The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.
[Marx, Theses on Feuerbach]
Our present research of MuRatopia can be viewed from the "Sein" (= is) part and the "Sollen" (= should) part. As the Sein part, we have presented a capitalist economic model and completely analyzed it, pointing out its unstable and inhumane aspects. As the Sollen part, we have shown briefly that new technology such as information processing and communication, robotics, artificial intelligence and new material are breaking down the hidden codes of the present civilization (symbolized by a mechanization) such as mass production, standardization, maximization, concentration and maximization into a new civilization symbolized by a mechatronics. Furthermore, we have envisioned a future economy as the MuRatopian economy, and shown how the MuRatopian system is superior to the capitalist and centrally planned socialist systems. Sein requires a new vision for its orientation, and Sollen, in turn, requires some objective evidence to support its vision. Hence, our current research is now completed. .PP If we are attentive enough, we can observe many movements of such Sein and Sollen mixtures, fighting against the present effete civilization for a new civilization. Examples of some of these movements are: the cultural revolution in China as a total rejection of professionalism and counter-culture rebels in the 60's and 70's, various religious groups living in communes with their own production units, activities of ecologists and environmentalists, North American bioregional movements, Greenpeace movement and many other grass-roots activities fighting against inhumane industrialization to defend eco-system, anti-nuke and peace movements in Europe, America and Japan, civil rights movements, consumer movements, the solidarity movement among Polish workers, mushrooming small businesses, workers collectives and cooperatives, natural and organic farming groups, the Green party in West Germany and other Green movements in Europe, America, Canada and Japan, and so on. Unfortunately, a lot of energy of so many people in such small, local and occasional movements has been lost without having been collected into a powerful tidal force of a political movement because of a lack of vision which is supported by a rigorous economic model, showing clearly where we should go as a society as a whole, after fighting against the present civilization. I believe I have provided such a vision in a uniform manner in this book. And I do truly hope that the MuRatopian economic system will be the leading light for a future's better life in harmony with nature.
I would like to conclude this MuRatopia presentation with my wishes that those who are considering their own new start may feel, in the poem below, not only "the emotions of old Japan", but also "the emotions of the present civilization searching for a new civilization".
The blossoms of spring,
The cuckoo in the hills,
The leaves of autumn.
Ryokan, ... - he lived in the spirit of these poems, a wanderer down country paths, a grass hut for shelter, rags for clothes, farmers to talk. ... In his last poem (quoted above) he offered nothing as a legacy. He but hoped that after his death nature would remain beautiful. That could be his bequest. One feels in the poem the emotions of old Japan, and the heart of a religious faith as well."[Japan, the Beautiful, and Myself - a speech at the Nobel Prize award ceremony in 1968 - by Yasunari Kawabata, translated by Edward G. Seidensticker, The Nobel Foundation]
(Based on Chapter 10, Beyond Walras, Keynes and Marx, Peter Lang Publishing, 1988.)