Over the last few weeks, Worldchanging has been hosting a contest/conversation centered around imagining what’s next after green. They asked readers to participate by completing this thought: “Imagine no ...” And there have been a bunch of excellent and surprising responses.

I added a few which I will paste in here. The comments for Worldchanging’s entry will close today, so if you want to add your own response, high-tail it over there and do so, then leave us a comment to let us know we should go check it out. 

I have to say, sitting and imagining the future is a good time. But I wonder about the negative phrasing of Worldchanging’s challenge—why not simply say “Imagine that”? Isn’t it more inspiring to imagine what we *do* want, rather than what we don’t?

I guess it is easier to mentally throw out the untenable than it is to invent whole new systems that do work. But of course, both parts of this equation have to be undertaken in the real world.

OK here are my entries. Please jump in and participate! What really bugs you about the way we live? What is entirely impractical and unsupportable? How can it be transformed?

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Imagine no more culture war. Imagine no more simplistic political polarization. Imagine no more categorization of human beings, no assumptions made based on the smallest possible sampling of ideas.

Instead, imagine a worldview that integrates the best of all those that came before it, that treasures the unique abilities of traditional, modern, and post-modern people. Imagine humans cultivating the ability to listen without judgment, to interact without venom, to disagree without rancor. Imagine us learning to concentrate on our vast similarities rather than our minor differences.

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(This one might sound a little familiar to loyal readers of The Sunny Way ...)

Imagine no more fears of scarcity. Imagine a world where, upon a child’s birth, we celebrate the unique and valuable gifts she brings to the planet rather than shaking our heads in sadness that a limited pie now has to be divided amongst more people.

Imagine no more thoughts of limitation and pie allocation—there is no pie!

Instead, imagine boundless faith in human ingenuity and trust in our fundamental ability to make things work beautifully. Imagine a future where the gifts we all bring with us when we come here are given freely to a planetary economy that never stops growing, because it is based on life itself.

Imagine not being satisfied with “sustainable.” Imagine going for magnificent.

(image by Marcus Vegas via flickr.)