How can we define utopia? Perhaps we can measure how close a people are to it by measuring happiness. But this too can be tricky. After all, happiness that is synthesized by a drug is a different sort than happiness that is derived from activity. Let us use the definition for happiness that the American Psychological Association uses. This states: http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:ov0WkfGG16oJ:www.apa.org/journals/releases/bul1316803.pdf+apa+definition+of+happiness&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Well, perhaps we can use happiness as our measure while leaving its subjectivity intact. Currently, the major problems that we have so far as making it possible for everyone to be free to experience happiness however it is defined pertain to philosophy and utility. In short people are unhappy either because they cannot find something conceptual or because they cannot find something physical.
First, physical problems must be solved, otherwise physical baggage hampers any quest for higher satisfaction. We must solve problems pertaining to food, water, shelter, energy, sustainability, comfort, and pleasure.
Sustainability is the key to resolving the first three of these. First, effective systems for distributing water for irrigation and drinking must be made available to all. The technology is available but can be made more efficient and affordable. There is enough food and water, but too much food and water is wasted. Another one of the first things that needs to go is the meat industry. It takes 10 times as much grain to feed an animal to feed a person than it takes to feed a person directly. Over the centuries people in cities have been further and further detached from the food, and particularly the meat, that they consume. If people wish to eat meat, they must be willing to sacrifice convenience in order to raise, kill, and eat it. Opening rooftops and building interiors for agriculture is the next important step.
Shelter should not be hard to provide for people. At minimum everyone should be able to sleep under a roof at some kind. That isn’t hard to accomplish. With brick and technology it should be possible to create affordable sustainable housing for all. Energy saved in efficient housing, transportation, and storage is the most important step toward energy stability. Increases in the efficiency of solar and wind can free us entirely from fossil fuel. Lastly, effective contraception and (at least online) education must be made available for all. Meeting all of these necessities allows us to begin increasing the level of comfort and pleasure for all.
From this point on happiness becomes an increasingly psychological problem. We can make increases in technology to provide better tools (or drugs), but only projects and people can provide continued and meaningful satisfaction. Now, when it comes to projects there is some philosophical disagreement about what types of projects make people happy. I think that it differs from person to person. Because of this, I think that the most important thing is to make sure that everyone has choice when it comes to work. If everyone is to be happy everyone must be able to work on the types of projects that they most enjoy. As physical labor becomes increasingly machine assisted then increasingly obvious it should become more natural for this shift to occur. Right now, the value of a person is wrapped up in the work that they do. Hopefully, in the future the value of a person will become more intrinsic. The value that a person has will not be wrapped up in what they do for society but in how or whether they engage with society. I also think that markets for physical things will be largely replaced by markets for virtual things. Of course many people will still be focused on physical luxuries, but most exchanges will be virtual and free. Most people will be able to find happiness and fulfillment through virtual projects and interactions. The virtual will only continue to better match and eventually surpass the real.
If physical scarcity can be conquered (and it definitely can!), only the scarcity of ideas will remain. Models of socialism or capitalism in the Marxist sense, models dependent on a working or labor class, can be replaced by new models of socialism. A society could come to exist in which all are equal and the only way that one might ascend is not through conventional capitalism but through charity. If our physical needs are met, most of us are willing to work on the projects we love for free. Those who have ideas that people find worthwhile to pursue can be given excess resources. Ideas and affections can come to replace currency and physical goods in everyday life. Currency can continue to be used for the trade of physical luxuries, but all people should be entitled to minimum physical necessities. All that would remain is the conquest of immortality and the exploration of space.
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