Post by AllenJ on Nov 6, 2013 12:05:14 GMT -5
The ancients were right. On December 21, 2012 the world as we knew it ended and was replaced by an illusion of Utopia. On that day the nations of the world met in New York City at the former United Nations headquarters. When their meeting was done the U.N. no longer existed. In its place was United Earth, a global government that has spent the past century fostering a belief of hope and faith in the State
Our people live in decadent ignorance. Our society has become stagnant. Education is a matter of propaganda and all thought is ruthlessly crushed.
More than one hundred years has passed since the creation of the United Earth government. In that time sweeping reforms have occurred which have led to a loss of sovereignty, both personal and political. Microchips, ostensibly used for retinal internet connections but which are in reality used to keep track of the population, have been placed in every human, adult and child, on the planet. The middle class is extinct and the old money has been replaced with government-based credit. Arms of any kind have been confiscated so that now only the government’s armies and police forces have weapons. All of this has occurred, for the most part, with not a bang but a whimper. There were some areas of resistance in the United States, especially the Southern States, and in Scotland, but they were crushed within a decade.
“How is my makeup? Is my hair okay?” Regina van Eppes asked as she stood in front of the headquarters of United Earth in New York City. Behind her throngs of people from several of the subject nations gathered in protest of the new bill that was going to the Assembly. Several banners flew in the wind; the flags of the United States, Britain, Norway and Canada whipped wildly alongside other national flags. A new flag, the multicolored puzzle on a black field, whipped just ahead of all the rest proudly.
“You look fine,” her cameraman assured her for the tenth time that day.
“Merci,” Regina said. She waited until the fellow pointed at her and smiled. “Bonjour, this is Regina van Eppes with Global News. I come to you today from just outside the headquarters of United Earth where a bill which would allow the government to install microchips in autistic children and other children with mental disabilities the world over is being put forth in the Assembly.” She paused. “This bill is sponsored by both the Chinese and Ethiopian representatives, Chin Xiang and William Mogabe respectively, and has wide support in the government. According to Neuro Industries’ scientists, this chip can and will wipe out all mental defects once it is installed in an individual.” Another pause. “However, it is being fought by the representatives of the United States, Norway, Britain, France, Indonesia, New Zealand and Canada. As you can see, people from those countries have gathered behind me in defiance of the bill, led by those in power in those subject nations to believe that the chip will have undesirable effects.”
Regina spoke carefully, foregoing the word “citizen” (all of humanity were citizens of United Earth now; the nations of the world and their borders were seen by the powerful as merely illusions for the people and a way to keep census records) and conveniently leaving out the total lack of resistance on the part of people from other nations to the few who were working against this bill. The latter were already being edited on the fly to make the masses believe the other nations were so behind the bill that they had no reason to gather publicly against just a few “yahoos.” Most of the masses gathered were easily edited out with computer imaging technology so that it looked as if any opposition really was meager.
“Stop the lies” a protestor yelled. He jostled the reporter and got up into the camera’s lense. “This chip will cause our children immense harm! Mental instability, precocious puberty and increased libidos will be the norm - and it won’t just be the mentally disabled. Any offspring they might have - after being made ‘normal’ and growing up - will suffer the same ill effects. The research has been done! Don’t let the media and Neuro Industries lie to you.”
“Get him out of here,” Regina said sharply, a worried expression crossing her lovely features. God, let the filters have caught that, she thought and tried to keep the guilty look from her face. Thank goodness the government hadn’t found a way to read minds yet. The notion of God was being wiped out across the Earth, slowly but surely. Only a few small pockets around the globe still held to any sort of religious belief and they were being represented as terrorists and murderers.
The State was all that mattered. It was mother, father, brother, sister, lover and God to the people. It had to be if the government were to survive.
Regina spoke more about the bill and the possibilities for the new chip while waiting for confirmation of its passage. The crowd behind her became restless, their excitement coursing through her as well. Finally, a large screen came on and Robert Washington, representative for the United States, appeared. Regina looked up in shock at the unexpected view. Behind Washington were his allies in the countries that were against the chip. Sudden quiet erupted, deafening the reporter with the eerie silence.
“It is my sad duty to report that Bill 872 has passed,” Washington said. There was a chorus of groans from the crowd. “The vote passed by 250 to 7 with 4 abstentions.” Robert took a deep sigh and the sadness on his face deepened. “It is also my duty to inform you that, as of this date and time, the United States, along with Canada, Indonesia, New Zealand, Norway, Britain and France have submitted to the government their ordinances of secession and doI_have_a_headacheents detailing the causes of our independent secessions. As such, I and my confederates have resigned our positions within the government. We are being hel-“ the screen went blank.
Regina van Eppes turned back to the camera. Her eyes were wide with surprise. “The bill has passed,” she said pleasantly, keeping the fear and shock out of her voice. “Our childrens’ futures have been secured.” She looked into the camera and to those on the other side watching from their tv and wall screens it seemed as if she were looking directly at them. “Hopefully, the police will find whomever hacked into our system with those vicious lies. The alleged ‘Mr. Washington’ was obviously a cleverly disguised anarchist.”
“...obviously a cleverly disguised anarchist.”
President Tom Gordon switched off the wall screen in the Oval Office with a curse. The elderly man, a Georgian from Macon, quickly punched in a code and the screen that had just showed the Global News reporter now held the faces of four men and three women. Each person looked as glum and defeated as President Gordon felt. He sighed and ran his fingers through short iron gray hair, his dark brown eyes going from face to face as if searching for some sign that what he’d just seen was a nightmare.
“It’s done then,” Prime Minister Henriksen of Norway said. Karianne Henriksen was a relative newcomer to world politics, having been twice “elected” through a carefully created campaign by the United Earth government ten years ago. A former party liner, Karianne slowly became disgusted with the way the government was being run. Certain other countries were living off the backs of Normandy and others, primarily those which had now seceded, while ignoring their common plight.
In the past one hundred years mental disabilities the world over had inexplicably sky-rocketed. The worst case was autism, where currently one in fifty-five children born had the disability. The majority of those born with autism and other issues were living in the United States, Norway, Indonesia, Canada, France, Britain and New Zealand. The reasons for this were still unexplained. In answer to the dilemma pharmaceutical companies in those countries began to work feverishly to find a way to halt the progress. Eventually, those companies became an integral part of each country’s economy to the point where almost eighty percent of the U.S. economy was based on the medicines and paraphernalia made, with the other seceded nations having comparable economic ties with those companies.
Then, three years ago, a small business in Laos began to talk about a cure. The so-called “cure” was centered around a microchip which would be implanted in the brains of newborns and very young children to “fix” them. United Earth immediately began to subsidize the company, called Neuro Industries, and research into the chip began. This research was done on a relatively small number of babies and children.
For the most part the representatives in the Assembly went along with the project, but rumblings began among a few. They had done their own private research on the chip and found it led to all manner of problems, the greatest of which were mental instability (psychoses and neuroses), precocious puberty and increased libido. Though the government tried to hide it, investigators secretly hired by the once-sovereign governments had found evidence of increased sexual activity amongst children (and oftentimes amongst adults and children) and deaths due to some of those youngsters trying to give birth - those whose babies weren’t aborted immediately upon learning of the pregnancies.
The more the affected governments protested the more the media and world government lashed back at them. Epithets such as “bigot” and “redneck” began to be thrown at the representatives of the United States and others with alarming frequency. Any individual from those countries who happened to go to another country that supported the chip was often times arrested, beaten up, or even lynched if the authorities didn’t stop the inflamed populace. The people, led by the nose by United Earth, were certain that the rebellious nations were all made up of some sort of mental supremacists who wanted to keep the “slows” down.
“We’ll begin our speeches immediately,” President Setiawan Suharto of Indonesia said. The others nodded their assent. “Hopefully this can all be settled peacefully,” Setiawan went on. His voice was grave, his features holding a profound sadness. “The last thing we want is World War III. Such a catastrophe has been held off for a century; it would grieve me to be a party to its inception now.”
“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing,” Jacques Arceneau interjected, quoting Edmund Burke.
“He’s right,” Tom said, nodding to Jacques. He glanced around at his colleagues. “All right then,” he slapped his thigh. “Let’s get started. All Hell is going to break loose. Let’s make sure we’re ready.”
“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Addison Smith of New Zealand said. The leaders made quick farewells and the screen went blank. Afterwards, President Gordon went to the door leading out of his office and nodded. As he left the doorway and went to his desk a cameraman entered with a sound crew. Tom made himself ready as best he could and, when the cameraman nodded his way, began to speak.
“Good evening, my fellow Americans. Today I come to you with grave news. But, first a brief history lesson." Gordon stared at the holographic teleprompter as he continued his speech. "Three hundred and seventy six years ago a wise man once wrote: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness’,” the President said. “That same man, and others, later created a doI_have_a_headacheent which reads: ‘We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America’.”
The President paused and took a deep breath. “My fellow Americans, today, at my request, our representative in the Assembly and others of like mind joined together to stop a horrible bill from passing, a bill which would assault our children and their potential children. This bill would take away the ‘Blessings of Liberty’ from each of us and our descendants.” At this point, President Gordon looked directly into the camera, his gaze hard. “We failed. As such, these United States, along with the countries of New Zealand, Canada, Britain, France, Indonesia and Norway have seceded from United Earth. After a long train of abuses, beginning with the taking away of our right to personal arms and ending with this bill, we have altered our connection to that government and are in the process of creating a new government. The United States is now part of the Confederation of Sovereign States.
“I know this seems difficult to believe and that many of you are fearful of the future. I understand,” Gordon said sympathetically. “I too am afraid. But, we must do this. Not for us but for our children and their children. The totalitarian regime that has existed for over one hundred years has caused more harm than good and we cannot remain a part of it.”
The President went on, detailing the problems with the bill, with the chip it would force on humanity, and with the plans for the future. He spoke, his mind on what his father had called “auto-pilot” as his thoughts drifted away. For, as he talked to his constituents, he knew that military and law enforcement installations around the former...newly risen...Republic were being taken over by soldiers loyal to their country and their families. In time, Gordon knew, that loyalty would fall to their local
communities, counties and States as well. He welcomed that day. The time for big governments was long past. His would be a government of service, a servant to the States and the people of those States.
As those installations were taken the soldiers loyal to United Earth would be given parole. Every man who promised not to take up arms against the new Confederation would be put on a bus, plane or ship and sent to United Earth territory, whether that might be Mexico or Italy or any country around the world. Gordon and the other leaders knew the truth, that those promises given would last right up until the United Earth soldiers set foot on United Earth soil, and then they would be the first to fight when called. But, they had to give them the chance, if for no other reason than political good will. There were still possible allies out there. Four of the nations had abstained; all it would take would be the right move, the right mistake on the world government’s part and they might side with the new power.
The Confederation needed allies. Right now they only had each other and their own resources. Those assets would dwindle over time and, should war come, with attrition. Their main need now was information and those that could get it and deal it out. Thankfully, they had a handful of talented hackers. It was those men and women who were keeping the lines of communication open long enough for the leaders to get out their messages.
“Please remain calm,” the President said as he finished his speech. “Hopefully things will remain peaceful. If not, I know that each and every citizen of these United States will do the right thing for themselves, their families and their communities. God Bless America.” He smiled at the last, knowing that around the Republic there would be a collective gasp at those once common words, a phrase that had been ground into the dust with the rise of United Earth.
Our people live in decadent ignorance. Our society has become stagnant. Education is a matter of propaganda and all thought is ruthlessly crushed.
December 21, 2152
United Earth Headquarters
New York City
More than one hundred years has passed since the creation of the United Earth government. In that time sweeping reforms have occurred which have led to a loss of sovereignty, both personal and political. Microchips, ostensibly used for retinal internet connections but which are in reality used to keep track of the population, have been placed in every human, adult and child, on the planet. The middle class is extinct and the old money has been replaced with government-based credit. Arms of any kind have been confiscated so that now only the government’s armies and police forces have weapons. All of this has occurred, for the most part, with not a bang but a whimper. There were some areas of resistance in the United States, especially the Southern States, and in Scotland, but they were crushed within a decade.
“How is my makeup? Is my hair okay?” Regina van Eppes asked as she stood in front of the headquarters of United Earth in New York City. Behind her throngs of people from several of the subject nations gathered in protest of the new bill that was going to the Assembly. Several banners flew in the wind; the flags of the United States, Britain, Norway and Canada whipped wildly alongside other national flags. A new flag, the multicolored puzzle on a black field, whipped just ahead of all the rest proudly.
“You look fine,” her cameraman assured her for the tenth time that day.
“Merci,” Regina said. She waited until the fellow pointed at her and smiled. “Bonjour, this is Regina van Eppes with Global News. I come to you today from just outside the headquarters of United Earth where a bill which would allow the government to install microchips in autistic children and other children with mental disabilities the world over is being put forth in the Assembly.” She paused. “This bill is sponsored by both the Chinese and Ethiopian representatives, Chin Xiang and William Mogabe respectively, and has wide support in the government. According to Neuro Industries’ scientists, this chip can and will wipe out all mental defects once it is installed in an individual.” Another pause. “However, it is being fought by the representatives of the United States, Norway, Britain, France, Indonesia, New Zealand and Canada. As you can see, people from those countries have gathered behind me in defiance of the bill, led by those in power in those subject nations to believe that the chip will have undesirable effects.”
Regina spoke carefully, foregoing the word “citizen” (all of humanity were citizens of United Earth now; the nations of the world and their borders were seen by the powerful as merely illusions for the people and a way to keep census records) and conveniently leaving out the total lack of resistance on the part of people from other nations to the few who were working against this bill. The latter were already being edited on the fly to make the masses believe the other nations were so behind the bill that they had no reason to gather publicly against just a few “yahoos.” Most of the masses gathered were easily edited out with computer imaging technology so that it looked as if any opposition really was meager.
“Stop the lies” a protestor yelled. He jostled the reporter and got up into the camera’s lense. “This chip will cause our children immense harm! Mental instability, precocious puberty and increased libidos will be the norm - and it won’t just be the mentally disabled. Any offspring they might have - after being made ‘normal’ and growing up - will suffer the same ill effects. The research has been done! Don’t let the media and Neuro Industries lie to you.”
“Get him out of here,” Regina said sharply, a worried expression crossing her lovely features. God, let the filters have caught that, she thought and tried to keep the guilty look from her face. Thank goodness the government hadn’t found a way to read minds yet. The notion of God was being wiped out across the Earth, slowly but surely. Only a few small pockets around the globe still held to any sort of religious belief and they were being represented as terrorists and murderers.
The State was all that mattered. It was mother, father, brother, sister, lover and God to the people. It had to be if the government were to survive.
Regina spoke more about the bill and the possibilities for the new chip while waiting for confirmation of its passage. The crowd behind her became restless, their excitement coursing through her as well. Finally, a large screen came on and Robert Washington, representative for the United States, appeared. Regina looked up in shock at the unexpected view. Behind Washington were his allies in the countries that were against the chip. Sudden quiet erupted, deafening the reporter with the eerie silence.
“It is my sad duty to report that Bill 872 has passed,” Washington said. There was a chorus of groans from the crowd. “The vote passed by 250 to 7 with 4 abstentions.” Robert took a deep sigh and the sadness on his face deepened. “It is also my duty to inform you that, as of this date and time, the United States, along with Canada, Indonesia, New Zealand, Norway, Britain and France have submitted to the government their ordinances of secession and doI_have_a_headacheents detailing the causes of our independent secessions. As such, I and my confederates have resigned our positions within the government. We are being hel-“ the screen went blank.
Regina van Eppes turned back to the camera. Her eyes were wide with surprise. “The bill has passed,” she said pleasantly, keeping the fear and shock out of her voice. “Our childrens’ futures have been secured.” She looked into the camera and to those on the other side watching from their tv and wall screens it seemed as if she were looking directly at them. “Hopefully, the police will find whomever hacked into our system with those vicious lies. The alleged ‘Mr. Washington’ was obviously a cleverly disguised anarchist.”
*****
December 21, 2152
White House
Washington, D.C.
White House
Washington, D.C.
“...obviously a cleverly disguised anarchist.”
President Tom Gordon switched off the wall screen in the Oval Office with a curse. The elderly man, a Georgian from Macon, quickly punched in a code and the screen that had just showed the Global News reporter now held the faces of four men and three women. Each person looked as glum and defeated as President Gordon felt. He sighed and ran his fingers through short iron gray hair, his dark brown eyes going from face to face as if searching for some sign that what he’d just seen was a nightmare.
“It’s done then,” Prime Minister Henriksen of Norway said. Karianne Henriksen was a relative newcomer to world politics, having been twice “elected” through a carefully created campaign by the United Earth government ten years ago. A former party liner, Karianne slowly became disgusted with the way the government was being run. Certain other countries were living off the backs of Normandy and others, primarily those which had now seceded, while ignoring their common plight.
In the past one hundred years mental disabilities the world over had inexplicably sky-rocketed. The worst case was autism, where currently one in fifty-five children born had the disability. The majority of those born with autism and other issues were living in the United States, Norway, Indonesia, Canada, France, Britain and New Zealand. The reasons for this were still unexplained. In answer to the dilemma pharmaceutical companies in those countries began to work feverishly to find a way to halt the progress. Eventually, those companies became an integral part of each country’s economy to the point where almost eighty percent of the U.S. economy was based on the medicines and paraphernalia made, with the other seceded nations having comparable economic ties with those companies.
Then, three years ago, a small business in Laos began to talk about a cure. The so-called “cure” was centered around a microchip which would be implanted in the brains of newborns and very young children to “fix” them. United Earth immediately began to subsidize the company, called Neuro Industries, and research into the chip began. This research was done on a relatively small number of babies and children.
For the most part the representatives in the Assembly went along with the project, but rumblings began among a few. They had done their own private research on the chip and found it led to all manner of problems, the greatest of which were mental instability (psychoses and neuroses), precocious puberty and increased libido. Though the government tried to hide it, investigators secretly hired by the once-sovereign governments had found evidence of increased sexual activity amongst children (and oftentimes amongst adults and children) and deaths due to some of those youngsters trying to give birth - those whose babies weren’t aborted immediately upon learning of the pregnancies.
The more the affected governments protested the more the media and world government lashed back at them. Epithets such as “bigot” and “redneck” began to be thrown at the representatives of the United States and others with alarming frequency. Any individual from those countries who happened to go to another country that supported the chip was often times arrested, beaten up, or even lynched if the authorities didn’t stop the inflamed populace. The people, led by the nose by United Earth, were certain that the rebellious nations were all made up of some sort of mental supremacists who wanted to keep the “slows” down.
“We’ll begin our speeches immediately,” President Setiawan Suharto of Indonesia said. The others nodded their assent. “Hopefully this can all be settled peacefully,” Setiawan went on. His voice was grave, his features holding a profound sadness. “The last thing we want is World War III. Such a catastrophe has been held off for a century; it would grieve me to be a party to its inception now.”
“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing,” Jacques Arceneau interjected, quoting Edmund Burke.
“He’s right,” Tom said, nodding to Jacques. He glanced around at his colleagues. “All right then,” he slapped his thigh. “Let’s get started. All Hell is going to break loose. Let’s make sure we’re ready.”
“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Addison Smith of New Zealand said. The leaders made quick farewells and the screen went blank. Afterwards, President Gordon went to the door leading out of his office and nodded. As he left the doorway and went to his desk a cameraman entered with a sound crew. Tom made himself ready as best he could and, when the cameraman nodded his way, began to speak.
“Good evening, my fellow Americans. Today I come to you with grave news. But, first a brief history lesson." Gordon stared at the holographic teleprompter as he continued his speech. "Three hundred and seventy six years ago a wise man once wrote: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness’,” the President said. “That same man, and others, later created a doI_have_a_headacheent which reads: ‘We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America’.”
The President paused and took a deep breath. “My fellow Americans, today, at my request, our representative in the Assembly and others of like mind joined together to stop a horrible bill from passing, a bill which would assault our children and their potential children. This bill would take away the ‘Blessings of Liberty’ from each of us and our descendants.” At this point, President Gordon looked directly into the camera, his gaze hard. “We failed. As such, these United States, along with the countries of New Zealand, Canada, Britain, France, Indonesia and Norway have seceded from United Earth. After a long train of abuses, beginning with the taking away of our right to personal arms and ending with this bill, we have altered our connection to that government and are in the process of creating a new government. The United States is now part of the Confederation of Sovereign States.
“I know this seems difficult to believe and that many of you are fearful of the future. I understand,” Gordon said sympathetically. “I too am afraid. But, we must do this. Not for us but for our children and their children. The totalitarian regime that has existed for over one hundred years has caused more harm than good and we cannot remain a part of it.”
The President went on, detailing the problems with the bill, with the chip it would force on humanity, and with the plans for the future. He spoke, his mind on what his father had called “auto-pilot” as his thoughts drifted away. For, as he talked to his constituents, he knew that military and law enforcement installations around the former...newly risen...Republic were being taken over by soldiers loyal to their country and their families. In time, Gordon knew, that loyalty would fall to their local
communities, counties and States as well. He welcomed that day. The time for big governments was long past. His would be a government of service, a servant to the States and the people of those States.
As those installations were taken the soldiers loyal to United Earth would be given parole. Every man who promised not to take up arms against the new Confederation would be put on a bus, plane or ship and sent to United Earth territory, whether that might be Mexico or Italy or any country around the world. Gordon and the other leaders knew the truth, that those promises given would last right up until the United Earth soldiers set foot on United Earth soil, and then they would be the first to fight when called. But, they had to give them the chance, if for no other reason than political good will. There were still possible allies out there. Four of the nations had abstained; all it would take would be the right move, the right mistake on the world government’s part and they might side with the new power.
The Confederation needed allies. Right now they only had each other and their own resources. Those assets would dwindle over time and, should war come, with attrition. Their main need now was information and those that could get it and deal it out. Thankfully, they had a handful of talented hackers. It was those men and women who were keeping the lines of communication open long enough for the leaders to get out their messages.
“Please remain calm,” the President said as he finished his speech. “Hopefully things will remain peaceful. If not, I know that each and every citizen of these United States will do the right thing for themselves, their families and their communities. God Bless America.” He smiled at the last, knowing that around the Republic there would be a collective gasp at those once common words, a phrase that had been ground into the dust with the rise of United Earth.