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Specialization

The choice mechanism would lead to specialization of communities. Once a community started to specialize it will attract people who like the specialty increasing the emphasis. With much greater freedom of location people can search over great distances to find a community which supports their lifestyle. Even if one works in a specific location as the workweek declines one can commute much further especially if one works say five 10 hour days and then has three weeks off. Information workers working through the social nervous system could be hundreds of miles from the nominal office.

The internal transportation system in communities of workers who would telecommute to work would be quite different from those in communities of workers who had to drive to work. In telecommuters communities to eliminate strangers whose only purpose in the community would be to transverse it, the internal transportation system would make traversing the community much more time consuming than driving around it.

The current concept of US society is that immigrant groups slowly become integrated into mainstream society. However, for the purpose of world trade it is desirable to maintain the language skills and knowledge of foreign customs here in the US. Under the proposed community structure individuals of an ethnic group would have a choice. If they grew up in an ethic group maintaining a foreign language and Americanized foreign customs, they would have to choose as young adults to remain or move to more integrated communities. For the purpose of world trade it would be social policy to promote and preserve ethnic communities with foreign languages so that young Americans would be knowledgeable in as many languages as possible.


norman@eco.utexas.edu
Thu Jun 8 16:37:44 CDT 1995