Originally posted by: zCypher
Money would be for leisure only and not a necessity to live. Every new house would be constructed in such a way that would make it 100% off-grid and include the capacity to grow at least part of its own food. The construction would borrow some sustainability concepts from the "Earthship" idea of Michael Reynolds, but made to fit in with existing communities.
Create a global standard for this type of construction where companies and individuals in the construction industry would need to be certified by an independent and peer-reviewed organization that takes into account the environmental impact of the construction at all levels and measures the 'sustainability' of the person or company applying for certification. Certification would be a prerequisite to obtain the needed licensing to operate in the industry.
Communities would sustain themselves by not needing to import or export anything critical to life, like food. Food would be grown within the communities, out-doors using techniques that respect biodiversity, natural/organic practice free of chemicals/pesticides and boosted only with water proven to contain the proper ratio of minerals and free of contaminants (or as much so as possible). In climates where the weather gets too cold for year-long out-door agriculture, the cold months would be supported by a combination of freezing produce grown earlier, and growing fresh produce year long in 'Earthship' greenhouses. Commercial importing of food would be prohibited unless they are certified to certain standards that match the community.
Energy could be provided by a combination of self-sufficient homes and a back-up grid wholly owned and run by the community itself, combining solar, hydro, wind and other. I've read about ways to extract energy from algae. Research into alternative energy would be highly pushed, or even mandatory. Communities would be set up in such a way that homes can assist one another in times of need, but stay energy independent (unless something were to go terribly wrong).
The communities could trade with other communities, exporting things they make and importing things they'd like to have but don't need to have in order to sustain their community. A community that sustains itself could not fall victim to economic tyranny.
People would be free to do as they please so long as what they do does not hurt others in any way. For example, there would be no "here's a $140 ticket because you're in a public park after 10pm".
If only it could be that simple...