INTRODUCTION TO THE LINEAR COLONY CONCEPT
PHYSICAL DESIGN FEATURES OF LINEARS
LINEARS AS EXPERIMENTS IN SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL DESIGN
SOCIAL ENGINEERING OF LINEARS
ECONOMIC ENGINEERING OF LINEARS
POLITICAL ENGINEERING OF LINEARS
THE LINEAR AS A MODEL FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL SETTLEMENTS
MAKING THE LINEAR COLONY CONCEPT A REALITY

"I don't tell the people what they want to hear. I tell them what is going to be." -Tyrannicus

INTRODUCTION TO THE LINEAR COLONY CONCEPT
The linear colony, or simply the "linear," will be the basic structural and organizational units that will be linked together to form the cities of the future in all industrial societies. The term "colony" is used instead of "city" because, in the very distant future, the linear concept will readily lend itself to the construction of extraterrestrial settlements, or "colonies" on other planets. In the more immediate time frame, the terrestrial variant of the linear is designed to be an optimal "habitation solution" for humans on earth. It will be the ultimate means of land, energy and natural resource conservation. All things considered, the linear will prove to be the most sustainable and ecologically friendly high density habitation solution.

Perhaps the best way to imagine a "linear" is to think of a large building having a "footprint" about the size of a large shopping mall, and which is anywhere from 20 to 40 stories high. The linear colony concept effectively merges the idea of a building and a city into one. Now imagine that this "city within a building" is constructed over sections of the interstate highway system, and you will have a basic picture of the linear. From the standpoint of both land availability, transportation, and energy efficiency, at least some sections of the interstate highway system (particularly sections that run north to south, for reasons that will be made evident) will become prime real estate for the construction of linear colonies. Anywhere from 3 to as many as 20 linears would be grouped together, end to end, to form administrative and governmental units known as a "sectors."

At this stage, the linear concept might seem far-fetched. But, as a plan for the most efficient utilization of land, energy and other resources needed for the construction and operation of human habitations and work environments, some variation of this basic concept is likely to appear in the future. Due to their "high density" design, and to the fact that transportation throughout the linear complex would be accomplished by travel in straight lines, both horizontally and vertically, linears would create a number of efficiencies and economies of scale. However, the fact that linears will be designed as high density habitations is somewhat misleading. The linear concept is not intended to artificially increase the Earth's carrying capacity, or the number of people the the planet could theoretically safely sustain (this number should remain at around 3 billion, despite the fact that we are currently over 6.5 billion). Rather, the objective of the linear concept is to decrease the environmental impact of human populations, and to increase resource sustainability and the quality of life for everyone.

PHYSICAL DESIGN FEATURES OF LINEARS
Linears will be divided into residential, commercial and public modules. There is a distinction between modules and units. Think of modules as the pre-existing structure, or the hole into which the unit is placed or constructed, or as the part of the infrastructure to which it is attached. The units will be privately owned, in most cases, while the modules will be publicly owned.

Residential Modules
Residential modules will accommodate the housing units in the linears. These units would be considered spacious by most conventional standards, and would generally be in the range of from 2500 to 4000 square feet. Because natural sunlight will be a valuable commodity in the linear colony, most linears will be oriented in a north-south direction. In this way, all of the outboard units (those units that are located on the outside perimeter of the linear) will receive the equivalent of about half a day of sunlight. Understandably, outboard units will be able to command a significantly higher price than inboard units. If an outboard unit is typically priced at $1.5  million, then an inboard unit of the same size might only be priced at $1 million. Although, how much of a premium the residents of linears will be willing to pay for natural sunlight in their homes is anyone's guess, when they can spend all day at one of the many open air recreational facilities on the upper deck. Alternatively, linears could be constructed so that there are no "inboard" housing units at all, or so that all housing units are located along the exterior of the linear. However, because this plan would effectively cut the population of the linear in half, it would tend to defeat some of the efficiencies and economies of scale that could be gained from a higher population density, which is a major goal of the linear concept.

Regardless of whether they are inboard or outboard units, each residential module would have a "frontage" of between 50 and 80 feet, and a depth ranging from 45 to 50 feet. This frontage would translate into roughly 100 housing units per floor, per side, per "linear" mile. Multiply this by roughly thirty stories to yield 3000. Then multiply this by two (the two sides of the linear) to yield 6,000 units. Double this number to account for an equal number of "inboard" units to get a total of 12,000 residential units per linear. Then multiply this number by an average household of 2.5 to yield approximately 30,000 residents per "linear" mile. Then multiply 30,000 by the 4 to 12 linears that would normally be grouped together to form a colony, or a sector, to yield the minimum and maximum size of a sector, for a total of between 120,000 and 360,000 inhabitants per sector.

Commercial Modules
Businesses will be located in commercial modules. Commercial modules would be subject to certain restrictions that are related to their principal economic activities, the relative strain they place on the infrastructure, and their overall social and economic impact on their community, or sector. For instance, entire categories of businesses would be prohibited within linears, because they are more closely associated with undesirable or underground activities; lower social and economic status; or because the people who patronize certain types of businesses (or those they typically employ), fall outside of the demographics that the linear will be designed to attract. For instance, you wouldn't be able to find any pawn shops, palm readers, tattoo or massage parlors within linears. But, if you looked really hard, you might be able to find a high classed strip joint.

Public Modules
Government facilities, including schools, law enforcement substations, and all entities performing functions that normally fall to government (including facilities maintenance) will be located in "public" modules.

Tightly Controlled Access
One of the most distinctive features of a linear will be its tightly controlled access. In order for the optimal social benefits of linears to be realized, access to them will need to be tightly controlled. Because access to the linear community would be so tightly controlled, crime within the linear could be reduced to an absolute minimum.

A tunnel will be formed by the linears themselves, as the interstate goes through them. Through passage, or normal travel between sectors via the interstate, would be unimpeded. To gain entry to a sector, one would exit the interstate just before it passes through the sector, and proceed to a series of guard gates. At the guard gates, one would need to present a visitor's pass (essentially a visa)  to gain entry into the sector. Obtaining a visitor's pass would require a sponsor who is a permanent resident of that sector.

Transportation
A variety of transportation modes will be available for travel within linears, between linears, and between sectors. In fact, the residents of linears will have more transportation options than do the residents of typical cities and suburbs of today. First, there will be a high speed monorail which is mainly for transportation between linears. To the extent that it can be developed into an efficient mode of transportation, rather than just an exotic novelty, this system might resemble the one that is currently in use at Disney World.  It would typically stop once within a sector and would run non-stop between sectors. This will be the core of the public transportation system within the linear system, and the primary means of mass transit between sectors.

A second electric mono or bi-rail transportation system would make more frequent stops and would be primarily designed for intralinear or intrasector transportation. This would be similar to the rapid transit system that is in use today at Atlanta's International Airport.

A third mode of transportation within the linear system will be the "autopod." This will be the main private mode of transportation within the linear. The autopod will be a fully programmable transportation device that is similar to an automobile in size and appearance, but it will be designed to run in a straight line, on a fixed course or track, it will be electrically powered, and fully automated. Basically, you get into your autopod and punch in or say your destination code, and the autopod will zip you to within less than 150 feet "horizontally" of your destination. While the autopod will be most commonly used for transportation within linears (just as automobiles are most commonly used for transportation within cities), it will also be ideal for travel between sectors. Autopods would be stored in community garages that are within 300 feet of every residence.

Not to overlook the obvious, because linears are effectively 20 to 40 story buildings, they will need a highly efficient elevator system to accomplish travel between floors, levels, or decks. This is the fourth means of transportation within the linear.

The fifth mode of transportation within the linear will be the conventional automobile. On or near the ground floor of every linear would be a parking garage to accommodate the automobiles of every resident. The garage would have access to both the interstate and to the area surrounding the linear. Although virtually everyone who lives in a linear will still own their own automobiles, the automobile will not be nearly as much a part of everyday life as it is today. For most travel purposes within linears and between them, people will opt for either the monorail or the autopod. These more efficient modes of transportation will save an enormous amount of energy.

A sixth mode of transportation within the linear will be an automated freight and parcel delivery system. Basically, think of this system as Fedex on steroids.

Finally, a seventh mode of transportation within the linear would be a pedestrian and bicycle circuit that will run throughout the entire length of the linear complex.

Energy Self Sufficiency
Although most linears will initially be tied into external power grids as an umbilical, each linear would be designed to achieve energy self sufficiency. Energy saving and producing features (primarily solar arrays) will be incorporated into every linear with the aim of achieving optimal efficiency, if not the outright energy independence. A plan for the eventual energy self-sufficiency of every linear will be based upon a combination of energy efficiency, solar and nuclear power. Eventually, the long term solution to everyone's energy needs will be nuclear fusion, a truly limitless source of cheap energy. Even without this source of energy, linears will represent the ultimate standard in modern living and energy efficiency. Because linears will be very compact structures, by today's standards, their power grids can be made extremely efficient. In addition, their large exterior surfaces will be ideal for the placement of solar collection panels.

LINEARS AS EXPERIMENTS IN SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL DESIGN
In terms of man's social, economic and political development, the linear can be thought of as a culmination of over 6,000 years of experience in urban living, combined with the advances in technology that have occurred over the last few centuries. Rather than just some totally unplanned society that seems to have just spring forth from the earth (as do most of our cities and suburbs today) the linear is designed to be a fully planned city from the beginning. The design principles underlying the linear concept are simple and straightforward. Optimize all human systems and achieve maximum efficiencies. Within the linear system, transportation, communication, habitation and other human subsystems have the potential to reach their zenith. The "city" will have reached its ultimate form in the linear, or the form that is best able to satisfy "legitimate" human wants and needs.

Each sector would be a semiautonomous municipality with its own local government and unique demographic characteristics. Permits to live in a particular sector would be tightly controlled on the basis of race, ethnicity and other demographic characteristics, to insure that the population of each sector was highly homogeneous. The linear colony will be as much of a social, economic and political experiment as it will be an engineering challenge. Linears are not only designed to be optimally efficient from the standpoint of land, energy and resource utilization, but they are also designed to be optimally efficient from the standpoint of human interactions. Specifically, as a social experiment, the linear concept will be designed to demonstrate that highly homogeneous societies are inherently more functional, efficient and stable than highly heterogeneous societies.

Typically, linears would be organized according to themes which take into account factors such as the race, ethnicity and religion of the inhabitants, as well as other demographic characteristics. Because linears will be semi-autonomous communities with highly homogeneous populations, they will be able to demonstrate, once and for all, which form of social organization is most functional and desirable; a highly heterogeneous society based on the principles of amalgamation and multiculturalism, or one which is based on the principles of social, ethnic and cultural homogeneity; and on the belief that people who share certain basic similarities are more likely to prosper and to live peacefully in the same society, than people with extremely dissimilar characteristics. The differential performance of linears that have populations with different characteristics will also demonstrate if people are "equal" regardless of their core characteristics, or if there is some justification for believing that some are better able to function in absolute terms, because of inherent advantages afforded by their normative characteristics, or because they share certain core values, attitudes and beliefs.

Understandably, many people who feel that they might rank lower on these valued dimensions may not want to face the prospects of the "test" that the linear concept represents, even if the test might actually prove that their own normative characteristics are relatively functional. Regardless of such concerns, the linear represents the perfect test for the theory that some groups can do a better job of making and running a society than others, based upon their shared values, attitudes and beliefs, or their normative characteristics. Alternatively, the linear concept could just as easily prove that we really are all "created equal" regardless of our normative or other characteristics.

As societies having populations with their own normative and ideological characteristics, linears would be designed to operate as competitive enterprises. They would be designed to prove that, primarily by virtue of their normative characteristics, some groups are better than others, or conversely, that normative characteristics have no relationship to rates of personal success, economic performance, or social and political harmony. They will demonstrate once and for all whether or not people can or should be qualitatively ranked according to their fundamental values, attitudes and beliefs, their racial or ethnic characteristics, or whether they are all essentially equally functional as human beings, regardless of their racial, ethnic or ideological differences, or differences in their fundamental values attitudes and beliefs. As a social experiment, linears will also be designed to answer the question of whether or not belief systems can be qualitatively ranked, whether they are equally functional overall, or if all value systems hold both "hidden gems and poison pills." If belief systems which are functional in one area are destined to be dysfunctional in another area, multiculturalists and cultural relativists will have been proven correct after all.

The linear is not designed to be some utopian paradise. Rather, it is designed to offer a number of practical solutions to a variety of social, economic and political problems that have confronted mankind since the beginning of his civilization. It is not designed to embody the ideals of Plato's republic, Marx's socialist utopia, or Jefferson's ideals of an agrarian society. Standing alone, and in their relatively pure forms, these ideals are impractical, if not  fanciful. And yet, with the proper emphasis, and in a proper combination, all of these ideals can provide us with useful insights . For instance, the main principle that we are to take away from Jefferson is the need for self-sufficiency. The main principle that we take away from Plato is the need for order and predictability. And the main principle that we take from Marx is the concern within social and economic equality (within the same community). All of these ideals can be realized in the linear colony.

SOCIAL ENGINEERING OF LINEARS
The linear colony concept will pose a challenge to conventional notions of social engineering at a number of points. Linears can be thought of as testbeds to evaluate the relative performance of groups which are all equally affluent (by virtue of being able to afford to live in a linear in the first place), but which have fundamentally different racial, ethnic or normative characteristics. Any group could elect to finance and create its own linears. For instance, there might be White Christian linears, Black Moslem linears, Oriental Buddhist linears, Indian Hindu linears, or any combination of the above. However, the minute that the homogeneity principle is violated, the linear concept becomes null and void, at least from the standpoint of social engineering. As an experiment in social engineering, the whole point of the linear concept is to test and demonstrate the relative merits of a highly homogeneous society, regardless of whether it is composed of Caucasian Christians, Black Moslems, Oriental Buddhists, etc. The principle of homogeneity is an indispensable feature of the linear concept.

The linear colony concept depends on the principle of homogeneity in basic social characteristics at a number of points. First, homogeneity is considered to be a means of maximizing internal cohesiveness of the community. Secondly, it is necessary to demonstrate the relative functionality of different belief systems, competing on an equal plane and under controlled conditions. It is also an attempt to accommodate one of the strongest of all human tendencies, namely, the desire to associate with other human beings on the basis of characteristics which they share in common. Given a choice, most people will naturally want to associate with, and live in close proximity to, others who share certain basic characteristics. Linears would also be designed as homogeneous communities in an attempt to regain some of the sense of community, or gemeinshaft, that has been lost in modern multicultural, multiethnic, multiracial states. The linear is designed to be a refuge against the fragmenting forces of life in a multicultural environment.

Zoning for Homogeneity and Compatibility
Each sector containing three or more linears would be "zoned" or would receive a special designation that is based on certain major demographic characteristics of the population it was designed to accommodate. The first step towards making a linear's population homogeneous would be to insure that the inhabitants were normatively similar, or that they shared certain fundamental values, attitudes, and beliefs. The second major step would be to insure that all the inhabitants were highly similar racially, or ethnically, or that they all share a high degree of genetic similarity. Again, this form of social organization is meant to pose a challenge to conventional notions of social engineering, which are designed to integrate people with highly dissimilar characteristics, rather than to aggregate people on the basis of their similarities.

Most social engineers today are convinced that the best form of social organization is based upon the principles of multiculturalism, which requires amalgamating people having many diverse racial, ethnic and cultural characteristics. The main fear that these social engineers will have towards the linear colony concept is that, in their view, it will encourage a certain insularity of outlook among the people who live in them, and that these people would not become fully integrated into the larger societies of which they are a part. Conventional social engineers might also fear that the linear concept would tend to undercut national loyalties in multicultural states. These same social engineers ignore the fact that, left to their own natural inclinations, people already tend to separate themselves into enclaves in multiracial and multicultural societies on the basis of certain shared characteristics. A linear colony would merely be designed to accommodate this natural tendency.

Homogeneity of Linears
The idea of achieving a high level of homogeneity within linears and sectors is a mainstay of social organization within the linear.  Every linear will have its own social theme based upon the major demographic characteristics of the population it is designed to accommodate. To achieve a high level of social homogeneity and compatibility, the inhabitants of every linear would be screened on the basis of certain characteristics. These characteristics will not typically include age or sex (other than to insure a "normal" distribution of both), but they will include such variables as race, ethnicity, religion and sexual preference. For instance, a sector might be designated "Caucasian-Christian-heterosexual." This does not mean that anyone who is Black or homosexual would be absolutely banned from entering a sector with this designation. It means that they would not be allowed to become a permanent resident of a sector with this designation. It means that they would not be considered "part of the community," and that they would be regarded as "guests" transients, or visitors who have a special status.

This plan for social organization obviously subverts the ideal of multiculturalism, and the tenets of current social engineering practices as well. That is precisely its intention. From a structural-functional standpoint, and for many reasons which are outlined in much more detail elsewhere, the more homogenous form of social organization is to be preferred over the more heterogeneous form, to insure the highest level of social cohesion and the least cost to a society. And, this form of social organization does not require forced internalization of  tolerance norms in order to achieve a high level of internal stability. Studies have shown that tolerance norms are difficult to establish and maintain (Sullivan, Piereson and Marcus, 1979). By constructing a community to be highly homogeneous along important dimensions to begin with, the whole issue of tolerance becomes a moot issue, at least within the linear. The linear colony concept would obviate tolerance as a means of achieving social stability.

Life in a Linear
The linear is not designed to be a utopia. It is designed to be an optimizer. It would be a big step in the direction of ending social and interpersonal conflicts. It would be a big step in the direction of both energy self sufficiency and resource sustainability. Living in a linear would be like living in a large luxury apartment complex that was within walking distance to work, schools shopping malls, and every conceivable business or facility that is normally found in a city of 100,000 or more. Obviously, creating such structures would require a significant amount of careful planing and would pose some significant challenges for both architects and civil engineers. But, the entire world would likely come to respect and admire the result.

As exclusive residential communities, linears would offer housing that would be competitive with today's upper end housing market. Residential units would range from around 2500 to as much as 4000 square feet and would typically be priced between 1 and 1.5 million. This is about 5 times the median price of a home today. But, once linears are constructed, they will have the potential to induce a housing glut. As this housing glut begins to make itself felt, it could result in a sharp decline in the cost of both conventional housing as well as housing in linears.

Exclusivity of Linears
Whenever we hear the term "exclusive" (especially in connection with resorts, hotels or communities) we tend to think of this term as a synonym for "expensive and desirable." Somehow we don't think much about what the word actually means in its literal sense. But, digging a little deeper into the meaning of the word, we find that  the word actually means that, because of its expense and other qualities, something tends to "exclude" types of people who we might find undesirable, or who we might not wish to associate with, or even encounter.

People are excluded first of all by their inability to afford the use of "exclusive" facilities. And they are further excluded by the fact that even if they could afford to use such facilities, they would probably not feel comfortable around the types of people that they would normally encounter in such facilities. The fact that somehow a resort, hotel or community is able to exclude such people is advertised as a great plus. In this sense, exclusivity actually means that only a "higher class" of people will be able to gain entry to a particular place, which enhances its desirability. This understanding of "exclusive" applies in the linear colony as well.

Social Equality Within Linears
Achieving a high degree of social equality will be a major social design consideration of linears. Because social inequality is mainly a function of fundamental differences in the values and outlooks of people, the requirement that residents of linears share fundamental normative characteristics (including fundamental values, attitudes and beliefs) will go a long way towards insuring their social equality.

ECONOMIC ENGINEERING OF LINEARS
The economies and occupational structure of linears will not reflect the division of labor in the larger societies in which they are located. As an exercise in economic engineering, linears will be designed so that higher income and higher status professional, technical and production jobs are vastly over represented. Linears will be far less reliant on lower wage, lower skill occupations.  Economic equality within linears will be facilitated by the fact that the overwhelming majority of their inhabitants will have high occupational and or economic status.

Because the cost of living in a linear is itself an exclusionary mechanism, and because people will be required to find employment in the linears in which they live, most lower tier occupations will be automatically excluded. Entry level employment (such as food service) and other more menial jobs will be typically performed by students and young adults aged 18-25 who have parents living in the linear. If these student workers do not own their own residential units (and most will not), and if they do not live at home with their parents, their parents will have to vouch for them, and they will be designated temporary residents, guest workers, or students.

Commercial Presence and Utilization
Because economic forecasting is more of an art than a science, and to allow for a large margin of error in calculating demand, there will initially be a lot of unused commercial space in linears. Businesses in linears will be designed to grow into an existing demand, rather than vice versa.  From an economic engineering standpoint, it will be more desirable to have a much smaller number of thriving, high volume businesses than to have a proliferation of smaller businesses that are barely making it.

As part of an intentional effort to skew their occupational and income structures towards the upper end, linears will be designed to avoid the pattern of small business proliferation that is now evident in the larger industrial societies in which they are located. This will help to insure that linears do not become "restaurant economies." Thus, for every three linears with a service population of between 75 to 100 thousand, there might only be one Walmart, three McDonalds, or three Wendys, etc. This might seem like a relatively small number of franchises for a population of 75-100 thousand, and it is. However, spatially, all of these businesses would be within 1.5 miles of any potential consumer. For instance, if the intended service area of a Walmart was for three linears, then, ideally, it would be located at or near the center of linear #2 of a 3 linear sector.

More on the Occupational Structure of Linears
The occupational and employment structure of linears would be clearly oriented towards professionals, technicians, and production workers. There would still be enough restaurants and fast food outlets to provide employment for entry level workers, but, as a proportion of the total workforce, their numbers would be kept to a minimum. Most technical and mechanical jobs in linears will be in the area of facilities maintenance.

The one major exception to the general requirement that a person should be employed within the sector in which they reside is this: Linears will provide housing for highly skilled construction workers and technicians who are involved in the construction of new linears, provided that they can otherwise meet the residency requirements. All will be required to undergo the normal screening process and to meet the same capital requirements as other "citizens."

Conspicuously absent in the occupational structure of linears would be a number of less highly esteemed occupations. And, at least one of the more highly esteemed occupations would be barely visible, namely, lawyers. In a society in which there is a minimum of interpersonal conflicts, there should be a minimal need for lawyers. Because most residents of linears will "have their acts together normatively," there won't be as much of a demand for lawyers as there currently is in the larger society. Lawyers will still be needed for the preparation of legal documents such as wills, contracts and the like, and for the more routine legal procedures. However, the number of lawyers per capita in linears should be less than half of what it is currently in the United States. This will represent a tremendous savings to the linear society in terms of legal expenses.

Manufacturing and Industry Within Linears
In the quest for economic self sufficiency, and because it will be designed in part as a model for future extraterrestrial settlements, considerable emphasis will be placed on manufacturing as a source of employment within linears. But instead of thinking of large manufacturing facilities or factories in linears, think of much smaller decentralized manufacturing facilities which more closely resemble cottage industries.
Manufacturing will be oriented towards the production of durable goods, especially those durable goods that are identified as essentials, or basic necessities of life for which there is a continuous and steady demand.

Once the labor forces of the developing nations (particularly China and India) begin to mature, it will begin to exert upward pressure on their wages. In turn, this will tend to improve the competitive position of the labor forces in the developed nations such as the United States. And, with suitable government incentives, manufacturers can be encouraged to relocate back to the United States. Once this transition in the competitiveness of American labor occurs, manufacturers will find locating in linears in the United States to be an attractive option. Manufacturers will find linears to be especially attractive due to their non-union, highly motivated, and highly skilled labor force (functions of normative characteristics of linear inhabitants more generally). Thus, linears can effectively become enterprise zones for smaller decentralized manufacturing facilities, particularly, those involved in the production of consumer electronics and household appliances.

Because manufacturing workers would be considered "professionals" in linear colonies, and would share in managing their enterprises, they would not be unionized. Within the confines of the sector, collective bargaining as we know it would not exist. Rather, there would be a wage arbitration and determination board tasked with established wage floors and ceilings for certain occupations. These boards would take their lead mainly from market forces,  but they would also "tweak" these forces where necessary as they translate into wages, in order to serve certain community goals. Their aim would be to give everyone ample incentives for the amount of labor they expend under prevailing conditions. Workers could always petition and appeal for higher wages to the board, but the board would be a neutral arbiter or government entity, as opposed to a "union"

A highly skilled, highly motivated, and non-unionized labor force will be a strong incentive for manufacturers to locate small scale production facilities within linears. Small facilities producing electronic components or appliances will be the norm. But, to the extent that increasing automation and efficiencies begin to displace even these workers, the skill level and knowledge requirements for the workers who remain will be relatively high. These will be the workers needed to design, assemble and maintain the machines that make the products, as opposed to workers engaged in manufacturing the products themselves. Still, one can imagine that eventually, efficiencies and automation will reach such a point in the linear that machines (and the capital required to produce them) are making the major contributions to the production of tangible wealth in society. In this situation, the people that the machines were originally designed to serve could see themselves becoming superfluous. So how are people to support themselves and justify their existence once productivity has reached such a high level?

First of all, in an effort to justify their existence, people have a primary obligation to seek their own normative and ideological optimization. This is necessary for the preservation of any society. Secondly, people have an obligation to acquire useful knowledge, or the kind of knowledge on which human civilization depends. One might typically be called upon to exercise this knowledge to help educate others, or to select public officials. To be useful and constructive citizens, people don't have to make tangible or "material" contributions. Although ideally, in an industrial society, they will be in a position to make such contributions. What people must do is have the knowledge that will allow them to make rational decisions as citizens. If they cannot behave rationally, people cannot justify their existence. If people cannot behave rationally, civilization cannot continue to exist.  In order to behave rationally, people must be able to think rationally. And, in order to think rationally, people must have extensive knowledge. Thus, we have traveled full circle to arrive at the conclusion that people justify their existence primarily by seeking knowledge.

Making Planned Obsolescence "Obsolete"
Planned obsolescence is a design strategy which enables manufacturers to artificially increase the demand for their products. This strategy has two components. First, it requires a relatively short product life. Things, especially low end items, are designed to wear out so that people will have to buy more of them.  Second, there is a fashion element to products which encourages people to buy replacements even before a product wears out. Both of these components have the effect of stimulating consumer demand. The result is an unnaturally high level of production and consumption. The alternative to this design strategy is to increase product life, and to decrease the time of product design cycles. This would make for a more ecologically friendly and sustainable pattern of production and consumption, even as it would tend to increase the initial cost to the consumer.

A principle effect of this new design strategy would be a significant increase in the quality and durability of a variety of household appliances. For instance, "under conditions of moderate use" the useful life of many household appliances (including but not limited to dishwashers, refrigerators, stoves, microwave ovens, washers and dryers) might be extended to 20 years.  Implementing this alternative to planned obsolescence would require higher initial inputs of labor and raw materials, and a slightly higher initial cost to the consumer. But, over the useful life of the product, it would result in a net savings of labor, raw materials and cost to the consumer. This means somewhat more "input" in the manufacturing phase, and less input over the useful life of the product (maintenance or replacement). This will have the effect of marginally reducing the demand for workers involved in servicing and repair of appliances even as it may tend to marginally increase the demand for manufacturing workers, to the extent that a greater input of labor is required initially to produce higher end products.

As part of an overall strategy to defeat planned obsolescence, product lines within linears would be confined to top end products, with a focus on functionality. Durability, aesthetics, simplicity, timelessness of design and ease of maintenance are all considered to be aspects of functionality.  Durability translates into less frequent replacements due to product failure. Aesthetics, simplicity and timelessness of design translates into less of a "fashion" element in products, and much longer product cycles. Even as these qualities may require slightly more input of energy and raw materials during the manufacturing phase, they will tend to reduce consumer demand for durable good and will have the ecologically friendly result of saving energy and resources over the longer term.

Linear Construction as a Source of Economic Growth
Construction of linears as replacements for conventional housing (and as a source of additional or second homes for those who retain property in extralinear communities) will be a major source of economic growth in the future. Depending on the scale and the speed with which the linear concept is implemented, the construction of linears could potentially provide as many jobs as the single unit housing industry does today.

Externalities of Linears
Like all "high density" human habitations, every linear will have a number of externalities, or effects upon surrounding areas, which must be considerations in their design. But, they will be designed to meet the highest standards of ecological friendliness. Although linears will be self contained communities, they will ideally want to cultivate good relations with the surrounding communities, especially considering the fact that many residents of linears will have friends, relatives and second homes in surrounding communities. Linears will also want to lead by example, and their residents will be eager to demonstrate that they can be responsible stewards of the environment. For this purpose, there will be tight controls on all emissions and effluents from linears.

Unemployment in Linears
For the simple fact that unemployment tends to be concentrated in people without skills, education or functional character traits, and because people with skills, education and functional character traits will tend to become concentrated in linears, the actual rate of unemployment in linears will be much lower than that in the larger societies in which they are located. One might think that this will tend to export the cost of unemployment and related social problems to surrounding communities, or that these social problems will tend to become concentrated outside the linear, and particularly in more conventional urban areas. Actually, this is already the case. Social problems are already concentrated in groups of people who have certain normative, educational and other characteristics, and these people have tended to become concentrated in our inner cities. This is one reason why taxes within urban areas (so called urban services districts) are typically higher than they are in suburbs. Tax dollars in urban services districts must serve a disproportionately high number of low income inhabitants, who also tend to be greater users of public services.

Impact of Linears on Housing Market in Surrounding areas
As many existing housing units approach obsolescence, much of the area which they now occupy could be returned to a natural state, thereby reducing the per capita environmental impact. In addition, once certain economies of scale have been realized in their construction, linears can potentially become a source of affordable, high quality housing. Their overall effect on the housing market will be a function of the public's receptivity to the linear concept, and their ability to afford to live in a linear community.

The Effect of Linears on Suburbs
Living in a linear would be considered a step above living in a suburb, in the same way that living in a suburb was once viewed as a step above living in the inner city. And just as suburbs were preceded by and arguably contributed to urban decay, there might be some concern that linears could contribute to suburban decay. But linears need not precede or precipitate suburban decay. Rather, through a process of ongoing reduction and renewal, the current housing density of suburbs could be gradually reduced so that the remaining market remains healthy, and is mainly confined to higher quality structures, with valuable acreage in between.

POLITICAL ENGINEERING OF LINEARS
Politics "as we know it" will cease to exist within the linear. The process of selecting candidates for political office (the source of most of the bad things associated with the term "politics") will have become rationalized and merit based, and will closely resemble the selection of city managers and other civil servants. Specifically, candidates for public office will be screened by means of a rigorous examination process that will be designed to exclude all but the most highly qualified applicants. Those applicants who survive the examinations process will then be evaluated by a board to confirm their qualifications to run for public office. The board will be popularly elected, and will also undergo a merit based examination process. There will be no political campaigns as we know them. Rather, the candidates and their qualifications will be published via internet catalog for public viewing and scrutiny. The public will then decide by popular vote who it wants to represent its sector for a particular public office. Considerably more responsibility will fall on the citizens of sectors to "vote responsibly." For, it will be part of their training as citizens to recognize that, at least in a democracy, the poor state of politics is generally a reflection of the poor state of the electorate. If people in a democracy elect bad representatives who in turn tend to give politics a bad name, they have no one to blame but themselves.

Even as the realm of politics can be essentially reduced to matters of simple administration within linears, there will still be a need for linears to interface politically with the larger societies of which they are a part. And, considering that the larger societies of which they are a part will continue to exhibit manifold political dysfunctions which could have repercussions within the linear system, the problem of reforming these dysfunctional political systems must continue to be a major concern for citizens of linears. This problem must be addressed using both a top down and a bottom up approach

From the bottom up, ongoing attempts must be made by the citizens of linears to encourage the rationalization of the electorate of the larger societies of which they are a part. This "rationalization" can be accomplished mainly by pushing the federal government to institute political competency exams which all members of the electorate must undergo before they can vote. These exams would require people to demonstrate some minimal level of competence. These exams need not be any more difficult than those which applicants for citizenship to this country must already undergo. Although ideally, they would be difficult enough to encourage people to develop more sophisticated means for evaluating candidates for public office. Specifically, they would encourage people to evaluate candidates on the basis of rational, technical criteria (such as those which are used in the selection of city managers) rather than on visceral or emotional criteria such as "candidate likeability," party label, or ideological label.

Simultaneously, and from the top down, you must have a process for selecting candidates that is rationalized so that these candidates are initially of a high quality. For instance, at the local level, candidates for mayor (sector chiefs) and city council would ideally be selected from a pool of former city managers who left their positions under "favorable circumstances." The process of selecting candidates for political office will be made much  simpler and will be greatly rationalized under a political system which adheres to the principles of the merit system, and one in which all candidates for political office are required to meet fairly stringent requirements.

Sectors, States and Nations
To achieve certain efficiencies and economies of scale, a series of adjacent linears will be grouped together to form a governmental entity called a "sector."  Basically, a sector will correspond to a municipal government. Sectors will necessarily be subject to the laws of the states and nations in which they are located. Because they represent a somewhat novel form of social organization, sectors may not initially interface well with the state and federal governments of the particular countries in which they are located. In these cases, as in all cases, the inhabitants of sectors will need to remain vigilant and stand ready to bring all their resources to bear on those areas of the external political environment which might cause them difficulties. First and foremost, they will be called upon to vigorously defend the principles of their autonomy and homogeneity. These principles are integral to the linear concept, and must be defended at all costs. Linears will depend on the unimpeded operation of these principles to achieve a maximum degree of order, stability and efficiency.

Linears would obviously be subject to the laws of the states and nations in which they are located. Yet, certain laws in these states and nations might not not seem to be wholly compatible with certain design principles of linears. For instance, could a linear colony be designed specifically or exclusively for non Hispanic Whites, for Blacks, for Christians, or for any other racial, ethnic or social categories, without running afoul of civil rights or fair housing laws? Could special exceptions be made to these laws? Ostensibly, linears can be designed with these parameters in mind. As each sector would have a certain designation, based upon certain demographics, people who matched these demographics could essentially pool their resources and band together to form private associations. In this form, the principles of autonomy and homogeneity should not come into conflict with the government's interest in amalgamation, provided that every major demographic group in the larger society had the opportunity to form its own linears.

One might think that such a scheme would violate fair housing standards or civil rights laws. However, because linears would be privately financed member only associations, or private communities, it is likely that they would be able to pass constitutional muster, simply because they would be "technically" open to anyone. But realistically, they would be closed communities, in much the same way as are all voluntary associations which coalesce on the basis of the similar characteristics of their members. Technically, Jews can attend a Protestant church service, and Protestants can attend services at a Synagogue. But, by attending, they are appearing to endorse a set of beliefs and they are attempting to define themselves as members of a community of which they are not a part. Whether or not they will be fully accepted as members of that community is another matter. Thus, there are ways to achieve homogeneity of the population of linears without violating civil rights laws.

To take another example, if a private religious community is established for members only, and if all the members just happen to be Caucasian Protestants, then there is nothing unlawful about their forming a private member's only community. Exclusivity in such cases is achieved basically by a matter of personal choice. People who belong to one denomination and who define themselves by their commitment to one set of beliefs do not characteristically attend the functions of, or join organizations which profess another set of beliefs.

Thus, there are normative and identity barriers in place which conduce to exclusivity and homogeneity within a religious community. Exclusivity in such cases is achieved "by definition" or, by how people identify and define themselves. It is further achieved by reference to which set of beliefs people profess to hold, and by who they feel most comfortable associating with. And, if members of a particular sect collectively decide to buy a piece of land and form their own private religious community, they don't have to admit people into this community who belong to a different sect. This does not constitute a violation of any law. The same principle applies to the creation of linears which have their own homogeneous makeup.

Government Organization and Administration of the Sector
As few as 3 and as many as 20 linears would be administratively linked together to form a "sector" or an administrative and governmental unit which corresponds to a "city. Normally, sectors will contain from 4 to 12 linears. Administratively, sectors will be modeled after the city manager form of government. Because most facilities within a sector would be fixed, and because improvements and maintenance would follow a preset schedule, the vast majority of city planning functions will have already have been performed before the construction of a sector has been completed. Consequently, many of the issues that confront a normal city government would not exist within a sector. The management of a sector would be comparable to the management of a large building. The mayor of a sector, or the "sector chief" would assume largely ceremonial functions and his responsibilities would be much narrower in scope than those which normally fall to the mayor of a city of similar size. Similarly, the city council or sector committee would have tightly proscribed responsibilities. Basically, local government within the sector would be reduced to monitoring and regulating routine functions such as building maintenance and facilities administration.

Though it would be rarefied and highly rationalized, politics within the sector would not be nonexistent. Sector chiefs, committees and school boards would still be elected. But, being based largely on the merit principle, politics would become largely subservient to the exigencies of administration, and it would be largely formal in nature. Party politics as we now know it would not exist within sectors. Rather, due to their normative and ideological similarity, every member of a sector would effectively belong to the same political party. The sector chief would double as the local chairman of that party. Yet, conceivably, even a single party can have temporary competitive divisions, provided that these divisions do not give rise to a split in basic ideological loyalties.

For instance, after a pool of candidates has undergone initial screening via the examinations process, they might be randomly assigned to either group y or group z. These groups would serve "party functions" by further reducing the pool of candidates, as necessary, and until only one candidate for a particular office remained from each group. The candidates for group y and z would then face each other in either a primary or an election, as if they were representing opposing parties. Alternatively, such groups could have a more permanent membership. But, to prevent them from acquiring an ideological identity of their own, they could switch their labels following every election cycle. A number of such arrangements are possible. In any case, the local party would more closely resemble the board of directors of a corporation.

Law Enforcement and Security
Because of financial requirements, because of the normative filters used to determine eligibility for citizenship in linears, and because of tightly controlled access, rates of crime and delinquency in linears should be exceptionally low. Linears would have fewer law enforcement problems than the typical gated communities of today. Even in this relatively secure environment, there will still be a need for law enforcement to maintain a token presence. There will still be occasional conflicts between human beings which might require the mediation or intervention of law enforcement.

For instance, in exceptionally rare cases, crime results from physiological anomalies and is not normatively related. This primarily applies to cases of schizophrenia and brain tumors. These conditions can so radically alter a person's perception of reality that they will be prone to sudden outbursts of violent behavior. Mainly for these reasons, and even though the linear will represent the most well ordered of all human societies, security and law enforcement will need to be available. Law enforcement will also be required in linears to address "cases of mistake" or to address differences in perception which might lead to conflicts between citizens. In such cases, officers of the court will be needed to help establish the facts or to maintain order between the conflicting parties. And even in an environment that is virtually crime free, there will be the ever present need for law enforcement to provide general public assistance. Still, crime should not be a problem in linears.

Because of their "professional" orientation, training and values, every citizen of a sector would be effectively "bonded" and would only be permitted to remain a resident for the duration of their good behavior. This might seem to place a heavy social burden on residents of linears. But, this burden is essentially no different from that which ordinary law abiding citizens of other communities already bear. If people will basically do what is expected of them, they should not have any problem living in a linear.

Civil Defense
While they will pose few problems from the standpoint of law enforcement, there will still be the need to defend linears against the possibility of outside threats. For this purpose, every linear would have an arsenal and every adult member would be permanently on call as citizen soldiers, ready to defend their turf "vigorously and violently" if an outside threat were to arise. In this sense, linears will be analogous to modern day castles. They will provide refuge against a potentially violent outside world where deviance and disorder may reign. We don't know exactly what the state of the outside world will be like in the future. But, it is a fair bet that it will not be as  serene or as desirable as life in a linear. For this purpose, every linear will have its own self defense force. A self defense force of 30,000 or more people armed with rifles and rocket launchers should make an aggressor think twice before attempting to storm the gates of a linear. As a requirement for citizenship, every adult member of a linear would be required to belong to a militia and to undergo firearms training.

Restriction of "Citizenship" Within Linears
Again, selectivity and exclusivity are the linchpins of the linear concept. These concepts cannot be compromised if the potential of the linear concept is to be realized. The same rules apply to the linear as to any other communities in this regard. If a person fails to demonstrate compliance with certain standards on which the sense of community is defined and upon which the community itself rests, they may be declared "persona non grata" by communal boards, and they would become subject to expulsion. Generally, a series of substantive complaints would need to be lodged with these boards before a person would come to their attention. And even after the complaints were evaluated for their veracity and severity, the accused person would have the opportunity to make certain appeals. Nonetheless, if the charges were substantiated after a person's appeals were exhausted, and if they failed to produce evidence to exonerate them of the "expulsion related charges" the person would simply be required to sell their residence and to leave the linear.

The Educational Environment Within Linears
Because much schooling within linears will take place remotely and via virtual internet classrooms, schools as we now know them would have a much smaller presence than they do today. Schools would be mainly for lower grades, (K through 6), for remedial instruction (which requires closer student teacher interaction), and for testing. For grades 7-12 especially, most would seek the option of being able to attend virtual classrooms at home, as opposed to learning in a regimented, structured classroom environment. This option would only be made available to students who maintained a B average. Admittedly, some students will still perform better in a conventional classroom environment. But the vast majority will want to escape the confinement of the conventional classroom and enjoy the independence and flexibility which the virtual classroom affords. One might wonder how teachers would be held accountable under a system in which they merely facilitate home schooling. The answer is testing. Periodically, facilitators would be required to administer tests "in a controlled classroom environment" to assess the performance of the students they assist via virtual classrooms.

An unusual emphasis will be placed on education in the linear environment, especially the kind of self education that requires subduction (basically, a state of deep depressive thought) and introspection. But even with this emphasis on education, one might think that the opportunities for teachers in linears would be limited. For instance, as most schooling will be home schooling via telecommuting, there will be less of a need for conventional classroom teachers. But, the overall need for teachers should not decline. For the traditional classrooms which remain will only be designed to accommodate between 10 to 16 students, and certainly no more than 24 students in the upper grades. At the same time, there will be a need for "facilitators" for virtual classrooms. So, the net result of these trends in education will be that the student-teacher ratio will remain at or slightly below what it is in more conventional environments.

THE LINEAR AS A MODEL FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL SETTLEMENTS
Once again, the main reason that the term linear "colony" was chosen over the term linear "city" is because the concept is ultimately meant to serve as a pattern for extra-terrestrial colonization. There is no reason why, with suitable modifications, the linear concept cannot be adapted to create settlements on the moon, Mars, or other planets. As the most efficient structure for both habitation and transportation, the linear will solve a number of problems that will confront extraterrestrial developers. To begin with, the construction techniques used to create linears in a terrestrial environment will be even easier to manage in low gravity environments. The first practical test of the linear concept as a pattern for extraterrestrial development will be on the moon, simply because of its proximity to Earth.

Design and Construction Of "Lunar Linears"
In its lower gravity variant, the linear would begin with the construction of two long, thick, steel reinforced concrete longitudinal bulkheads These bulkheads would be airtight and would extend the entire length of the linear, and down its center, effectively partitioning the linear in two. The mass of these bulkheads alone will be sufficient to contain atmospheric pressure that will be exerted upon them once the interior space between them has been pressurized. These longitudinal bulkheads would terminate in transverse bulkheads, which would mark the ends of the linear. Once the longitudinal and transverse bulkheads had been completed, work would begin on the "span," or the roof over the linear. This roof would span from the top of longitudinal bulkhead of one linear to the longitudinal bulkhead an adjacent parallel linear. The space in between these parallel bulkheads, and which is covered by the span, would form the habitable living space of half of both parallel linears and would also create a large open space or "atrium" between parallel linears.

The span could be of truss and corrugated steel construction, which could then be covered by thick aggregate or soil, to serve as a shield against meteorite impacts. Alternatively, if the risk of substantial meteorite impacts is considered minimal (and provided that each residence has its own protection from explosive decompression that could result from a sizable meteor impact), the span could be covered with thick ballistic glass plates arranged in a steel, aluminum or titanium framework to provide periodic natural illumination for the atrium.  In either case, the air pressure within the atrium would be more than sufficient to support the weight of the entire atrium span. Once the span was completed, the resulting enclosure would be pressurized to provide an environmentally controlled workspace for the construction of all remaining structures in the linear.

As a pattern for extraterrestrial development, the linear would be centered around the atrium principle. Perhaps the best way to visualize lunar linear colonies that will be based on this principle is to think of parallel groups of 10 or more terrestrial linears, 20 to 30 stories high, stretching for miles between transverse bulkheads, and separated by spacious atria. Because these atria will range anywhere from 400 to 600 feet or more across, they can be put to a variety of utilitarian and recreational uses. They could contain forests, recreational lakes, other recreational facilities, or any combination. Recreational lakes will double as reservoirs. Also using this principle, oversized atria can be made for growing crops on the moon. Generally, these agricultural atria would border and run parallel to the transverse bulkheads at the end of sectors.

The idea of "lunar" linears arranged in parallel that are up to twenty miles long, thirty to forty stories high, and separated by enclosed atria that are up to 600 or more feet across (and which also extend the full length of the linear) is easily conceivable. In fact, the construction of lunar linears might pose fewer engineering challenges than you might think, once you consider that one of the major hurdles to the construction of similar structures on Earth will have been minimized on the Moon and Mars, namely, gravity. The gravity of the moon is only 1/6 that of Earth. The gravity of Mars is only 1/3 that of Earth.

Life and Recreation in a Lunar Linear
Just as on Earth, at the top of every lunar linear there will be a sun deck, interspersed with swimming pools and other recreational facilities adapted for lunar use. Naturally, The rules of tennis and other sports will need to be modified to adapt them to the low gravity conditions. Perhaps in the case of tennis, the aim might be to keep the ball constantly in flight, while at the same time preventing it from hitting the backboard (effectively a goal) behind the defending player. Adapting the rules of baseball to the low gravity environment of the moon will pose similar challenges. The range of recreational activities that will be available to the residents of lunar linears will rival or exceed those that are available to the inhabitants of Earth. And, just as terrestrial linears are organized according to demographics, lunar linears would also offer a variety of cultural and lifestyle options.

Energy Requirements
A supply of abundant, clean, inexpensive energy is the greatest challenge to the linear concept as a model for extraterrestrial settlements. It is also the greatest challenge to extraterrestrial colonization more generally. Provided that fusion can become a practical source of energy, the prices of both raw materials (especially hydrocarbons, which must be imported from earth) and finished goods, both terrestrially and extraterrestrially, will plummet. At least initially, the bulk of the energy consumed on the moon will be devoted to the extraction and processing of raw materials, especially raw materials needed to product the massive quantities of steel, copper, glass, cement and other materials needed for construction of the linears themselves. A considerable amount of energy will also be needed to extract water from beneath the lunar and Martian surfaces.

Consumer Products and Recycling
It will take many years of infrastructure development before residents of the moon or Mars could have ready access to a variety of consumer products that residents of Earth take for granted. In the meantime, they will have to be content with a much more spartan existence. Towards this end, and because of the problem of limited availability of certain resources and production facilities, the diversity of consumer products will be held to a bare minimum. Just as in the terrestrial variant of the linear, consumer products will be limited to the most functional types. This will help to satisfy a number of expedients in the way of production, energy conservation, and recycling.

Because of the limited availability of certain organic raw materials, virtually everything that can be recycled will be recycled. Due to the fact that, at least initially, paper products must be imported from Earth, there will be an especially critical need to recycle virtually all paper products (with the possible exception of toilet paper). For obvious ecological reasons, the practice of supplying lunar colonies with raw materials from Earth will be discouraged. The Earth is under enough ecological pressure just attempting to supply its own population with resources. Thus, agriculture, aquaculture and some form of forestry must develop on both the moon and Mars for them to have self sufficient colonies.

Agriculture, Aquaculture and Forestry Within Extraterrestrial Linears
Agriculture and aquaculture will reach "new heights" on the moon and Mars. Some agricultural atria will be "terraced" or will have multiple levels that are artificially illuminated in order to maximize crop yields. Aquaculture will lend itself to a similar terracing technique. Because agricultural linears will be hermetically sealed, outbreaks of pests should be easy to contain if proper protocols are maintained for the transportation and processing of soil and seeds. The emphasis will be on keeping them sterile initially, so that pests or pathogens are not introduced. This means that all soil and seeds will have to be irradiated.

As far as raising cattle for the production of beef is concerned, dairy farms will have to suffice. Unless the linear concept gives way to the idea of terraforming the entire lunar surface, the major sources of protein on the moon will be likely be milk products, soybeans and farm raised shellfish.

The Ultimate Aim of Lunar Colonization
Lunar colonization will set the stage for even more ambitions undertakings in the solar system. Specifically, lunar colonization will serve a springboard for the colonization of Mars. In the case of both lunar and Martian colonization, the total number of inhabitants should not exceed around 3 billion. Approximately three billion seems to be a "natural equilibrium number" for the inhabitants of any planet. Don't ask why. There are some things we need to accept as "intuitively correct" without necessarily knowing why.

Technological Challenges and Prospects
Before the lunar linear concept can be realized, certain quantum leaps in technology will have to occur. The main technological hurdles that must be overcome before the extraterrestrial variant of the linear colony can become a reality are in the areas of energy and propulsion. The energy problem is the most significant challenge. Once compact fusion reactors become available, they can be used to power space craft, either through ionization or other means. With fusion as a source of energy for propulsion, one can imagine the construction of truly enormous craft, which rival or even exceed the size of the largest ocean going vessels today. These vessels might have a diameter of 100 feet or more, and could be 3000 feet or more in length. These interplanetary "barges" would be used initially to transport the thousands of tons of equipment needed to begin the extraction and processing of raw materials on the moon and Mars, to prepare the way for self- sustaining colonies.

This is not so much science fiction or conjecture as it is a prediction of where our current path of development will logically take us. The human species must inevitably follow this path if it is to maximize its survivability. But, the technological hurdles should not be underestimated. For the lunar linear colony to become a reality, technological advances will have to be made in many areas, including the technology of human systems. Most people do not recognize problems with human systems as technological problems, but, in fact, they represent our social, economic and political technologies. Advances in these areas will be just as critical to the success of the linear colony as more well recognized technologies. Assuming that we do not suffer a major setback because of conflicts between the suboptimal social, economic, political, legal and theological systems that currently dominate human affairs on Earth (which is easily conceivable, given the mounting pressures on the environment and natural resources which stem from overpopulation), our frontiers are boundless.

Advances in Social, Economic and Political Development as a Requirement for Extraterrestrial Colonization
Before the human species can embark on a plan for extraterrestrial settlement in any serious way, it will need to get its act together on Earth. Towards this end, there is an absolute need for "fundamental" homogeneity of core values, attitudes and beliefs among all extraterrestrial inhabitants. This does not mean that there is no room for ideological diversity. It simply means that diversity in the way of normative beliefs has to be confined "within the most functional range." At this critical juncture in its development, the human species can simply not afford the kinds of conflicts that arise from contending suboptimal normative systems. And especially once it begins to colonize space, the human race will not be able to afford the same kind or level of ideological diversity and conflict in which it now indulges. Rather, it will have to be content with an optimally functional system of values. In other words, we cannot afford to export problems associated with our conflicting ideologies into space. Conflicts arising from differences in fundamental social, economic, political, legal and theological beliefs can be eliminated, simply because a most functional set of values, attitudes and beliefs, or an optimal ideology, can be identified, primarily by reference to natural law.

Life in Linears of the Future
The linear concept will represent a form of social organization, which, more than any other, will have the potential to define "humanity" going forward. Even so, we must consider a range of possibilities that are related to out ability to manipulate our own genetic makeup, and how this might affect life in linears of the future. We should consider the possibility that we may not have reached a stage which represents some kind of evolutionary pinnacle or plateau, and that, at some point in the near future, we may elect to improve ourselves by artificial means.

Soon we will have the ability to artificially accelerate the pace of our evolution in order to improve our chances of survival. This will enable us to bioengineer ourselves into what is effectively a different life form. This may be the natural course for any species that has reached our level of evolution and which has acquired the ability to  artificially accelerate evolution itself. If this is the case, we can only remotely begin to imagine what form of life we might become.

Alternatively, our current form, or a more idealized version of it, may represent some kind of evolutionary pinnacle beyond which quantum leaps are not likely to occur for many millennia. Such evolutionary leaps may prove unnecessary or undesirable. In effect, we may have reached an evolutionary plateau. This plateau might be more in accord with our natural destiny as a species. There might be some natural technological and biological limits which compel us to accept a certain level of stasis in our development. One can only imagine what this stasis stage would be like, how far we might be from it, and for how long it might last. If it represents the ultimate in natural limits beyond which there is nothing we can conceive, then it might be a highly desirable state nonetheless, or a state to which all intelligent species (assuming there are others in the universe) naturally aspire to. It could be the ultimate in biological evolution, the ultimate in artificial evolution, or some combination of the two, having the best characteristics of both. Regardless, genetic engineering at some level is likely to play an increasing role in our future.

Genetic engineering may ultimately prove to be the only way we will be able to escape the oppressive weight of escalating medical costs. Admittedly, a significant part of our current costs are character related, or the result of people who would otherwise be at the upper end of genetic fitness living unhealthy lifestyles (little exercise, poor diet and smoking). But, a significant percentage of our medical costs result from people who are genetically predetermined to have severe medical problems before they have reached an advanced age. One of the principal aims of bioengineering and eugenics will be genetically enhance individuals who are predisposed to develop life threatening conditions before they reach an advanced age. Those who totally reject eugenics practices because of their values might actually be relegated to societies which share these values. For those societies which recognize the potential of eugenics, a number of life extending options will become available. Over a period of a few generations, given the current pace at which medical technology is advancing, lifespans of 150+ years are easily imaginable. The key question that we may be confronted with in the future is not how long can we live, but how long we want to live. Assuming that you can live a healthy and active life, you would presumably want to extend your life indefinitely. Inevitably, ethical questions will be raised about manipulating the gene pool, even for what are clearly eugenic purposes, such as increasing longevity. The fears and ethical concerns associated with eugenics are somewhat misplaced.

Ethicists do not seem primarily concerned with the prospects of improvements that might result from genetic manipulation. They seem more concerned with the value judgments that will be involved in determining what constitutes "improvement," and with the advantages that improved human beings might have over everyone else. To address the first concern: There actually tends to be a high degree of consensus among human beings about what constitute good and desirable qualities, or those qualities that would be considered improvements (there tends to be a widespread consensus about what constitutes health, beauty, intelligence and good character traits.), So what constitutes improvements should not be an issue, as long as the most natural and representative ideas about what would qualify as improvements are adhered to, rather than some artificial, aberrant or unrepresentative notions of improvement.

As far as the ability of "improved people" to dominate the rest of us is concerned, there is already a class of "genetically gifted" people (those who naturally have the attributes that we tend to admire and who rank at the upper end on one or more of the valued dimensions) who are in a position to dominate the rest of us. But rather than allowing them to dominate us, we simply tend to afford this class certain privileges that we deem to be commensurate with the value of their attributes. And, if there are more people like these in the societies of the future, then it is likely that we will begin to attach less value to their "valued" attributes. Because these attributes will no longer be so rare, they will no longer be as highly valued. Consequently, we will not be willing to place people who possess these attributes quite as high on a pedestal as we do now. This will make it less likely rather than more likely that a class of genetic overlords would emerge to dominate us. These and other concerns which the general public and ethicists have about eugenics have been discussed at some length elsewhere (see cloninglaw.com). What remains to be done is to regulate eugenics to insure that it follows a path that is consistent with the values that people already attach to good traits, and to insure that some aberrant standards or values are not adopted.

Whether it is the result of more natural processes, or of artificial manipulation, we must ask if the life form we evolve into will still be compatible with the linear concept? At this stage, we can only speculate. But, assuming that we still have a need for habitations, linears will continue to represent an optimal habitation solution. It is likely that even with genetic engineering, our evolution will not take place in quantum leaps, but will occur more gradually, and by stages. Initially, we will probably merely want to enhance traits such as intelligence, character health and beauty. In this case, it is likely that our essential humanity will still be recognizable well into the future.

With suitable enhancements which we can already envision, we may be approaching a certain developmental plateau. Reaching this plateau does not involve some transcendence of our biological limitations by means of a quantum evolutionary leap. Rather, we are more likely to simply pursue a strategy of organism optimization, as opposed to a strategy of organism differentiation, or engineering ourselves into a form that we would regard as totally alien and unrecognizable. Although, at some point in the very distant future, we may embark on this course also.

So what would life be like in a linear two or three centuries from now? It is a virtual certainty that if we are able to overcome the major environmental and energy problems we are now facing on Earth, that we will have established linear colonies on the moon and Mars. It is a virtual certainty that we will have bio-engineered ourselves in order to attain a more functional form. But it is also likely that our evolution will not have run its ultimate course. Social resistance to the idea of "substantial biological alteration and enhancement of the kind which might result in a gigantic evolutionary leap in our development" will act as a brake on our pace of development. This brake will allow society to adjust to the emergent biological realities of having more functional human beings among us. Conversely, there will be far less public resistance to engineering  "artificial sentient  life forms." As totally sentient and self aware entities, these technological based life forms will blur the distinctions between men and machines. In effect, man will begin to create machines in his own image. And, as we will certainly elect to create this life form in accordance with certain ideals, it may be able to surpass us on important dimensions, including longevity, intelligence, and perhaps even character. It remains to be seen if we can artificially engineer an entity which will be able to surpass our biological computer on all dimensions, especially on the dimension of creative thought. This dimension would seem to demand a certain degree of random and chaotic activity which we might want to think twice about programming into our ideal artificial life form. Not having this creative capability would probably be its major limitation. Nonetheless, considering all of its other advantages, this would probably prove to be an acceptable tradeoff, even by its own admission.

Assuming we create these life forms according to our own impressions of what is good and functional, a broad range of considerations would be involved in their design, including the need to create them in form that would be most likely to facilitate their interaction with humans. For this purpose we might want them to look like us, if not to be indistinguishable from us, except upon close examination. We might also want them to have the ability to communicate like us. We might design them to mimic our jaw movements and other reflexes in the course of communication, notwithstanding that they will be able to take cell phone calls and surf the net in their heads, and without the need of external encumbrances like cell phones and computers.

Structurally, these new sentient life forms will be more resilient and durable than their biological creators, and their consciousness will be of a different form altogether. Owing to more efficient artificial storage devices and pure electronic functioning, as opposed to chemo-electrical activity of the the human brain, their thought will tend to be faster, more well organized and more methodical. And yet, one can imagine that they can be designed to have many of the same spontaneous capabilities that are afforded through biological brain circuitry.

It seems that "tank circuits" will play some role in the creation of artificial consciousness. Think of tank circuits as the repository of artificial consciousness, and think of massive amounts of flash memory as the seat of their memory. The actual consciousness is not in the memory, but in its activation and usage, or in the memory that is being temporarily accessed and used in association with other memories. Some combination of tank circuitry  flash memory and core processors should be sufficient to form the rudiments of what we would begin to recognize as consciousness or intelligence. Eventually, the consciousness of artificial life forms or cyber-sapiens, will potentially be as rich as the consciousness of the sentient biological beings who created them. This level of artificial intelligence would enable interactions with these life forms which mimic human interactions. Thus, in the future, cyber-sapiens might become human companions, and even spouses (another potential solution to the population problem). Sentience at this level presumes a free will, and the cyber-sapiens will have to calculate for themselves whether or not they desired human companionship. Assuming that they find us suitably interesting and entertaining, the relationship between humans and cyber-sapiens could potentially become symbiotic in the most natural and intimate sense.

MAKING THE LINEAR COLONY CONCEPT A REALITY
The best way to make the linear colony concept a reality in the future is to start planning it right now. Technically, building a terrestrial linear will be no more challenging than constructing a large building. There are no technological barriers to making a "terrestrial" linear. Socially, economically, and politically, building a terrestrial linear is simply a matter of organizing a group of people who see it as a potentially desirable environment in which to live and work, and who are committed to its realization. Admittedly, it will take some time to clear the psychological hurdles and to get the concept off the ground. In addition, the legal and regulatory environments may pose certain obstacles as well. It will be interesting to see on what basis the government might initially oppose the linear concept. Nonetheless, it is likely that at some point in the not too distant future, you will begin to see the linear concept, or a variation of it, begin to take shape. Now is the time to get in on the ground floor.

Design and Planning: Submitting  Artist's Concepts and Engineering Plans
If you think you have formed a good idea of what a linear should look, or how it should be constructed, put it on paper. Send your artist's concepts or engineering plans to the LCC at one of the email addresses below. If your concepts or plans are selected, you may be asked to fill out a copyright application (completing the form takes about 5 minutes). The LCC will pay the $30 registration fee.  All submissions will be treated confidentially.

Artist's concepts will preferably feature a perspective view of one side of a linear colony that is 20-40 stories tall. Engineering plans can be either modular or comprehensive. That is, they can be floor plans for a single residential or commercial unit, or they can be plans for an entire linear structure. Extensive design and engineering experience is not required, but it would certainly be a help. Submit artist's concepts and engineering plans for terrestrial linears to terra@linearc.org Submit concepts and plans for lunar linears to lunar@linearc.org

Application for Admission
Its a little early to be taking membership applications for people who might want to live in linears. But, its not too early to begin to determine how many people would actually seriously consider living in a linear. As stated, the admissions process will center around assessments of one's normative and financial fitness. It will involve a process similar to that which one must undergo when one applies for citizenship to a foreign country. To request an application for admission, send a check for $10 made payable to ASP (The American Synthesis Party) to the address below. An application for admission will be mailed to you within several weeks.

Once a minimum of 6000 applications have been received for any one demographic category, work will begin to secure financing, to overcome regulatory hurdles, and to actually begin to feel out the federal government about the idea of leasing sections of the interstate highway system to provide the land for construction. Conceivably, the government might actually be receptive to the idea, as it would represent a source of revenue for the upkeep of the interstate highway system itself.

If you are the owner or representative of a franchise, or if you are a prospective franchisee who would consider locating a franchise in a linear, submit your proposals to the LCC at the address below. Basically, the same types of agreements would exist between franchises and linears that normally exist between franchises and malls.

Cost and Financing of Linears
The initial capital outlay for the construction of a linear would obviously be substantial. It would exceed the capital requirements that would normally be required to construct an entire community. Financing of linears will likely involve a unique blend of public and the private financing. The building itself, and the larger infrastructure components which combine to form the modules will likely be financed by municipal bonds. Alternatively, linears will be financed in much the same way as are large shopping malls or other large private construction projects.

Residential units will obviously be privately financed. The cost of these units would probably exceed $500 per square foot. Thus, the typical 3000 square foot linear residential module would set you back by about $1.5 million. But, considering the efficiencies and economies of scale that could be realized over the design life of the structure (far in excess of 100 years), the additional initial outlay costs are justified, and could easily be recouped over the life of the structure. To some extent, the cost of residential units will be subsidized by the many commercial entities that will be located within the linears. Considering the fact that the populations of linears will represent sizable, convenient, captive markets, finding businesses that are willing to locate in linears should not be a problem.

For general investment or other information on the Linear Colony Concept, write to:

LCC
P.O. Box 40099
Augusta, GA 30909

For more specific information requests, send an email to info@LINEARC.ORG

Feedback
Based upon the foregoing description, and if you could afford it, would you want to live in a linear? Answer by sending YES or NO in the subject line to feedback@LINEARC.ORG
 

COPYRIGHT 2006 BY ALEX VAN ALLEN