-Island

Best known for his dystopian novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley also wrote a utopian novel as a counterpoint. The titular island located in the Indonesian Archipelago, Pala, is rocky and mountainous with copious oil reserves. The utopian state of Pala was the result of a surgeon serving on a British exploration ship who came to the island to save its leader. Pala has a cooperative economy, is pacifist, and devoid of prisons. Huxley’s interest in Eastern religion is evident, with the people of Pala practicing Buddhism, Zen meditation, and yoga. The island inhabitants also create a hallucinatory drug made from mushrooms, which is used in a ceremony to attain mystical experiences. Pala has an advanced medical system, including psychological support. The government provides free contraception, artificial insemination, and communal child rearing.