. The parameters are being set by a large leadership committee made up of people *from* these communities.

Anti-racist/anti-oppressive lessons are a core tenet of public school curriculum, which has also undergone a complete overhaul. In fact, public schools are the only schools now. Kids delight in going to school & don’t have homework until high school, spending their time after school with friends & family, or at free music lessons, practicing sports, reading, or creating. Teachers like it too, as they are paid more & they have less homework, too.

What else?”

Folks started adding ideas, which was so exciting. The vision just kept growing stronger & bigger. I also added a few more thoughts. I’ve tried to group our ideas, loosely, below, and obviously, many of these are not easy to categorize &/or are deeply intersectional. I’ve included the first facebook name of folks who shared their ideas.

At one point mid-thread, I surmised: “Also maybe I am having a strongly dissociative episode so as not to deal with reality. I suppose all of it can be true at once.” Oh well. Either way, I didn’t want these dreams, this vision to be lost in the impermanence of facebook. So here it is.

(photo by me, sometime in 2016 on an apocalyptic-feeling day)

 

ON LABOR:

“Most folks only work three days a week.” (me)

“Sex work is decriminalized and sex workers control their workplaces, unions and autonomous organizations. Violence against sex workers is nonexistent because rape culture is over and because of sex workers legal ability to hire staff and work together. Because of that 100k guaranteed income, end of rape culture and gender and racial equity, no one is compelled unconsensually to do sex work, but some folks choose to do so. It is viewed like any other form of labor.” – Leah

 

ON THE ECONOMY: 

“Economic growth is at a modest 2% keeping pace with population growth ever since the workers seized the means of production and established the cooperative economy and made Planned Parenthood a cabinet level position in national government.” – Jabari

“Oh and also no animals or people are harmed in the manufacturing of food, clothing, products, and entertainment!!” – Amanda

 

ON EDUCATION: 

“Children are taught to honor their intuition. Our communities hold this as a sacred teaching. Collective (government?) funds are used to support lesson planning and delivery in schools.” – Senaida

“All education is universally accessible and it’s not only provided by the state but also more often by localized, horizontally-organized communities where the students themselves democratically participate in the curriculum foci. Higher ed is no longer simply for certain classes of people and it’s not billed as a stepping stone to better-paying work but valued in and of itself. For the sheer immeasurable joy and value of lifelong learning.
Paid work is not 5 (or 7) days a week. Part of our “work” is deep restoration to the soil, air, water, and flora and fauna hurting so much right now. We have so much more time to dream and create and care for one another.” – Stephanie

 

ON FAMILY/CHILD-REARING: 

“Our elderly live with us in our homes because their family members are not working all the time & have time to care for them” (me)

“During the first few years of a child’s life the parents are financially and emotionally supported to spend as much time as possible nurturing, loving, feeding, teaching, holding, and being with these little people.” – Dona

“The adoption, foster care, elder care, and shelter systems have been completely replaced by locally-centered networks of communal living arrangements that are deeply caring, life-affirming, multigenerational places where folks can build full, interdependent lives. This restructuring has been led by people affected by all of these systems, in particular queer and trans youth formerly homeless or in foster care. And the communal networks are now so robust and able to take in folks that growing up without a home or family is a thing of the past.
This, combined with queer, feminist, active consent-driven, pleasure-conscious sex ed for all ages and accessible, feminist birth worker-driven reproductive health care for all who want it, means that people are 100% in control of when and how they start a family. And people build families/communities of care in whatever shapes meet their needs. Parenthood is something people actively choose, supported by trauma-informed parenting education for everyone starting at a young age. Youth Unions, common across widespread communal living situations, give young people the collective power to have a say over how they are brought up. All this, combined with all the beautiful visions above, means kids grow up feeling safe and loved, free from trauma and violence.” – Michael

“All children, of whatever gender/no gender, are encouraged and supported in recognizing their feelings. No children are socialized that certain feelings are bad or inconsistent with their gender/no gender expression! These lessons are taught at home, at school, at multiple points in the collective experience.” – Senaida

“Parents raise their children without adhering to gender norms and encourage creative exploration while instilling a sense of respect for boundaries and teach them about consent as early as possible.” – Amanda

 

SOME HUMOR/FANTASY:

“But just over the hill, the rich white men’s screams can be heard from the supermax prison that they had to be put in, because there was no other recourse.”– Nicholas

“Mostly the screams are coming from stepping in shit all day at the supermax prison (which is really just an enclosed organic farm inside which the rich white men raise goats and cows and pigs and cultivate gardens to feed the schoolkids and reflect on their debt to society and how they’ve failed our planet) — they’re forced to wear their tailored italian suits and $5k leather loafers to work on the farm. The ground is littered with discarded Rolex watches and Maybach hood ornaments, which the goats like to chew on.

Also the screams are really just variations of incoherently blubbered lamentations of “BUT I WAS A JOB CREATOR””– Nora

 

ON COMMUNITY:

“We (collective rad movement/ healing spaces) have skills and embodied practices which empower us to enact liberatory and safe values and longings with each other as comrades, friends, loves, not just “in service of” our “clients” or “members.” Aka non-profits are not oppressive and community is an actual safe haven.” – Deesha

 

ON SELF/PLEASURE/HAPPINESS: 

“And I’m on the damn beach.” – Leah

“People get to have a good time, chill, play and rest! Nobody is working a 100 hour week.” – Leah

(in response) “Or even 40!”– Melanie

“I am no longer lactose intolerant and have a NY Pizza and Bay Area Enchilada Festival.” – Rich

 

ON ART:

“Artists are valued and appreciated for their work, it is seen as valid and important work. Artists in large groups 10 years ago divested their craft from empire, and redirected their creative energies towards supporting community, exchanging in local economies for money if it exists and or goods and services. The art world is no longer an elitist machine that centers white men and contributes to gentrification and empire building. The art world is a non physical space where everyone is encouraged to be creative, make, vision, dream, practice, fail, invent, stimulate, beautify, and on and on. The practice putting artists on a pedestal or separate from “normal” people is thought of as silly. Anyone can be an artist. Anyone can make stuff. The visions and voices of BIPOC are centered in this world.” – Melanie

“Also I would like to add that libraries, museums, and the arts are funded more generously and are not just accessible to the rich” – Najva

 

ON POLITICS/GLOBALIZATION/COLONIALISM:

“After Chance, indigenous grandmothers are the only people eligible to run for heads of cities, states and countries.” – Emily

“& of course, ultimately, no president, etc. But in 2030 we’ll prob still have one so it may as well be Chance.” (me)

“All debts in third world countries and colonies are absolved. The only debts are the ones the old amerikkkan empire and european colonizers have to the nations they colonized. Global decolonization and reparations process.” – Jary Mar

“Boriken is a sovereign nation! And trades veggies, agricultural knowledge and survival tactics w venezuela, cuba, and quisqueya.” – Jary Mar

“Territories held by the US, like PR, are completely decolonized, and money usually allocated to military contractors is redirected to building climate chaos resilient communities and transitional green systems in the most vulnerable communities.” – Jabari

“The African children once enslaved in the mines that provided the rare elements that made many computer technologies possible and profitable for Big Tech have been freed, given a free ride to any university or trade school of their choice, and many of them have been inventing the next generation of revolutionary cruelty-free connective technology.” – Jabari

“Sri Lanka worked it out and is a thriving island where all cultures are respected and have political power. The civil war will never happen again. Tamil, Muslim, East African, Veddah, Burgher and other non majority cultures have autonomy, respect and human rights. All the land mines are gone. Queerness is no longer criminalized. We didn’t flood in the climate chaos. We are in a thriving bioregional partnership with our cousins in the horn of Africa, South India and Malaysia/ Singapore/ Southeast Asia.” – Leah

“Decisions on community issues are made in Circle. A convening of the appointed folks from their various chosen fields of services. Healers, activists, artists, teachers, trades people, scientists, tech, etc. All looking from every issues with the lens of sustainability of wellness for the seventh generation.” – Robin

“Whoever is president (Chance, Maxine Waters, Alicia Garza, Michelle Alexander, Janet Mock, whoevs) the UN is replaced by the World Indigenous Council, where indigenous elders of all genders (if gender still exists) & abilities represent all countries. All countries must defer to the wisdom and authority of the WIC. All countries have come to terms with the fact that departing from, suppressing, and devaluing indigenous wisdoms is what got us in trouble in the first place. “ – Rich

“And the colonies are all free and independent of their colonizers.” – Olivia

 

ON ACCESSIBILITY/DISABILITY:

“all artificial fragrances are banned, replaced by herbs and plants. air purifiers, many of which are plants that produce extra oxygen and absorb/transform anything toxic, are available in every building for folks who are allergic to herbs. ppl generally stick to mint or food grade vanilla extract if they want to “scent” themselves” – Messy

“And part of the technical and emotional aspects of caring for the elderly, and for what our own selves will be like in old age, is built into the education system for the young.
And all institutions and cultural productions are created and maintained with a multitude of disabled experiences/access points in mind.” – Nar

“Everything is fragrance free and chemical free by default.” – Will

“Focus is on resilience and gifts and adaptation, not “you’re either broken or fixed” There is no such thing as medical stripping, instititionalization or abusive treatment of autistic kids.” – Leah

“Neurodiversity is celebrated and supported” – Melanie

“All businesses and transit hubs, and places of residence are wheelchair accessible and cars have automatic braking when getting within three feet of a pedestrian, bicycle, motorcycle, or other vehicle.” – Amanda

 

ON ENVIRONMENT/CLIMATE CHANGE:

“Plastic has been banned (unless absolutely needed for medical purposes) and technology that dissolves plastic into biodegradable materials has been developed. The technology is expensive and timely, so it’s not a solution to more plastic.” – Melanie

“polar bears and all nearly extinct animals and environments are thriving!” – Pia

“With all the new thriving local economies their is no need for constant relocation so people have time to development generations of relationship with a place. We recognize , communicate with, honor and protect the plants, trees, soil, rocks, animals and weather where we live.” – Dona

“Instead of increasing the technology of warfare, we become eco-restorative techno-societies. We clean the waters, vacuum the skies, detoxify the earth. Develop planet cooling technology while abolishing dirty energy and becoming completely reliant on renewable, sustainable energy.” – Rich

 

ON SCIENCE/MEDICINE:

“Health providers of all sorts are legitimized, not only ‘tradition doctor’s. Doctor’s training is completely dismantled and revamped. They are taught to listen and trust a patient’s voice and instinct about their own body. They are practicing in a way that sees the body holistically and irrevocably intertwined with mental/emotional and spiritual care. They practice trauma informed care that acknowledges epigenetics and health workers and all everyday people have access to resources for providing care to themselves and to others.” – Melanie

 

ON SPIRITUALITY/MAGIC:

“We are developing a true reverential, sustainable, respectful relationship with the earth and all the elements. Communication/ communion with nature is normal and taught in schools. Because of this we are less and less likely to degrade it. A spiritual or atleast mindful and deeply respectful relationship to nature is the norm. After all the storms, fires, earthquakes, air quality issues, and heat waves of the late teens and early 20s, a cultural shift in this direction deepend.” – Melanie

“Magic, indigenous spiritual practices, African based spirituality, African American root working and conjure knowledge is honored and seen on par and in some ways superior to western empirical science which was created along side and to aid capitalism and colonization. These other methods are seen as just other ways of seeing and dealing with the world. Traditional science has caught up to the knowledge of subtle energies that many of these worldviews have recognized. Science is people powered. Access to it is for everyone and rooted in anti capitalist, anti white supremacist, intersectional feminist, ecologically ethical ideologies.
Many mainstream scientist got fed up with how their research was dictated by money, the war machine, and making corporations richer. They opened themselves up to metaphysical knowledge and joined forces with witches to work against those that tried to ignore the science of climate change. There’s an organization called the international foundation of science and magic” – Melanie

 

ON FOOD:

“Add all organic everything and no factory farming practice again ever and I think we got this!!!” – Kanchan

 

ON PRISON/ABOLITION/TRANSFORMATIVE JUSTICE/ACCOUNTABILITY: 

“Abolition passed 5 years ago and all the prisons and jails have been raised and instead there are farms, art centers, and centers where when people cause harm they receive therapy, healing spiritual and cultural practices, community dialogue/ transformative justice practices etc” – Melanie

“We also have systems inside of our community so that when people do harm to others we have a way to say “we love you too much to watch you behave in this way. We will stop you from doing this, we will care for those you have harmed, and we will support you to heal so that you can be safe and loving with others. We are not going to allow you to do this.”” – Danica

“And Yes. Prisons are abolished. We see Black and Brown men among us walking without fear, open to feel feelings, have full lives and love freely.” – Robin

 

ON MEDIA/POPULAR CULTURE:

“Bill boards are few but offer poems and images of our cultural workers.” – Dona

“We look back at a time when popular music was replete with misogyny and trans/homophobia like how we now look back at amputations without anaesthetic.” – Rich

 

ON SEX: 

“Children are taught about the pleasures to be found in their bodies. They learn bodily autonomy & consent as complimentary concepts, not paradoxical ones. Sex is seen as a normal healthy and optional part of life. If you want to indulge separate from the accountability & responsibility of a relationship, trained professionals are part of every community & are supported by government funds.” – M’kali Hashiki

 

ON GENDER/SEXUALITY/DISMANTLING PATRIARCHY: 

“Nobody involves themselves in the sex lives of consenting adults without an invitation. People are free to be their gender without question. What we now think of as gendered characteristics are simply part of a person’s personality, or, well, personhood. We don’t bother ourselves with the ways other people choose to modify their bodies, either. We affirm & celebrate transitions and changes that people choose to be public about. We refer to people as they prefer. All public bathrooms are single stall. Discrimination in housing or jobs based on sexuality or gender is thought of as brute & archaic.” (me)

“en route to either a genderless or all -gender exalting society, male fragility and cisheteropatriarchy is confronted, dismantled and healed. Rites of passage become cultural norms, that direct youth towards being non-oppressive adults. (similar interventions on white supremacy, ableism, etc) Any adult embodying “the old” oppressive ways, is held accountable by community, and more rites of passage and healings are done to embrace them back into the village.” – Rich

 

ON WAR: 

“Nuclear weapons are banned and responsibly disposed of by the non-nuclear nations and the UN Security Council is permanently disbanded after a successful boycott of globalized capital by the non-nuclear nations.” – Jabari

“The world united to reverse global warming and there hasn’t been a war since.” – Armando

“All weapons manufacturing has been completely abolished.
Every gun and bomb on Earth has been welded into a temple of peace to honor ancestors who have lost their lives to weapons based violence.” – Emily

 

ON RACE/POWER/OPPRESSION: 

“All people are nourished to feel their bodies resulting in people feeling their impact on those beside them …….especially those with less power. We all feel the breathing of the earth. Adults feel the struggle and joy of children. White people are reckoning with their hundreds of years of mass dissociation and are feeling the impact of racism/colonialism/imperialism on those around them. Feeling more and being less numb they move toward more actions of grounded thoughtful accountability. Less dissociation means more aliveness and energy for everyone to put towards creating, healing and enjoying.” – Dona

 

ON DEBT/THE DEMISE OF CAPITALISM: 

“A radical redistribution of resources has occurred. Philanthropy (and the connected nonprofit industrial complex) as we know it has been completely dismantled and the capital provided to marginalized communities to decide how to best use. Access to housing, health care, and education for all who want it. Police and prisons have been abolished in favor of community-driven, community-based safety protocol and resources (including a safe and loving way to engage with those who commit violent acts). Money is completely out of politics and the political engagement process is community driven, and there are accountability mechanisms in place to ensure those in office are accountable to their communities.” – Kathryn

“Jubilee was a huge success! All the money that went into paying student loans and consumer debt is no longer sucking people dry. Instead, that money support high quality universal health care, community interdependent care for parents, elders and sick and disabled folks, and childcare.” – Leah

“as capitalism fell, corporations were dissolved. a primary requirement in the dissolution process was that a majority of corporate profits were transferred to collectives charged with overseeing design and construction of museums that help us remember what capitalism wrought. people’s jaws drop as they walk through the museum that documents ‘homelessness.’ the elders remember times when people were without homes, what it was like to see people on the streets and how people were treated by people with homes. they remind generations to come.” – Senaida

 

ON NON-HUMAN ANIMALS: 

“The costs of housing and providing for emotional companion animals are fully covered by our health care.” – Senaida

“Wildlife sanctuaries replace all zoos, aquariums and any space where non human species were once held against their will.” – Emily

 

ON DRUGS: 

“Drugs have been decriminalized. Reparations are paid directly to (1) everyone who was caged in prisons during the ‘war on drugs’, (2) their blood and chosen family.” – Senaida

 

ON POSSIBILITY/HOPE: 

“My emotional reaction is that this is actually happening. I read it and I feel it’s palpable possibility.” – Pati

“You did a good deed starting this thread today. I have not felt entitled to dream and you have given me permission” – Danica

 

ON A FEW THINGS AT ONCE: 

“The word “artisanal” is banned and forgotten because we’re all growing our food. Majority of movies and tv shows are POC made and featured (i.e. No one has to go searching for shows that have POC actors). 45 has been confined to a small apartment with coin op laundry – he’s in DBT therapy. He owns nothing. His wife has set herself free.
Love community collectivity reigns. Differences are celebrated. Hallmark has gone out of business. Poverty is gone. There are at least 5 political parties. Amazon doesn’t own everything anymore, Walmart taken bullets off the shelf and is one of the highest paying/best benefits for employees companies.” – Dania

(in response) “NO. Walmart can’t come.” – Kathryn

“There’s all these curb cubs, places to sit down if you get tired in the grocery, and free gorgeous non petroleum-using multi-accessible busses that run 24 hours a day, come on time, drop you off wherever, and where no one ever gets yelled at by an irate, ableist driver. They are controlled by a community control board of cross-disabled disabled folks.
Reparations and apology are also happening to all the Asian countries, like Afghanistan, Vietnam and Iraq, who have had the shit bombed out of them, children murdered and starved over the years.
All the world bank/ IMF debts have been written off.
Palestine is free, and enjoying a boom because of all the folks in the diaspora who returned home to rebuild.
When kids with disabilities are born, our lives are celebrated and people are excited to see what amazing idea we will come up with. It’s also great if we’re just kinda regular, but folks with non normative bodyminds are also known to be people who are especially skilled at innovation, adaptivity and interdependence. All schools, buildings and spaces are 1000% accessible. There is no longer a sense that there is one right way or normal way to have a body/ mind. People get to detirmine what access hacks, tools and medicines or herbs support us. The medical industrial complex doesn’t exist anymore and healing and medicine happen in completely different ways that aren’t ableist, racist or fatphobic.” – Leah

“Consent culture for everything, interpersonal to systemic. Everyone has access to outlets for creativity/resilience – arts/play funding prioritized. Universal childcare for all / those amazing setups where elders get to hang with the youngest, instead of groups isolated by age brackets. Magic is alive and celebrated. So many creative formations of family/ relationships, that are not regulated/incentivized by the government. Migration between nation states is easy breezy beautiful (NOT Covergirl .. aka, not capitalism induced). Marketing brands is banned – no billboards, no ads, just art. Understandings of body and attraction are formed more organically, body up. People are constantly encouraged to keep DREAMING better worlds into reality.” – Bee

 

Feel free to add to the vision in the comments below! (Hater comments won’t be approved) 

 

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(it took me about 5 hours of labor to track the original facebook post, compile comments, do editing & formatting, & get this post blog-ready. if you want to contribute $ for my labor, hit me up & i’ll send you my venmo or paypal info.) ❤

Update: I’m scared of money. LOL. Per request . . . Venmo is @Mahfam-Malek or paypal.me/MahfamMalek ❤