Safe America

A few years ago I started writing a novel. I had remote hopes of it actually making it to publication, but then I meet my wife and all sorts of real world events intruded. Time passed and I haven't had the time needed to devote to really writing. I still hope one day to get around to finishing my story as I have a rough outline for the rest of the book in mind, but who knows it maybe an unfinished project that never sees the light of day.

Anyway for your amusement I present the opening for this story. I have another six or seven pages of the text actually written that maybe I will share some other day.

Chapter 1

The year was 2022 and not for the last time did I think that hindsight was always perfect. The important thing according to the US information network was that we could be assured of almost total safety for our children due to the passage of the “Childhood Safety Act”.

Another piece of legislation that no one really seems to care about or read anymore. This shouldn’t have surprised me as the slow rape of democracy and the constitution has continued unabated for the last 20 plus years, why should this be any different. As long as every one has their basics physiological needs fulfilled, just tweak their concerns on the safety needs and pass laws for protection. Maslow would have been horrified to see how his basic premise was being used, because he believed in the innate goodness in most people. If we can rise above our base needs we can move to self actualization. Unfortunately the in the theory of human philosophy it appears that Machiavelli was an optimist.

Worse it hasn’t mattered who we elect. The reason is that people run for office for power and the power structure in place only allows you to build power in the system by accepting the system. In other words every maverick that we elect, either becomes indoctrinated into the system as it exist or is an ineffectual figure who ultimately can not win re-election due to their inability to change things.

So we get constant addition of laws like the “Childhood Safety Act”. A small chip that is genetically encoded with the child’s DNA and is surgically placed in every new born child. The random placement was a nice touch, since not even the parent will know where the chip is and try to remove it. The conspiracy theorists are sure that there are actually two chips placed in every child to ensure the maximum surveillance by the government. The paranoid miss the point that the chip is essentially benign unless activated. In order words until a transmission is send out to turn the chip on, it doesn’t constantly broadcast. Parents are now ensured that their child can’t be stolen or run away from home and never be found. The children are safe at last. How wonderful that we live in a world that guarantees that our children are safe and that the government has their genetic code in a data bank somewhere. They can track down whomever they want when ever they want. Our children are safe at last.

With that much safety Locke’s social contract has becoming a social straight jacket. The overall populace (also know to myself as sheeple) are contented and feel better because nothing has happened to them. In Roman days it was give the masses bread and circuses and they will be happy. Today was keep the populace focused on any bogeyman you can create and keep them wrapped in consumerism and every one will be just fine.

I think we have lost focus and missed the entire point of our existence. Weren’t we building a better tomorrow for our children? Trying to begin to explore the universe and spread our immortality across the stars. By keeping focused on this little mud ball called Earth and letting our leaders continue to give themselves power for power’s sake seems pointless. My little sticks and stones and almost innocent protestations would have most likely gone unnoticed except for one small flaw.

In a population of 355,000,000 people and the ineptitude of any large organization I was sure that I would be invisible. I was a small speck of dust to the government, a mote in God’s eye if you will. The dissonant chord that I hit with a few of my articles and small speeches have unfortunately caused me to become a sought after member of the opposition. Hell, I didn’t even know I was a member of the opposition until I noticed the little things starting to happen to me.

I’m trying to put everything into a context because I have to make sense of what has happened and why I’m now a fugitive from the law and have at least 3 people that want to see me dead (probably more).

The few hours that I have to relax I’m spending writing this out in the foreknowledge that this words mean nothing to anyone but me, but if I live through the next year, maybe I can publish this as a novelization of my wild ride through the police state America has become.