Dave Learns The Truth

PerfectWorld story (The NOW)

Dave Dubois walked away from his smoldering junkbucket of a car, tucked well off the remote lane, hidden behind a copse of bushy trees and snarled overgrowth. He hated that car but it was his only transportation, and if he was to make it to Los Angeles in time for the job interview on Friday, he'd need it fixed and not stripped.

He was in the middle of Boonie County, State of Nowhere. His tattered U.S. map had flown out of the window 300 miles back and he didn't have a clue where he was right now, but at this point in the journey all he had to do was head west. Of course now he was walking east; he'd seen a tiny town a few miles back and figured he could snag a pay phone or find a tow truck.

He'd been a double major a few years earlier; electrical and computer engineering, and got a great job right out of his college. Soon after, though, the economy tanked and the old adage 'last hired, first fired' hit him especially hard. Unemployment was shooting northward and good jobs had disappeared, but his old college roommate Joe Hobart lined up an interview with his boss Mr Reston over at FutureTech in Santa Monica. "He's an amazing guy and he's looking for someone sharp," Joe had mentioned over the phone. "I can't tell you what he's working on, but it's sensational stuff. Get out here! You know it sucks in New York in winter. Hey, even if the job doesn't work out, at least you can be homeless on the beach."

He'd been on the road for two days when his 'check engine' light came on. He ignored it for awhile, but kept a worried eye on his temperature gauge. When it inevitably climbed he found a safe hiding spot and pulled over. Now he was scanning the small two-lane road for signs of human activity as he made his way back to East Whoville (or whatever), cursing his bad luck.

He had been walking for about fifteen minutes when he heard an odd noise behind him in the distance, pricking an early memory of the Batmobile. He jammed his thumb out without turning around and waited for the vehicle to zoom past him-- people were wary of hitchhikers in this economic climate for fear of carjacking. He was surprised to hear it slow down, and shocked when he turned around.

For it was no car at all, but instead a long, tall truck. Not an eighteen wheeler, not an RV; this was a design he wasn't familiar with. It was sleek and windowless, with smooth metallic sides tapering towards the back. Dave could see no doors. The cab was surrounded in slick black glass, opaque and formidable.

But it was floating! There were no wheels at all, and the entire vehicle was hovering an inch off the ground! Dave's jaw dropped but had no time to reflect, as a black glass panel separated at a previously invisible seam and rolled upwards to reveal an instrument-laden truck interior. The amiable driver smiled and said, "Hop in, fella!" Dave, moving instinctually, hopped in. He had questions, many questions, but couldn't seem to find his tongue.

The driver was about as normal as the truck was different. Mid fifties, a salt and pepper shock of tousled hair, tanned and smiling. "I'm guessing that was your rig hidden in the trees back there," he said as Dave nodded mutely. "I'm Jake. Let's go get 'er!" He stuck out a beefy paw which Dave shook, still a little stunned by the oddity of events.

Jake hit a button on the console and spun the steering wheel. Reacting like a speedboat, the long truck reared up slightly, spun on its axis and began floating back the way it had come. Dave could feel no road vibrations and hear no motor other than that whining sound. The truck felt like it was floating on water, but reacted as if it were pivoting on a post attached to dry land. Finally he got his voice back and said enthusiastically, "Cool truck, Jake!"

"Ya like it? I designed it myself!" Jake smiled a toothy grin. "Hey, here we are!"

Startled, Dave looked outside and sure enough, they were alongside the old beater, a native American car sending up wispy smoke signals. Jake touched a video screen on the dashboard which brought up a series of menu options, settling on one marked 'Tow Mode'.

Rear cameras activated and Dave could see the back of Jake's truck hinging upward. Then a broad steel bar made of connected rings extended out, moving toward Dave's car. It reached under the heap with the dexterity of a wary python and hooked onto the chassis' tow points, then pulled Dave's car smoothly into the back of the truck. Dave watched the screen in astonishment. "Holy cow!"

Jake chuckled. "It's a neat machine, all right. I had my team assemble it, but I insisted on being the test pilot."

Dave asked, "Pilot? Don't you mean driver?" but as he spoke, he had a rousing feeling that this truck was even more versatile than it had demonstrated thus far. He was not disappointed.

With his car stowed inside and the back fully closed, Jake returned to the screen and found the menu 'Taxi'. Surprised, Dave asked, "Calling me a cab, Jake?"

Jake smiled at him playfully and punched the button. The truck shot forward, forcing Dave into his seat. "Hang on!" Jake shouted over the sudden din.

The speedometer raced to 160 mph when the truck suddenly tilted up sharply. Dave's heart missed a beat as the thought crossed his mind that this, an experimental vehicle, could be failing right now, affording him his last moment of life. Why was he so stupid? Dave chided himself in that instant. Who was this guy, even?

He had made yet another rash decision in taking a ride with this stranger, entrusting his car and his life to the man and was yet another in a string of impulsive choices he had made in recent years, trying to suppress his premonition of fruitless futility. He tried switching majors from drama, to art, to english and finally engineering inside of 2 years. Then moving away from his small-town home. Breaking up with his longtime girlfriend. Alienating himself from his conservative, bible thumping family. Moving into the city from his home on in the sticks. Experimenting with drugs. Questioning his sexuality. Even questioning his belief system.

What the hell did he want? What was he hoping to gain by wresting himself from his comfort system? And now, before can arrive at a decent answer, he's going to be squashed like an possum in the road at the hand of some devil-may-care inventor with a death wish...

But they didn't crash, or flip wildly and get torn to shreds by g-forces; instead they soared into the sky in a grand, sweeping arc, shooting above the clouds into the crystalline blue, leveling off and heading due west at a comfortable 1600 mph, if his speedometer was to be trusted.

Dave blinked in disbelief. Outside he could see the craft now had sharply slung back wings he was sure weren't there moments ago. He whistled slowly-- there had been so many incredible events in the last 30 minutes and he hadn't sorted any of it out yet. A stranger with a floating truckplane just happened by, used a telescoping metal elephant's trunk to drag his ailing car into the back and flew off into the sky with him, at mach 2! It was an unusual day all right. But even so, he was certain of one question he needed answering:

"Umm, Jake... where are we going?"

"What's your name, son?" Jake corrected course a bit.

"Er, Dave, sir, but..."

"Dave, where you headed?"

"Los Angeles, sir... but..."

"No, I mean in life, son. What's your plan?"

"Oh! Um, I was on my way to a job interview with my friend Joe Hobart's boss out in Santa Monica. I'm an engineer." Dave paused, wondering why he was answering all of Jake's questions, without getting an answer to his own. He repeated, "So Jake... where are we going?"

Jake chuckled. "Santa Monica Airport. Coincidence, huh?" He made a tight, sweeping bank past a range of snow-topped mountains.

Too close at that speed, Dave thought, so close that the ground below them was blurring.

Jake spoke. "I love flying. Not just riding in an aircraft... actually flying the heap. I feel like the king of all birds up here, like if I pushed it a little higher I might actually be able to glimpse the Gates of Heaven." He paused. "Don't you agree?"

Dave, sensing a theological trap, wriggled out with, "Fascinating. Seeing the world beneath me so tiny and yet so huge, I feel like Superman. Too bad he's fiction." Dave was well versed in religious subtext; his father was a fire-and-brimstone minister and his mother, a perfect minister's wife. Dave himself was a firm believer in doubt; nobody was going to brainwash the facts out of his head. He changed the subject. "What else are you working on besides this great new truckplane?" Now that was a subject he was interested in.

"My R&D department is always buzzing with new ideas, but the one I'm personally involved with is another transportation idea." He paused for effect. "It's a train!" Jake seemed dazzled.

Dave was not. "A train? Wasn't that invented in the 1800's?"

"Er, yes. I meant a magnetic levitation train."

"Like the ones at Disneyland? They've been around awhile, too, Jake." Dave was a little disappointed.

"Not these. They're brand new. We call it the VeeStreak, and they can travel upwards of 18,000 miles an hour."

"Don't you mean 180 miles an hour? Anything moving at 18,000 mph would melt from air friction!"

"True, Dave, true. That's why we eliminate the air!"

It was silent in the cockpit, only the faint twitter of instruments, as Dave mulled over a train trip that would take just 40 minutes from New York to Los Angeles. No air friction! No air? He was sure you couldn't just build a device on the front of the train to divert ALL the air from contacting the front of a train, but a heat shield could keep the train from melting AND use the energy to help run the train... but could they create a heat shield which wouldn't degrade too rapidly? And what about birds, animals crossing the tracks and just dumb drivers? Wouldn't the ensuing wreck create a public outrage which would shelve a plan that dangerous? David had a lot of questions, but the only one that made it past his lips was, "Are you bullshitting me?"

Jake shook his head and grinned, changing the subject with a gleeful "You're not likely to forget this landing, son!"

Choosing the 'Descent' menu, the truckplane ceased all forward movement in a powerful reverse surge, and began to drop like an elevator freed from its bindings and safeties. They were far from the surface, but Dave's stomach felt about two stories above his head; the drop was a six flags screamer! Dave desperately reviewed his life then, until the roof split off a half dozen shimmering, translucent rotors which began spinning furiously in the draft, slowing their drop to a gentle leaf flutter. He expected a slight bump as they landed, but there was none; just a forward motion as they floated out of a broad flat field and taxied onto the Santa Monica streets. He marveled at the smooth glide of a wheelless car and wondered what technology was in play. All in good time, he thought.

Dave was about to suggest they find a nearby service station for his hunk of a car sitting in the back but Jake waved off his words. "We're taking it to my guys and there won't be a discussion."

Dave was still reeling about this guy. What the hell was he-- was he a crazed genius inventor, or a carefree trust-fund fellow-- or was he a time-traveler from the future? What are the odds that this was some random occurrence, and how did he get us halfway across the country in an hour and change? Most worrisome of all, Dave wondered... what was happening next?

They hadn't driven more than five minutes when Jake turned into a wide driveway leading to the sub-basement of a large modern building. They passed under the building's logo planted in the attractive landscaping: FutureTech HQ. Dave sat up, surprised, thinking 'That's where my interview is supposed to be!'

He noticed the truck was now driving itself, and threading its way through a complex series of driveways and turns, then stopped and powered down, the whine deepening to a purr before morphing into silence. A team of lab-coated men surrounded the truck; the cab doors came open and Dave followed Jake to an elevator bay.

Jake called over his shoulder, "Make the junker new again, boys!"

"You know, I really should check into a hotel and get ready for my interview--" Dave began, but Jake waved him quiet again. Dave was beginning to find that a little, well, annoying.

"There's a guest wing upstairs, and a room is being prepared for you as we speak. Later, though. Right now there's a few people I want you to meet." The elevator doors sprang open and...

"Joe Hobart!" Dave said incredulously as the young man sprang at him in the foyer. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Dave Dubious! Good to see you, you old grouch!" Joe shouted, pumping Dave's hand. "I see you've met my boss! So Jake, what'd you think of my good buddy Dave Dubois, AKA Dave Dubious, or The Doubting One?"

Jake laughed, eyes turning to Dave, twinkling. "Gotcha! Hey, it looks like your mainspring's snapped-- put your tongue back in your mouth!"

It took a long moment, but Dave caught up with events and said to Jake, "Wait. You're Joe's boss-- Mr Reston?"

Merrily Jake said, "And yours too, if you'll take the job! You've been recruited, son! Hey, now don't go fainting just yet... the surprises haven't ended!"

Jake and Joe flanked the weak-kneed Dave and helped him back into the elevator. "Down, all the way," Joe said, and the elevator car dropped like the truckplane had. At the bottom, Dave was astonished to see an enormous cave, ragged rock walls fading in the distance, containing a large construction project underway. Welding sparks, acrid smoke, skull-pounding noises and scurrying workers rounded the scene. At the near end of the cave was a large, polished, circular hollow, bathed in deep shadow. The whole thing looked familiar but Dave couldn't quite place it yet.

Reston whistled, a resounding thweet in this din, and a man in blue coveralls and white hardhat hustled over. His face was obscured by welding goggles. He held out a gloved hand to Dave and shouted something incomprehensible in the din. Jake guided them to an overview room and shut the door. The silence was momentarily painful.

Jake said, "Dave, meet the inventor of that fast train I was talking about, the VeeStreak. Rick Payne."

"Pleasure," Rick said. "I know Jake has quizzed you on all this. So, have you figured out how my train works, one engineer to another?"

At that moment all the pieces suddenly fell into place and Dave was certain he knew how the VeeStreak worked. His eyes shone and lips quivered as he spat out his guesstimate. He hoped he was right to impress his new boss, and was almost certain he was.

"You stuck a train inside of a Vacuum Tube?!"

POSTSCRIPT

I'm guessing Dave's not quite so Dubious after all this, huh? For those of you who are not following this blog from the beginning, Dave just figured out what we already knew from reading the post 'The First Major Step: New Education': They were constructing a Vaccu-Streak

Airless Maglev tube. Like Dave said-- "... a Vacuum Tube!?"

I'm not privy to America's reticent technological development programs and so can't tell you with any accuracy if what I'm suggesting is under construction anywhere... or even if the technology is viable. Oh, I know it is POSSIBLE-- in a lab, under rigorous safeguards, virtually anything is possible-- but could it be an actual method of transit in the future?

Since America seems to move technology forward in baby steps where the safety of people is concerned (or should I say, where the potential for lawsuit or negative public opinion is concerned?) as they have with the space program, I don't imagine the VeeStreak is headed for train stations anytime soon. However, a shorter and smaller one specifically designed for the rapid movement of materials and packages between two distant buildings of a large manufacturing plant could be in use right now!

Maybe.

But even if it isn't happening, it is certainly being thought of. We humans are always looking for a better way to traverse long distances, and since Star Trek's beaming technology is still a long way off, we'd better plan for more conventional Earthbound travel.

I myself would love to get on a train in New York at 10:00 am and exit in Los Angeles at 7:45 am (local time-- I'm not talking time travel here, people, just a 45 minute trip). Air travel is ponderous by comparison; even with the moderately fast speeds achieved we slow ourselves down at the terminals with paperwork and security checks and crowds and extensive safety checklists that can add as much as 50% to the time needed for a cross-country jaunt and could easily double a shorter journey. And that's not to even mention the dangers of operating during inclement weather.

But I get ahead of myself. In future posts we will be observing as America becomes the first Perfect World country, warts and growing pains and all. I'm excited to envision a world designed from the ground up with human cooperation as the main design component.

Yes, I'm a 'glass-half-full' writer... actually, I'm more a 'glass overflowing' writer. It works for me. At least on paper.

Even if the paper gets wet and wrinkly.

Copyright 2009 Bruce Ian Friedman

The Next Major Step: Fact Over Fantasy

Essay

1) Dispelling Fantasy In Favor Of Fact

2) The Modification of Education

A Perfect World needs to be stocked with (nearly) perfect people, of which we now have a scarcity. These two critical changes need to occur in order for the human race to make that next important leap in our development.

In reality, these are concurrent steps. It's hard to make one happen or the other happen without both happening, or neither will happen.

In a previous post I touched on the changes that must happen within our school system, to nurture and iso-educate each of our children into maturity and adulthood-- to truly 'leave no child behind'.

But what of our adults? What can we do with all the hard-won stubborn beliefs floating about in our grown-ups' heads which contradict each other and bait themselves into anger and violence?

Each of us knows, in our hearts, that ours is the one true God (except for the ones who believe there is no God, or the ones who simply don't know). What is glaringly true to any outside observer is:

NOT ONE OF US IS RIGHT

(again, except for the people who claim not to know one way or the other)

Now, here's a short list of some other things that many people believe, but shouldn't, because they are all unproven:

Gremlins are real;

Breaking a mirror gives you seven years of bad luck;

A fat guy in a red suit with a chariot pulled by flying land mammals stuffs himself down every Christian's chimney once a year to give presents to their children (except for the bad ones);

You can get pregnant from a toilet seat;

Leprechauns guard a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow;

Black cats are bad luck;

Some guy died on a cross, then came back to life;

That same guy walked on water and turned it into wine;

A fairy comes into your house while you sleep whenever you lose a tooth and replaces it with coinage;

Take 'em all- I need a Playstation!

Throwing salt over your shoulder is lucky;

In historic times there was a bush that burned eternally;

A man bitten by a radioactive spider can shoot webs and swing from buildings;

You can't get pregnant the first time you have sex;

A bunny hides painted chicken eggs for children once a year;

Waiting For Easter

Walking under a ladder gives you bad luck;

You need 8 hours of sleep a day;

There are monsters under your bed;

A virgin gave birth;

A baby from another planet came to Earth, developed super powers and became a hero;

13 is an unlucky number;

Prayer works;

The bogeyman is real;

Human beings are sacred...

... and that just scratches the surface.

We humans are a fickle race. We develop language so that we may communicate and then once we do, we lie, cheat, steal and ignore sage advice from the wise. We hear what we want to hear and ignore or forget that which saddens us; we are swayed by beauty and tend to believe the words of an attractive person over an ordinary one; we allow emotion and prejudice to cloud our judgement.

Why can't we learn whom to trust? How can we learn to recognize who is telling us actual fact, and who expects us to just blindly believe any crap coming from their pie-holes?

I hold accountable the inherent aloneness that comes with a lifetime of receiving input from just one brain. Each of us are inside our own heads, by ourselves, from birth to death. Nobody joins us in there to engage in spirited debate; we have to speak to others for that exercise. We know that lying is something we are capable of, so how can we trust anything anyone has to say to us, knowing that they are capable of lying as well?

What a conundrum!

This is a test. I'm going to discuss two solutions; one of them is fact and the other is not-- see if you can figure out which is which:

1) We give every man, woman and child a medicine to help them develop limited telepathy-- just enough to know the emotions of the person they are speaking with-- just enough to know the truth.

Wow.

What a world that would be, huh? Suddenly, nobody could lie to anybody else! I'm sure there would be a major restructuring in the world, as liars, cheats and thieves everywhere are found out and neutralized. Neutralized sound so ominous-- nothing more would happen to them than everyone would know what they are planning, and foil it.

Just think of the radical changes we would undergo as a society! One question to each inmate and all wrongly jailed people go free... courts become unnecessary as we already KNOW the truth... no more scams... no more useless medicines... true love is TRULY true love... we'll know if cold fusion exists... you'll know who your friends are, and aren't (OUCH!)... teenagers can't lie anymore... you will FEEL malevolence directed towards you before it happens... I could go on.

2) There is a television drama called 'Lie To Me', and it's the story of a man who has figured out how to tell if a person is lying by using micro-clues, which every person broadcasts in their expressions and in their body movements, whether they want to or not. Virtually everybody displays micro-expressions, those gone-in-a-second looks that reveal a person's true emotion. Everyone also broadcasts feelings through body language. Learn to read these human signs of lie detection and it will be as though you have a limited telepathy! If you really start to observe people, especially when not part of the conversation, you will begin to notice how often people say one thing while expressing another through micro-expressions and body language, which is a very helpful tool in this current society.

Okay, test over. Can you tell which one is a fact?

If you thought the micro-expression thing was the fact, congratulations. Your mind is rooted in reality. If, however, it was reasonable to you that taking a pill can make you telepathic, then you are a perfect candidate for Fantasy Brainwashing (now with Lanolin!).

It's okay... lots of people have a fantasy or two-- that's normal. The problem comes from wanting that fantasy to come true so much that, in your head, it IS true. But I wouldn't call it YOUR problem... no, it's ALL our problem. We've built for ourselves, for better or worse, a society which sucks so bad that you feel you have to retreat into a much nicer place in your mind. All you are (which is not a bad thing) is a sensitive; someone who feels too much empathy to to succeed in this hardscrabble life without a little fantasy to make it seem better.

That you join together with other people who believe as you do is nothing more than a yearning to be part of the whole, albeit a small part. When you are part of a group like a church or a political party, you feel the comfort of shared beliefs, even if the larger society does NOT share that belief with you.

That advantage can become a disadvantage rather quickly if your beliefs run at polar opposites from the larger whole. Society can take a little lateral belief system (multiple religions are a good example), but try to get away with a diametrically opposing viewpoint (like polygamy, for example) and see how quickly society fights back!

Now if your group finds other groups who believe as you do, and join into a large group, it is possible to use the influence of numbers to coerce other groups to believe as you do (everyone else believes-- why shouldn't I?). At some point, the number of people who believe in a fantasy will exceed the number of people who prefer to hold on to reality, and a bizarre thing happens: the majority (who promote the fantasy) begin to believe that it is not just a pleasant escape from the harsh real world, but instead a reality. A fact. The TRUTH.

At that point, if you try, you can rally enough people of power who believe as you do to try to change the laws so that your fantasy becomes reality. But even if the laws do change, the fantasy remains a fantasy. No amount of law passing will change that. All passing a law will do is make it illegal to believe a fact.

Now I know that burst balloons are depressing, but I'm going to have to burst yours. I don't care if EVERYONE believes the same thing: If it isn't a fact, it isn't a fact. It's that simple. If you cannot prove your belief, it is simply a balloon. A bubble. A parade with rain all over it.

For example, at some point in the past everyone believed the Earth was flat, like a coin.
But fact won out and now most people are certain the Earth is a sphere, like a basketball. Notice I said MOST. It's those last few holdouts which hold back human development.

As intelligent beings, we can't let the resistant few hold back human advancement. How do we convince these holdouts to hear and see the provable truth? The hard reality is that it is probably not possible. Convincing ONE obstinate person that what they believe is not true is staggeringly difficult-- imagine trying to sway millions... or billions!

No, we need to allow these people to live out their lives, letting their mistaken opinions die with them. That's one reason I have always felt that Perfect World Theory would take several generations to accomplish-- we would have to let the old ideas pass away into obscurity.

More important than that, though, is to keep the infection from spreading. Ideas pass from mind to mind (usually older mind to younger) and this can't happen. Our children have to be free of the poisons that turn them into damaged adults, and as we know, it is damaged adults who cause the damage to society. If this is to be a benevolent transition, what methods are available to keep the two apart?

We have been bombarded with opinions coming from all around us since birth, starting with our parents and siblings, our close friends, the words of our teachers in school and our religious leaders in sanctuary; and from the media in the form of books, movies and television. Our parents are the biggest opinion swayers of all, because they start out as the ONLY people we (as toddlers) will trust.

In their formative years, children are unquestioning followers, only learning to mistrust information if they are directly injured by it... and can make the connection. If daddy, for example, says 'stand up to a bully!' you may do it despite your reluctance, but if the outcome is less than positive (for example, if the bully beats you up when you do) you may think twice about following daddy's advice again.

A few methods come to mind, but they are either varyingly intrusive, or ask for great sacrifice. We can have mandatory parenting classes and deny childbirth to those with outdated ideals. We can request a moratorium on new babies or make infertile potential parents. We can offer high-quality free private education to any student who lives on campus... starting as toddlers. There could be full time parenting nurses who live with the families. We could pay people NOT to have children. Then there's segregation of the population into 2 factions-- Old Worlders and Perfect Worlders.

The one that stands the best chance of actually happening? Attrition and education.

With attrition, people having old-world ideals live out their lives and then are gone, along with their concepts. We have that now, with little effect. To that we add the all-important education of the youth, which lets the fantasy wane and ultimately disappear. Family pressure would have to be decreased. Currently, when we want to modify public opinion we engage in a lengthy media blitz. More than simply airing 'The More You Know' commercial spots on television, every area of life would have to reflect the concepts. Well-known TV characters would espouse the ideals of World Family. Print ads would praise the new behaviors. Authority figures would embrace Perfect World thinking.

To this day, there are large numbers of people who live in remote areas around the country and as a result, don't have a lot of interaction with others. These people are reminiscent of the Japanese soldiers found on remote islands following World War II. Accidently forgotten, they remain at their posts awaiting word from their superiors. Until that time they firmly maintain their beliefs, unwilling and unable to hear the truth, capturing or killing people who look like his former enemies, oblivious to the fact that they are now at peace with Japan. People like the remote dwellers and the forgotten soldiers are best left to themselves, and when they pass away, so will their viewpoints.

So yeah... we have a lot of work ahead of us.

Copyright 2009 Bruce Ian Friedman

The First Major Step: New Education

PerfectWorld story (The NOW)

INTRODUCTION

I've said before that the hardest part in creating a World Family is taking the first step. You can imagine what might happen if a fully formed Perfect World opens up next door to the Current World we live in now: The benevolent and kind people from the Perfect World greet all with warm smiles and arms spread in welcome... then watch in dismay as the selfish and greedy Current World people strip it bare in record time. We're just not in the right mindset to pass over free goodies if we don't need them, because of the inherent instability we feel over our mindlessly cruel economic system.

All right, so what is the first step? I say we start with the young. We achieve the mindset we're looking for in people by creating an environment which fosters that mindset. We've let our public schools fall into an atrocious mess, which only damages our kids. Eventually those kids grow up and become faulted adults, who raise kids in their own image. Enough time passes and we have our very own Idiocracy to look forward to.

I for one don't want to see that happening, so I envision a fantastic change for our school system. Most important is to evaluate each child to discover their hidden potential. I believe (and this is the only Perfect World "belief" I have... the other information I espouse is, I'm proud to say, fact) that each person is born with a series of natural talents. Each person's talents are different from the next person's, and together all human talents, when nurtured and allowed to manifest, provide society with everything it needs to thrive.

Rather than hear my boring lecture (which I will conclude at the end), let's follow the life of 16 year old Ricky once he enters the new PodSchool in his fetid urban neighborhood. It offered a way out, and up, for the kids who were being shuffled through school like factory workers in training, which is exactly what their fates might have been:

BOOK ONE

Chapter One- Kwik Chaynge

8/28/2005- Los Angles

Deer iPen Pal,

Well, its finelly here! The day my parints have been plannin for is coming up nekst Monday. Im not sure Im gonna like it. I mean, Iv been going to scool for 10 graydz allreddy-- how am I gonna get uzd to a Pod Sistem?

I dont even know how my parents were convinsed to take me out of public shool! They dont have a lot of munee, and work a lot! Some days I dont even see my dad, cuz hes gone before I wake up in the morning at his f1rst job and dosnt get home from his 3ird job until long after I go to asleep.

My mom thinks itl help me laern things I cante in public scool. I hope so, cuz I wanna be a ryter but my teasher thinks I m to dumm. He sayz I shud stik to baksetball.

I hear therz smaler clases in the new scool. Thats good cuz 65 kids in a room is to much. Pluss, we eech get a computer at the new scool. Mabe it wan't be to bad.

Yor Frend

Ricky

9/3/2005 Los Angles

Deer ipen pal,

Wow! Today was my first day at pod class! It was a new scool for me. Mom droped me off in front. You kno how thers alwayz a milyon kid in front of skool? Well ther wernt! Insted ther waz abowt a 100 teechrs instedd! Wen i got ther 1 pretty ladee met me and new my nam! She sed 'Cum with me Ricky- yore room is reddy'!

It was cool! It dint look lik a school. It lookd like a behive! Wen i went insyd it waz a very big emty bilding. There waz a huuge pinappl shape in the middl, 3 storeez hi! There wer dors all arownd it and starewayz goin to the upper dors.

The ladee led me to a dor and opend it. It was like a clozet! just a chare and a compyutr screen. She sed to sit and closd the dore. i was alone! I nevr saw anothr kid all day!

Wen i sat the screen lit up and the ladee was ther! She sed im Nicolet and im yore personel teechr. Then she sed i shud wach the screen. So i did.

It was so kool! First i wached lots of pikturs. Sum wer boring and sum wer kool. She told me to tuch the pikturs i likd so i did. My fayvrit waz the sekse naykd jimnest!

Then she startd testing me. Well, not the reel she. The she in the screen! She showd me a math kwestshun and i sed the anser. Wen i got it rite she showd me more seksee pikturs!

I got all the riting kwestshuns rong. She sed dont woree weeel fix it.

R thay doowing the sam thing in yore sitty Theo?

Yore frend

Ricky P

October 10th, 2005

Los Angeles

Hi Theo!

How is Melbourne? LA is fine. I've been at school for a month now, and it is really different from anything I have done before. For one thing, there are no distractions-- I am in my little pod until I finish my lessons for the day, which varies from one day to the next. The way I am instructed is very different also. Since I am alone, the work proceeds quickly-- no distractions from friends or idiots.

For most of the month, the computer and I have been working on bringing my writing up to speed. I was looking over some of our old letters and frankly I was shocked. I can't believe I was that ignorant about the rules of writing. I mean, couldn't I have at least used the spell-check feature?

It's true that this seems like a huge difference in a month. Well, this teaching method is really different! The computer tailors every lesson to my needs and presents the information in a creative way. My teacher, Nicolette, pops up onscreen every so often and gives encouragement.

In my last school there was a lot of noise and distraction. It was very crowded and I never felt like I could get any attention when I had a problem, so I just joined a clique and pretty much ignored the teacher in front-- who could hear him, anyway? This place is the exact opposite.

In the beginning the computer would reward me whenever I did well by catering to my base sexual needs-- it would show me pictures and videos of naked women! I didn't know school could teach that way, but apparently the new method involves getting personal with each student-- finding out what motivates them and making sure they get that inspiration.

It didn't last, though... after I started to realize that I really could learn, the actual success was inspiration enough. I was getting tired of playing with myself, anyway-- I was getting bedsores!

After I had absorbed enough of the rules of writing to become effective, we moved on to other areas. It took just five days to teach an entire semester of Geometry to me-- apparently I take to math like a duck to water.

The testing is one of the coolest parts. Since we have continual feedback, official tests are not necessary, so I don't need to waste my time with cramming. In the course of any given day, all of my previous learning is reinforced in a series of short real-life quizzes so I don't get rusty. Based on my responses, the computer figures out where my innate talents lie, and structures a series of lessons to best take advantage of them. Did you know I have the makings of a surgeon? I didn't know that before-- the teachers at my former school were preparing me to become a basketball player! Also, I seem to enjoy theoretical physics, singing and cooking!

I bet you're wondering how I learn to cook in a little pod. That's another great thing about this school... there are lots of specialty pods for that sort of thing. Nicolette came by one morning and guided me to a pod in a different hive-- yes, there are more than one on campus-- which was fully equipped as a kitchen, and I spent an entire day learning about the art of cooking. I learned how flavors change with cooking techniques; how unlikely flavors can complement each other with the addition of a third, unrelated flavor; how texture affects flavor and many other techniques for producing healthy, delicious and unique meals. My parents were blown away when I prepared a complete gourmet dinner for them!

Well, that's it for now, buddy. I'm making Baked Alaska and I need to use both hands.

Ciao!

Rick Payne

28 November 2005

Los Angeles CA USA

Earth

Solar System

Milky Way

Universe 001

Greetings, Theo!

Just getting out of the Astronopod, where I learned about dark matter. They surmise that without it we couldn't exist, but to touch it would be to face certain annihilation! The universe is a fascinating place!

A science emulant in my school (that's what we call the teachers here at podschool-- emulants-- because they mirror teachers, without actually being them!) has discovered that all planetary bodies emit an ULF throb which can be used to categorize them by type! Once we figured that out we were able to pick up ULF throbs all over the galaxy! And what's really fantastic is that we have found MILLIONS of worlds in the Milky Way which fit Earth's characteristics! That means potential intelligent alien life, or at the very least, planets for colonization! I heard from Nicolette that the representative from NASA almost had a stroke when they learned that a high school science emulant, er, TEACHER had figured it out!

Unfortunately, the closest one is 147 light years away and would take our fastest ships 1600 years to get there. Not really a weekend excursion, eh? I think there's a faster way to get there, but I need to bone up on the science before I can invent one.

But I created a great experiment last week! I surmised that we can have land travel at speeds far greater and safer than that of air travel, so I built a small representation at the podschool's remote testpod in the Mojave desert. I used 2000 feet of 6" plumbing pipe and built a maglev tube with four electromagnetic rails inside. Then I built a small car to float between the rails, and strapped testing equipment to it. Both ends of the tube were open, and when I set up the computer to send a pulse at 50 times the speed of sound (about 3,750 mph) and placed the car in there, it came out of the other side in six one-thousandths of a second! But I only knew that information thanks to the external testing equipment-- the onboard equipment and the car was a smoldering mass of burnt and melted glass, metal and plastic!

That sounds like a failure, but it wasn't-- I was expecting that. There's an upper limit to how fast anything can travel through air, which we know when we see meteorites burning up when entering the Earth's atmosphere. But Apollo spacecraft going to the moon travelled through the vacuum of space at 16,500 miles per hour (about 220 times the speed of sound) with no ill effects.

I tried the experiment again, only this time I sealed both ends and sucked all the air out of the tube. I had placed a significant amount of cotton wadding to slow the car after it had completed the maglev track, but I had underestimated the amount of energy the car would have at that speed, and it squashed flat like a soda can when it hit the back wall. Fortunately the onboard equipment had broadcast its data before squishing. The temperature around the car had never changed! Success! We had more to figure out, though, because there was more than enough G-force generated to kill a person, plus people and vacuum don't mix, but now we know those speeds are attainable!

Theo, it just occurred to me that only three months ago the most math I was doing was figuring out my share from lunch with my friends at McDonalds, and now I'm designing and testing cutting-edge transportation! I have to say I recommend this school... if I hadn't come here I would probably be destined to work in Mickey D's, taking low-tech transportation to get there!

Your friend,

Rick Payne

January First, Two Thousand Six

90035-43518296

Happy New Year, Theo!

And a happy one it is for me indeed. Things are moving fast, quite literally, and I haven't a long time to write. In my last letter I mentioned an experiment in land travel, which is now being called VaccuStreak, or VeeStreak. Well, the PodSchool administrator got very excited when she saw what I had been working on. Apparently there is an ulterior motive for the existence of this fantastic school and others like it across the country-- they are part of a collective called the Perfect World Theorists who want to move the human race into the next stage of development by removing the fear which is holding us back. To do that they will need large amounts of money and were hoping one of their students would create something with worldwide appeal, like I have.

Theo, I'm gonna be very rich! And I'm making the PodSchool people very rich also, so they can create other schools, and special services for adults who are unhappy and not working at their potential! We're putting the final touches on the plans for our first city-to-city VeeStreak! It will be a multi-car train that can shoot 300 people between two cities at 15,000 miles an hour!

The ground breaking ceremony is in a week, and I want you to be here. I've already cleared it with your school. Enclosed please find a round trip ticket on Quantas. I'll be at the gate when you arrive. Can't wait to see you!

Your Friend,

Rick Payne

...

Well, SOMEBODY likes his new school!

Rick can't be happier that he was afforded this opportunity, and I'm sure that anyone given the same chance will feel similarly. It makes me feel as though we're on the right track.

With Perfect World schools, new methods of teaching will determine their physical design. Since collectively, children will need to be taught a vast myriad of subjects, another method of teaching must be brought into play. Obviously we can't have a school with 600,000 teachers, so the next step is to have a computerized learning system that teaches specific subjects to a classroom of one.

While it is possible to teach many subjects simultaneously in one room by using individual computer work stations, it is far less distracting for each student to have his own room. Home schooling offers that, but lacks the comprehensive resources of a learning center.

New pod schools would have one 'pod', or room, for each student (albeit a small one), to maximize concentration and minimize interaction with distracting friends or frightening bullies. Of course classes which benefit from multiple input (dance, art, athletics, discussion and the like) would continue to be held in more traditional venues.

Lessons would be presented in a variety of ways, an example of which would be the children's education program Sesame Street, which uses stories and characters to reinforce learning. Added to that would be interactivity, where the characters speak directly to the student by name, asking questions and encouraging a response. Student input would then be saved as data and used to plan future lessons and reinforcement quizzes. The program should be designed to learn as the student does, to provide challenge and incentive, with the goal being to comfortably maximize each student's potential.

School has always been the first line of defense against ignorance, and the Perfect World has no place for the unenlightenable. We're going to push ourselves, kicking and fighting, to the next level of human emotional development, mostly because the idea of living in an Idiocracy, frankly, scares the crap out of me.

Copyright 2009 Bruce Ian Friedman

Communism Had No Chance

Essay

All right-- big subject! I wanted to study a little bit, so I could sound like I know about Communism (which I don't... not even a little). I grew up in the cold war, after all-- I should know something about Communism, right? As it happens, no. So I Wiki'd Karl Marx and was surprised to learn that his original intention for Communism bore many similarities to Perfect World Theory.

Ooh! Chilling!

Communism has been the bogeyman of Capitalism for as long as I could remember. We would 'duck and cover' in school when I was young from the bombs that were coming from the USSR. We'd see all sorts of sad pictures about conditions in the Soviet Union and hear all types of frightening stories about the treatment of citizens there. Our secret organization, the CIA, was out there protecting us from the world, while their secret organization, the KGB, seemed to be dragging off Soviet citizens in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again. The idea of Communism taking over sent a chill right down to our very core.

At least that's the propaganda we were told. Rather than sort out all the fact from flack, which is not the purpose of this blog, I'm going to limit my Communism references. Instead, I'll speak on a subject much closer to my heart, and you can sort out if it is 'like' Communism or different from it. Gee, I'm practically a journalist already!

Wikipedia discusses "Pure Communism" in the Marxian sense, and states that it refers to a "classless, stateless and oppression-free society where decisions on what to produce and what policies to pursue are made democratically, allowing every member of society to participate in the decision-making process in both the political and economic spheres of life."

Yup. Sounds like Perfect World Theory. Might as well pull out the red dye and change our flags.

Wait. Not just yet. As I've mentioned, pure Communism and the reality of Communism were two vastly different dogs. Why did this happen? What would cause such a good idea on paper to descend into the neo-Capitalism that Communism became? Hey, hey hey! Put away your guns! Don't shoot me just yet. I'm talking about changing Capitalism here... obviously I don't think it's that good a system either. And before you remind me that Capitalism is the only system where even the poor can succeed if they work hard enough, just remember that 'success' as defined from a Capitalist viewpoint usually means becoming the kind of person you didn't want to become-- the 'screw you, it's mine' type. Not a good personality type to inhabit the World Family of the future.

Wikipedia surmises why Communism failed. "Theories... pointed to such elements as:

• the pressure of external capitalist states
  
• the relative backwardness of the societies in which the revolutions occurred, and
  
• the emergence of a bureaucratic stratum or class that arrested or diverted the transition press in its own interests. (Scott and Marshall, 2005)

Trotsky referred to the Soviet system as "degenerated" or "deformed workers' states", arguing that the Soviet system fell far short of Marx's communist ideal. He claimed the working class was politically dispossessed."

Politically dispossessed? You mean like America was when they voted for Gore but got Bush?

There are other similarities between the two systems, especially since 9/11. The reigning administration took little time to all but destroy the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. Just call somebody a 'person of interest' and they can be 'held' (that means jailed) indefinitely, no access to Miranda rights or legal counsel. What do you need to do to be called a person of interest? Not much. Writing this blog is probably enough, even though I am firmly opposed to violence or overthrow. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but that huge and illegal change in policy sounds like Soviet Communism to me.

Well, I have a simpler and more direct explanation for the failure of Communism-- it wasn't Communism. What failed in the USSR was Socialism With A Draconian Ruling Class. I don't even know why it was called Communism-- even the country's own name denied it: USSR-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Other, less wisecracky reasons for the failure of Communism include:

VALUES

To create a country-wide commune (communism... get it?), you need a change in the population's overall value system. If you want to move from a country with wealth and possessions to one which doesn't measure success in terms of money so nobody really owns anything, people need to be conditioned. It can't happen overnight, nor even in one of Stalin's ambitious Five-Year-Plans.

A change of that magnitude, one which implies worldwide (or countrywide to start) trust, takes generations to happen peacefully.

SACRIFICE

The people of the newly-formed Soviet Union were required to make many sacrifices- living conditions, working conditions, hunger, individual freedom, privacy-- this is a lot to ask of a people who aren't used to that. Don't misinterpret-- many people will put up with a lot in order to achieve a more perfect union, but if the suffering lasts for generations then the public will wonder if they made the right decision.

EQUALITY

Marx's own treatise on Communism requires that each member hold a position in society no more or less than that of his neighbor. We know from history that was an ideal to which the Soviet Union was unable to live up. There was a political ruling class which received the best of everything, even though the rest of the people were cold and hungry. Jealousy kills marriages-- why wouldn't it kill political systems as well?

COMPUTERS

Yes, computers. For the instant and nationwide organization of goods and services, the computer is an absolute requirement. Computers is why Perfect World Theory has a chance at success. The relative speed at which individual needs are addressed determines the satisfaction of its populace, and a satisfied people makes for a successful political system.

Instead of billions of websites hosting each human's particular interest (which would still exist, of course, for those who wanted to contribute in that manner), envision a main organizational site which seamlessly integrates the country into an efficient, waste-free machine, with satisfaction as its primary measure of success. That is the secret to an effective Perfect World. Let's walk through a typical day in the future World Family:

A person wakes up, ready for the day, and starts his computer. A screen pops up with all of his statistics-- how much work he has completed this year, how much additional work is required for that elegant vacation he has organized and dozens of other tidbits like family, education, friendships, interests, intimate relationships and suggested goals to round himself out. Let's say his main job abilities are in the fields of construction, music, biology and forest service. He is guaranteed a comfortable home and sensible, healthy food, but should he desire a hillside home or a plate of caviar, he'll need to put in more than the minimum requirements at his occupation.

He checks out his work potential and sees-- there's a building going up a half mile away; a group is working on creating a mini robot to be injected into the human body that repairs arterial blockage; a project to create a romantic comedy is in need of a few sweet melodies; and many other potential jobs are all listed. He chooses the building and is given the details of that day's work experience. Taking a shower, he notices that the drain is sluggish, so returns to the computer and requests a plumber, a request which is organized into the slots of 50 plumbers within 5 miles. He's interested in exercising after work and is shown a list of his past enjoyments, as well as upcoming events in his skill level he can join. He picks the evening meal and the computer submits a list of ingredients to a local food center. He is looking for a little companionship this evening so enters his file into the personal section.

Going outside to begin his work day, a self-driving transport is waiting, complete with all necessary tools and job specifications, which he mulls over while the car speeds him to the job site-- unassisted, no red lights, stop signs or traffic jams because the city's travel requirements have already been organized and broadcast to all road vehicles. He notices a crack in the road along the way, and mentions it in the transport's computer node. He works for several hours along with the hundreds of others all working together on the building, which can be completed in a matter of days instead of the months or years it takes today; and then he is done with work for a couple of days, or if he wants to he can see the job through to its end.

On the way home he notices with some satisfaction the road crack has been repaired, notes that his refrigerator has the requested ingredients for tonight's dinner stocked and organized, delivered by someone whose occupational specialties include food service. His drain has been fixed and there is an extensive list of people who would like to accompany him this evening. He chooses one and they show up in time for a lovely dinner he has prepared. Afterwards they engage in a little gratifying human contact.

At some point in his future he would like to try hot air ballooning, to visit Paris, to play in an orchestra, to raise a family, to work as a fireman and to take a cruise to Alaska. He lists them and the computer makes suggestions about when and how he can accomplish each goal.

Later that day he is presented with a daily involvement page which has all the projects, large and small, that humans as a group want to accomplish. He is given the facts of each one and asked to vote on them. In this way the majority gets what they want, whether it be a new highway or a new line of work boots.

In the World Family we have eliminated many jobs; so many in fact, that with the remaining jobs spread out over all potential workers, employment would average just 10 hours a week. Because of self-driving vehicles, many road controls don't need to exist-- lights or signage, to name a couple. Also, traffic cops and toll collectors would find there was no need. Since everyone votes on any project which concerns them, representatives (think: politicians) and their support staff are no longer needed. Money is not used, so imagine the jobs which aren't needed-- bankers, cashiers, armored car guards, meter maids, accountants and bookkeepers are just a few. Advertising is nothing more than notification of locations to acquire goods or services and would be a picture and a line of type on a computer screen. Billboards disappear, as does junk mail and spam, along with all of the jobs that come with them. No military, and a vastly smaller munitions production (mostly for industrial and construction use). And no salesmen.

No salesmen! There's the reason to adopt Perfect World right there!

But all the aforementioned positives did not and could not happen in the Soviet Union. Plus, watching the rest of the world grow fat and happy while they remained pale and wan and drowning in cheap potato vodka was enough to sour the people on their political system. When Reagan challenged Gorbachev to 'Tear Down That Wall' (the one in Berlin, not China) he did, and also began the New Openness (Glasnost) and Restructuring (Perestroika) which ultimately ended Communism in the Soviet Union by 1990. Now they are using some form of Capitalism, complete with large-scale white-collar crime.

Of the few nations left which still espouse Communism-- China, North Korea, Laos, Vietnam and Cuba-- only China has any power, and they are a money-driven country with a central leadership that makes all decisions for the people-- not exactly the job description for 'Communism'.

But achieving the smartest & best political system for our modern planet is a process which takes a very long time and involves the adaptation and abandonment of many political 'isms', some using violent and destructive means. Each one is a little better than the last, and while Communism is better than Feudalism and Capitalism is better than Communism, We have not reached the penultimate politic yet.

That will happen when we adopt the World Family approach to civilization.

200 years and counting...

Copyright 2009 Bruce Ian Friedman

Us Versus Them

Essay

I find explaining the difference between conservative and liberal ideals with this thought to be succinct and accurate:

Conservatives want to keep us safe from THEM; Liberals want to keep us safe.

Apparently liberals don't see a 'them'. Are they right? Are we 'themless'? I say we try to figure it out. Conservatives want to hire more police, keep guns in their homes and put lawbreakers behind bars to protect their valuables and their loved ones from attack.

Liberals want to prevent the creation of lawbreakers in the first place, which is accomplished by using social programs to end impoverishment and other preventable sorrows. Liberals want fewer guns, cops and jails. Conservatives don't want to give their tax money away to the lazy. The two theories are polar opposites. How can we resolve this?

Well, we have done both in the last few decades-- increased social programs and decreased them; increased security and decreased it. Why don't we let the results speak for themselves? Boy oh boy would I love to, but it's very tough. The problem is spin.

Spin is not a recent addition to the passing along of information, but it's use has increased dramatically to the point that many people don't know what to believe. In most simple terms, it is a way of using the same information say two opposite things. As an example:

A lawyer asks the defendant if he/she is has ever lied.

If he says no, because by and large he is an honest person, the lawyer will challenge him, "You never lied? Ever? Not once?" making him seem like a liar.

If he says yes because we all know that everybody lies, the lawyer will label him a liar 'by his own admission' and not allow him to explain himself. Regardless of the answer, the person will be made out to be a liar.

Misinformation is another way to cloud the truth from the public, so they don't know which way to vote come election time. A statement is crafted to hide certain facts from the light, as in:

Abstinence education in teens prevents unwanted pregnancy.

One side agrees with the thought, and it seems immensely logical to agree: Don't have sex and you won't become pregnant. Simple, really.

The other side disagrees vehemently, because an important fact was left out of the statement: Teens are raging bowls of hormonal reactions, and the only way to prevent some of them from having sex is with a sledge hammer or a chastity belt. As it turns out, raging hormones wins over cool reason, in teens, every day of the week. When abstinence education became law (to the exclusion of safe sex education), the number of teen pregnancies went up dramatically. The percentage of teens who followed through with the promise of abstinence until marriage was low, and even lower once other non-vaginal sexual acts were factored in.

Okay, I don't want to side-track. The facts are simple. People who are starving or sick need help. If they don't get help, they will either help themselves or die. Survival instinct prevents the death when it can, so people, by nature, will strive to survive, even if it comes to theft.

That is a fact.

When a conservative wants a gun to kill that thief, he is in actuality depriving the family of a breadwinner. The family suffers, and children growing up in poverty and suffering do not make warm and fuzzy adults, which propels the problem into the future.

When a liberal wants everyone to share a little bit of their taxes so that a program can be established to help the least of us survive (and even flourish), it helps create one more asset to society as a whole.

I assert there is no them. When we hear the statement 'It's us or them!' we might agree, as each of us hears the statement in our own ears, and we're each thinking of all the vast unknowable others out there, some of whom must have malice in their hearts.

But then, aren't each of us hearing this? You may envision a whole buncha 'theys' out there, ready to beat down your gate, but each other person is also envisioning 'theys', and (this is important) You are one of them.

"Wait," you say, "I'm one of the good guys... I can't be one of them!"

You're right. You're not one of 'them'. Why? Because there is no them. There are only US. Some of us are doing well, and are happy. Sadly, some of us are also hurting.

I like to use the example of World Family. You love your own family-- we all do (well, mostly... but that's a topic for a whole 'nother blog). We wouldn't let a member of our family starve-- we would feed them. but, and this is a big one, we wouldn't feed our beloved family member forever, fuggedaboudit! We would see to it that they got the training necessary to be able to feed themselves... and their own family when the time comes, too. We would be responsible for helping them become self-sufficient. Perfectly logical.

I agree that it would be behaving way above and beyond duty for you to bring a hurting stranger into your home and do the same thing for them, even though that's exactly what some people do. Those people are called good Samaritans, or perhaps more accurately, angels. Thankfully, this is something you don't have to do, thanks to a program our benevolent society has created. All you have to do is contribute a small amount of your yearly salary and all the hurting strangers everywhere can become self-sufficient.

But you don't have to waste your tax dollars that way. You can be a conservative and try to end the program so you don't have to support the 'freeloaders'. Then you can buy a gun and pick them off when they come to your door for handouts. If you don't kill them with the first shot, for goodness sake don't shoot again-- you could be charged with 2nd degree murder! Nah, just call one of the cops your tax dollars pay for and send the guy to court, which your tax dollars pay for, to stand in front of a judge (whom your tax dollars pay for) who will send the guy to jail, a tax dollar project, to live out his life (which at last count, was something like 25,000 tax dollars a year, per prisoner).

This blog always references back to Perfect World Theory, and that's what it's gonna do now.

IF we made sure that every adult was self sufficient, and that every child received an adequate education to become self-sufficient, then there would be no more deadbeats. Ever.

IF, instead of punishing people for being poor, we were to test them, find their strengths and train to those abilities, that person would become suitably employed in an area that they like. Imagine that--people enjoying their jobs-- what would that accomplish?

IF we got it right with education and employment testing, and everyone were suitably and contentedly employed, we wouldn't have to shell out money for social programs like Welfare and Food Stamps anymore. We could also cut down on the tax money spent to employ cops, judges and prison guards, and the large tax expenditures of courthouses and prisons.

What is the first step to achieving this noble Perfect World goal? Swallow your fear! Be brave! Stop watching all those scary cop shows, each which hosts an ever more terrifying bad guy each week in order to garner ratings to stay on the air. Convince yourself that virtually everybody is good, and that the few people who don't seem good are actually just hurting.

Then encourage laws which reduce or eliminate jail time for nonviolent offenses. Encourage work training programs that actually measure a person's abilities and suggest specific employment routes. For the people in jail, have them work at real jobs for the outside world-- building products in prison-controlled factories, bookkeeping, even customer relations and phone help lines. Allow them to support themselves and their families on the outside with the real wages they make.

Work on our school systems. We have stripped away almost everything from the public schools that is not tested for-- music and art, sports, shop and home economics. All that's left is math and science, and reading. Public schools once produced many keen minds that contributed greatly to our social fabric, but now the minds are frustrated and aren't allowed to flourish-- how is that good for our country?

After school programs. Kids are not only our future, they are also our most salvageable terrorists. Kids left alone with other kids and no adult supervision leads to drugs, alcohol, violence and gangs. Didn't we all read Lord Of The Flies? Keep the kids positively occupied. Heck, have after school homework, then sports, then arts, then games, then bed! Kids need guidance-- be sure they have some kind of positive guidance at all times.

Remember that some things spread through the population like wildfire: the common cold, yawning, lighting a cigarette... and fear. Don't let it happen. Spread the good.

And remember... we is us, not them.

Copyright 2009 Bruce Ian Friedman