A small personal utopia

This finally awakened hope that we see on our streets seems to have led us to start imagining the contours of our future society and state again, even if these expectations are not entirely realistic or even possible.

We followed the trail of some other students, the French ones from '68. with their famous "Let's be realistic, we seek the impossible", to search for our utopia. Over time, a whole series of them appeared in the world - socialist, communist, hippie, feminist, anarcho, naturalist... The two from the XNUMXth century that were tested in practice stood out in particular - the Lenin-Stalin-Trotsky proletarian paradise, and they were followed by the ambitious painter from Vienna. And now we have a similar attempt by a hero similar to him, but it is no longer about that Aryan Teutonic, but the Orthodox Hercules from Muscovy.

Now, many would say that these last three cases are not about utopia, but about its opposite, dystopia, but you know how people are - what is heaven for some, is hell for others and vice versa. I, on the other hand, follow Oscar Wilde's thinking: "A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth looking at (...) Progress is the realization of that Utopia." Well, if that's already the case, so we don't go around any further, I'll dare to propose my own model of our society and state, which I'm sure enough people would agree on to have at least one decent party.

The Constitution begins with - Serbia is a geographical, historical, economic, cultural, moral and civilizational part of Europe. Political and military ties with totalitarian and fascist regimes should be considered high treason. Propagation of Nazi, chauvinist, racist ideas and denial of court-confirmed crimes is strictly prohibited by law everywhere and in every place. The church has to deal with ecclesiastical issues and all others with state issues. Any mixing of the two is prohibited under penalty of imprisonment. The church has to pay taxes, like all other sinners. Kicking pops out of schools goes without saying. The flag is the tricolor from the Constitution of Sretenje with the inscription Modernization - Innovation - Creation. It's an anthem When someone hopes for something good or if you really have to, Dositejeva Stand up Serbia. The judiciary in Serbia is independent. The press in Serbia is free. Cyrillic and Latin are equal, and knowledge of both letters must be demonstrated in order to acquire civil rights.

Everyone over the age of 16 has the right to vote. Before voting, a test of knowledge of the political system and general culture is mandatory for everyone, and in order to gain the right to vote, it is necessary to give the correct answer to at least eight out of ten questions. The Assembly is bicameral: Lower House with 120 deputies, Upper House - Senate, 50 senators; candidates who apply undergo rigorous tests of knowledge and political skills. One hundred of them, with the best results, will be on the ballot, of which the voters round off 50. The president of the country has strictly ceremonial duties, with a protocol like in Tito's time, so that we no longer brag in front of the world. The President is proposed by the Senate. The government has a maximum of 12 ministries.

The country was divided into the province of Vojvodina and districts, with stronger central control in the first ten years. During that time, work is being done on the gradual transfer of responsibilities and funding to the local level. After that, a high degree of decentralization. The two houses of the Assembly and the great powers of the local self-governments are a guarantee that never, never, never again in Serbia will some conceited despot decide on life and death alone.

In every budget, republican and local, the first four items are in order: education, science, culture and UBI. What is left for the others. All citizens are entitled to Universal Basic Income (UBI). It is the amount of money that is paid out of the budget to all residents and that covers basic living expenses - food, housing and basic health care. Despite popular opinion, these are not astronomical sums at all, it has been calculated that, for example, in Great Britain it would be about 8 percent of the state budget. In Serbia, no one should be hungry, on the street and without basic health care.

The penal policy for blood crimes is drastically tightened and for other crimes it is softened. For murder, life imprisonment, for rape the same punishment as for attempted murder, for molestation of children life imprisonment and to throw away the key. The autonomy of the University is absolute. Full legalization of all soft herbal drugs and prostitution. Crimes against animals are punished with the same penalties as those against people.

There. All this, of course, requires more detail, and many important areas are not even mentioned due to space constraints. But here, these are the hopes and fantasies of a Serbian director, the cries and whispers about Serbia that will emerge or disappear. After all, as experience teaches us, if we do not have the courage to search for utopia, I am afraid that some less imaginative than us will impose their new dystopia on us.