Interesting point, haven't been part of earlier discussions re this particular Utopia, (Bucky Fuller excepted in other sites).

Per my education in philosophy, economics, and technology, the "demand" for goods, services and therefore for human labor, even, at the lowest level, is infinite. Seriously. Infinite. There will never be, and can never be, an excess of demand over supply of human labor.

I mean that as very positive, and not at all argumentative.

There is no "post-Capitalist", only, Capitalist and individualist. No matter what luxuries can be provided to the affluent, there will always be more to be thought of, invented, and produced.

Just think: It's 1910, and "if only I had an automobile..."...luxury...oh, wait, a radio...luxury...TV...PC...AOL...

Or, better said in art:

http://wn.com/four_yorkshiremen_sketch

Or possibly 'post capitalist'.

We have discussed many times here what the world will look like when everyone is affluent and no one has to work because robots (and replicators) do everything that is needed to keep the entire Earth population living lives of luxury. Probably the answer is that 75% of the population spends most of their time on the holodeck, 10% take over the remaining judgment-based administrative jobs on Earth, 10% enlist in Starfleet Academy, and the remaining 5% are the innovators.

Jan

I was, of course, thinking of 'folding green bills' being the message behind the green field, but it could be confused with Greens (EPA) instead of 'bucks'.

Gold on blue works well. Heraldically, the only country that was allowed to have metal-on-metal was Jerusalem. It may sound silly, but when you look at a flag or emblem from far away, gold and silver look the same, whereas gold on 'a color' stands out well. So, any pure color would work, and black would also work.

Jan
(heraldically, silver=white; gold=yellow)

What if we ask the creative Gulchers to come up with a Galt's Gulch flag?

Sorry, Sweden (and Israel, and everyone else...)
imnsho, Nothing Beats Earthrise....

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/Histor...

Crop and center a little, maybe...

Where you can't see geopolitical boundaries... and it's completely non-exclusionary.

And designed in Sweden, a hotbed of Israeli nationalism.... oh, wait...

Yes, "In a galaxy far, far away..."...as I immediately mix my metaphors/movies: implied in the futuristic, modern "Star Trek" series is an obviously Capitalist Federation based in an ultra-modern San Francisco. Even the producers (movie) probably wouldn't agree, but that type of Federation "world/galaxy" government and high-tech world as portrayed could logically only exist in an advanced Capitalist world. (Which begs the question: how do the totalitarian Klingons get their advanced weapons of war. Answer: they have their own Rosenbergs...)...

Sigh. We won't see it (except on screen)...but here's to the future Jim Kirks...

Stupid. I don't endorse it at all. Like what Khalling said; It's so, one-worldy, representing collectivist-garbage BS. It's a flag I would expect to see on some science fiction flick.

Well...the yellow dollar sign symbolized money and gold and the silver background symbolizes...well, silver. A yellow (gold) dollar sign on a gold field wouldn't work. How about a dark blue field and below the dollar sign in silver is "In Signo Vinces." In this sign we conquer.

I think that we will eventually have a world government, but that it is a bad idea at this time (irrespective of the form of gov it takes).

Each Greek city-state was a country unto itself, and the independence and inter-city rivalries lasted for millennia. Ultimately, the world got 'larger' and the concerns of any given city-state were overwhelmed by the formation of empires on (and across) their borders and then of countries emerging from the ruins of empires.

When, one day, we are out among the stars with hundreds of colonies, Earth will probably merge into a single governmental unit. But that will be OK then, because there will be lots of other places you can go if you do not agree with Earthgov.

Right now, if we were one government, there would not be anywhere someone could 'go to' and be 'in another place'. So, for now, it is better that we differentiate the nations and let each have its own system. People can sort themselves amongst the choices. The problem that we have in the Gulch, is that there is now no country that actually represents our 'choice'...the USA is still the closest, and the US is not doing particularly well in that respect.

That being said, the flag is actually quite aesthetic.

Jan

That is metal on metal and not heraldically correct. Would you settle for gold on green?

Jan

well, I'm pro-Israel and anti-U.N. and, ummm, the
geometry is neat. . and 7 was always lucky in
my little family (7 rings). -- j
.

I'm kinda partial to this one:::

http://www.americanflags.com/gadsdenflag...

-- j
.

Yeah all the people on Earth are one as long as America's taxpayers are picking up the tab.

Expect this on O's next podium...

Sizzle snap!
This is disturbing. Also I really want to throw rotten tomatoes at the head of the rainbow glitter fairy dust moron who came up with such an abhorrent, to me at least, "idea".
It gives me the willies.

AAARGHH!
A flag for every agenda.
How about a flag with a giant yellow dollar sign on a field of silver.

I hope that most of us recognize the flag of the United States of America for what it stands for. It's just a piece of cloth, bits of red, white and blue that represents 200 years of struggle to define a concept of freedom, liberty and the rights of every man, women and child to live their lives based on their own needs and desires. We may disagree on occasion with those who's opinions differ from ours, but we live in a country, identified by our flag, that allows us the opportunity to disagree without fear of retribution. God, I love this country.

When we all salute this flag, also get ready for the fulfillment of this quote re: the 20th Century Motor Works: "...If this is what it did to a single town, where we all knew on another, do you care to think what it would do on a world scale?....... To work -- with no chance of an extra ration, till the Cambodians have been fed and the Patagonians have been sent to college. To work -- on a blank check held by every creature born, by men whom you'll never see, whose needs you will never know, whose ability or laziness or sloppiness or fraud you have no way to learn and no right to question -- just to work and work and work -- and leave it up to the Ivys and the Geralds of the world to decide whose stomach will consume the effort, the dreams and days of your life. And this is the moral law to accept? This -- a moral ideal?"

This isn't the first time a "world flag" has appeared, either - http://www.shop.earthflag.net

I did see the unlikely. I just could not envision it working at that level at all and wanted to understand where you were coming from. Thanks.

You did note that I said it wasn't very likely.

The only way any government could possibly work on that scale and still maintain guarantees of liberty and property would be if said government was strictly limited in scope by a strong founding document.

Sound familiar? Of course - that's what he had here in the U.S., originally, and you're right, look where we are now.

But here's the thing: In government, there's no point in looking for permanent solutions. Nothing lasts forever. The United States won't. Republics always fall, and are almost always either conquered (Greece) or succeeded by dictatorships (Rome.)

A global Republic could work - for a while. But it is in the inevitable nature of governments to grow ever more intrusive and even more bureaucratic, and that will happen in any Republic at any scale.

A strongly limited global Republic could lead to a Golden Age that may last a century or two. But it would fall, too, to be replaced by something less pleasant - which appears to be happening to Western civilization right now.

This flag is about as inspiring as the comments in the article. What a crock-full of cliches.

The only comment that puzzled me was the one about current flags "necessarily" pitting people against each other. Missing the logic there. The way I view most flags is that they identify a country and not much else. Of course, if there's a hammer-and-sickle, swastika or the like anywhere in the flag, I may have other thoughts. And if it's all black...well...

And I still kinda prefer the ones further up the street...

That would be one large bureaucratic government and IMHO would not have a good outcome. Look at where we are now. I would love to hear how you think a world government, even one based on our current system would be successful let alone beneficial.