  We conjecture how the particle content of the standard model can emerge
starting with a supersymmetric Wess-Zumino model in 1+1 dimensions (d = 2) with
three real boson and fermion fields. Considering SU(3) transformations, the
lagrangian and its ground state are SO(3) invariant. The SO(3) symmetry extends
the basic IO(1,1) Poincar\'e symmetry to IO(1,3) for the asymptotic fields
requiring physical states to be singlets under the A_4 symmetry that governs
the SO(3) embedding. This is linked to the three-family structure. For the
internal symmetries of the asymptotic fields an SU(2) x U(1) symmetry remains,
broken down as in the standard model. The boson excitations in d = 4 are
identified with electroweak gauge bosons and the Higgs boson. Fermion
excitations come in three families of leptons living in E(1,3) Minkowski space
or three families of quarks living in E(1,1). Many features of the standard
model now emerge in a natural way. The supersymmetric starting point solves the
naturalness problem. The underlying left-right symmetry leads to custodial
symmetry in the electroweak sector. In the spectrum one has Dirac-type charged
leptons and Majorana-type neutrinos. The electroweak behavior of the naturally
confined quarks, leads to fractional electric charges and the doublet and
singlet structure of left- and right-handed quarks, respectively. Most
prominent feature is the link between the number of colors, families and space
directions.
