"Pick up a modern novel. As you read the first few pages,
imagine you're living in the year 1200AD. The baffling flood of
references in those pages would make your mind spin. We might have that
experience now, if we were given a few pages published a mere 50 years
into the future. Or each of us might think, 'I recognize that.'" (The Underground, Jon Rappoport)
On
July 6, 2062, in a federal courtroom in ObamaBush City, Indiana,
Citizen 406-A-8#-BN faced charges of conspiring to adjust his allotted
pleasure quotient.
Strictly defined, "pleasure quotient" is the
permitted daily amount of electronic stimulation a person may download
from satellite transmissions. Such transmissions stimulate the reward
center (nucleus accumbens) of the brain.
A partial transcript of the Judge's interview with the suspect follows. It was stamped SECRET, but it was smuggled out...
Judge: You did speak with your cousin about the dissatisfaction you felt.
Citizen: Yes. But it was a casual conversation.
Judge: Such communications rise to the status of conspiring, because they are potentially contagious.
Citizen: Contagious?
Judge:
We're talking about a potential outbreak of dangerous ideas. In
addition, your residential smart meter shows you have been connecting to
the upper limit of permitted electronically delivered pleasure for 652
days in a row. While not illegal, this is considered an individualistic
practice that could deny pleasure to those less fortunate.
Citizen:
My cousin said he was cutting back on pleasure, and I told him I
thought the daily allotment ought to be raised. That was the substance
of our conversation.
Judge: And why are you for a raise?
Citizen:
Because I see lots people who seem depressed, despite the fact that
they're plugging into the Pleasure Interface every day.
Judge: And you have scientific evidence for your 'assessment'?
Citizen: No, Your Honor.
Judge:
And that is the point. Our government is spending an enormous amount
of money to surveil the effects of the Pleasure Program, in order to
improve service. You, on the other hand, are giving credence to your
casual observation. It reveals an unhealthy egoism.
Citizen: That was not my intent.
Judge: Perhaps not, but look where it has gotten you. I have to render a decision here.
Citizen: I'll cut back on my pleasure.
Judge: So you say. But after a week, a month? You may feel the urge again.
Citizen: I'm a member of the Middle Ages Reparations Committee.
Judge: I was not aware of that. I don't see any indication in your record.
Citizen: I can prove it. I have a registration number. I can give it to you now. You can check.
Judge: You can trace your ancestry back to at least 1200 AD? In Europe?
Citizen:
On both my parents' sides. According to the founding documents of the
Reparations Committee, every full-fledged member has the right to issue
complaints and demands relating to injury suffered by his ancestors.
That makes us a group granted with special pleading rights under federal
law.
Judge: This complicate things.
Citizen: Yes sir, it does.
Judge: The question is, does your right extend to complaining about the pleasure quotient?
Citizen:
I'm aware of cases where a member of a group with special pleading
rights was granted the right to object to regulations outside his
limited sphere.
Judge: That's true, Citizen. However, do you
understand how important the Pleasure Interface is to our current
societal configuration? Without it, people would 'drown', so to speak.
That is, their external circumstances would present too large a problem
for them.
Citizen: I'm sympathetic, believe me, sir. I'm one of
those people. My application to DARPA, to be included in a clinical
trial of visual-cortex transplantation, has been held up for over two
years. I need new induced pathways of perception. My current system is
feeding me negative input at a rather alarming rate.
Judge: Perhaps we have the basis for a compromise here.
Citizen: How so?
Judge: I can put you into the DARPA group immediately.
Citizen: You can?
Judge: Of course. I'm a federal Judge.
Citizen: I would sign a pledge to cut back on my pleasure quotient.
Judge: You would also have to forego your right to complain about the pleasure allotment.
Citizen: Yes, Your Honor, I would do that.
Judge:
And if you fail to live up to your promises, you would automatically be
assigned a daily electronically induced pain quotient far in excess of
what you're experiencing naturally in your life now.
Citizen: Understood.
Judge: Your food and energy quotients would be reduced as well.
Citizen: I would accept that.
Judge:
We would also expect you to report any pleasure-quotient infractions
you discover among friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers.
Citizen:
Of course. I would go so far as to sign up for the Federal Watch
Program, attend seminars, and receive training on how to infiltrate
social circles for the purpose of detecting subversive behavior.
Judge: Very good.
Citizen:
However, if the implanting of a new visual cortex fails to give me a
new lease on life, if I still feel depressed and angry, what then?
Judge: I would revisit your case. I would assign you a special exception on your daily pleasure quotient.
Citizen: Can you be more specific, sir?
Judge: Yes. I would allow you four hours a day of continuous Pleasure Interface.
Citizen: That's exceedingly generous.
Judge:
Well, although you are, first and foremost, a federal citizen, you are
also the Governor of California. That merits attention.
Citizen:
I appreciate that, Your Honor. Let me take this a step further. If
you grant me the conditions and exceptions you've just mentioned, I'll
issue an executive order for the entire region of Southern California,
where we are seeing very high levels of pleasure use. Second-time
violators of upper limits will be cut off from pleasure altogether.
Judge: That would create considerable chaos among the population.
Citizen:
And then militarized police units, federal troops, and UN peacekeepers
could be brought in to quell riots and install severe restrictions on
freedom of speech, assembly, and so on. It would serve as an example to
the rest of America.
Judge: Let me take that one upstairs and see how they feel about it. You may have something worth considering...
---end of excerpt from secret federal court proceeding---
As
we all know, the Governor's suggestion was accepted, he did sign an
executive order, widespread riots in Southern California did ensue, and
they were brutally put down by local and federal law-enforcement
personnel.
In the wake of this crisis, the US Presidential
campaign season took on new meaning. Matt Huxley, the grandson of
Chelsea Clinton, promised voters higher levels of pleasure-quotient
access, and the funding of additional satellites to handle the increased
transmission load.
Matt Huxley won the election in a landslide.
However, it was then discovered that the Clinton Foundation had taken
in an off-the-books $4 billion donation from Buffet-Gates Inc., a
leading manufacturer of pleasure satellites.
Although outbid for the satellite contract by Smith Winston, a British firm, Buffett-Gates secured the federal award.
President
Huxley famously said, "I was not in bed with Buffett-Gates." However, a
year after his inauguration, the President finally confessed, under
enormous pressure, that he had violated federal regulations.
There
was talk of impeachment. But the President's poll numbers were not
affected. The overwhelming citizen-support for increased levels of
Pleasure Interface carried the day, and Congress backed off.
Two
decades later, former President Matt Huxley would write in his
autobiography: "If you can get massive numbers of citizens to go to war
and risk death, because they're continuously accessing the Pleasure
Interface the whole time they're on the battlefield, do you think there
was a snowball's chance in hell I would be impeached for tinkering with a
federal contract? In a Democracy, the people speak. The people want
pleasure. I gave it to them, and they thanked me. These days, the
Interface, in conjunction with artificial visual-cortex transplants,
guarantee that each and every human being will experience reality beyond
the reach of any negative inputs. Each and every human being sees
[cortex transplant] and feels [Pleasure Interface] life in a sea of
satisfaction, on a most intimate level. This is what the human race has
been striving for, since the dawn of history..."
No comments:
Post a Comment