A Letter from the Future—Part 2

In the worst cases, cats were taken from and testified against their former keepers as they were called. The term “owner” had been outlawed at the start. The cats preferred the term, “sharer,” though keeper was the most favored human description. Cat therapy was administered by the state and included two weeks rehab before reassignment to another family. Since being a cat sharer was mandated, every one of those displaced by the unconsciousness of the keeper found a home.

Later versions of the implant would do away with even this problem. Monitoring behavior, the central computer would detect undesired emotion. An electronic signature would then be activated releasing a chemical cocktail that would chill out anyone with upset.  You’ll recall how this same technology was used to help dissenters accept the Equalization Program in the years to follow.

The government then started benignly improving our neural processes using the technology originally designed for cats.  This way, we have come to accept, we are all equal. Thoughts such as some of us are more equal than others” are stopped. Sensors anticipate our forming such politically inappropriate positions and bring the mind back into equilibrium. Finally, we all are equal.

Nationalization of the healthcare industry was pretty easy after the implants were installed in the cat sharers. After that came nationalization of the other industries, assuring a better future for all through chemistry and computers.

Heart disease was found to be a nutritional disorder that begins in the womb. That would have threatened the pharmaceutical industry years ago. Now it was just another thing to offset chemically. Besides the government paid for all such things under the Health and Human Chemicals laws that took over the vast profit making ventures that support the dole and everybody is pretty happy—thanks to the chemical augmentation.

When asked their opinion about the developments since Science discovered cats were sentient, according to Cherokee, her cats said it was long overdue. The cats told her that they’d tried to tell us how bright they were, but we were lacking in intelligence so why bother. Cats, they told her, are good at getting over themselves. They knew how to meditate and simply be in bliss, blessing everyone around them.

According to her cats—funny isn’t it how the ownership idea sticks even after the cats were liberated—their species was here to teach an important lesson to humanity. If you couldn’t get along and make peace with cute, affectionate furry creatures that had only a wish to meditate and play, how did you expect to make peace with other occupants of the planet? The cats also wanted us to know that until we could get along—at least with cats as a first step, humanity would in no way be ready for membership in the galactic community.

Laws were passed assuring their rights and satisfying the ambitions and psychological quirks of the social well-doers, cats were found to be telepathic. They became a step up from dogs. Their rightful place too, according to the certain among us. They promised to tell us more if we were able to train ourselves such that we went beyond our not hearing them. They knew it was not their problem.

Looking back on Sherry’s hard work and seeing dedication to her Cat’s About Liberty Legation (CALL) led us to the place where even the dogs want a better deal. Cats told us about them. Besides, dogs have already proved their ability to get along with us—forgiving and loving beings that they are.

Cats have always had a soft spot for lesser creatures. That’s why they sometimes play with their food before consuming it. As for the dogs, maybe we can negotiate so that they don’t go to the bathroom in our streets anymore and find some other way to express themselves rather than peeing all over everything. 

We are making progress with Dolphins and some parrots have begun to give us their opinions as well. Dolphin speak is still complicated for us even as technology promises to give a voice to all species before too long.  Personally, I don’t know where the Unity thing is going to stop. Science has got us talking with animals, monitoring our treatment of them, and the environment be dammed. We’re so busy being polite to anybody or thing with half a thought, we are being overrun.

On that note, the voluntary neutering program for all species got its boost with the implants that came with the Cat Keeper Administration (CAKA). The wonders of technology have freed everyone from the threat of over population. It wasn’t as easy as it could have been however. The Chinese were asked to give up their plan for global dominance and India had to be convinced that more people was not a better idea. And there was the whole problem we had convincing the people of those countries that cats were for companionship and not an ingredient in a meal.

Where will we be when the reptiles catch on? I can see it now as they slither as one to assert themselves and some fool will imagine he or she is the one “chosen to speak” for the group mind, deva or whatever consciousness they come from. Since everything is one consciousness is it only a matter of time before we pay attention to everything?

Next will be the insect kingdom. What are the rights of the hive or colony? Do they supersede the right of the individual insect? The future is nothing if not uncertain in this regard. As some of us know, rocks also vibrate and are alive in the sense they move and experience though at a much slow rate. Will we make allowance for their natural handicap in vibrating so slowly their speech is unintelligible? Who will speak for them? If they have consciousness, do they feel pain? How can we know if we can’t measure their response system?

Cats now want to lobby for reproduction rights. We solved the problem of there being too many. Next, they say they want self-determination. Their position is that the world is better off with more cats and people making choices for them is “speciesist.”

They got the ear of enough people, referred to as Kitty Lovers (usually said a one word and used as a term of denigration and put-down. On their side, they say that if God had made them that way, their faith told them they were supposed to use their powers to mate often and easily. It was part of their oral tradition passed down from centuries ago, that they were instructed by their God to go forth and multiply. For them, it was a matter of discrimination and Fourth Amendment Rights. They didn’t know how they knew, but that they did and they had rights.

IF, they argued we are to be one with everything, there are some changes that   need to be made. There is much talk today about our relationship with the apes. Maybe not as intelligent as cats (who is?) don’t they deserve a place? Sure they are messy and need to learn how to dress and clean themselves, but aren’t they entitled to government protection as much as the cats?

They badly need education too—no ape left behind. Though cats have great knowing as everyone sees and recognizes, apes have a long way to go. Consider a 90 pound chimpanzee (chimp is now a derogatory term and will probably become the “c” word) is 5 times stronger than a 150 pound man and bites. We had best step gently into this Unity, though I imagine the implants will take care of most of my concerns.  Either the apes will be controlled like the rest of us, or I won’t be able to think the thought that would worry me about it.

My simple concerns about things like having the apes move in with us are small when compared to some of the other concerns that my friends have. I am pretty well off also. With my 3 cats, I get a healthy dole and enough to have my two vacations each year to visit family members. The Car in Every Garage Act that the Democrats passed into law before it all became one-party politics makes sure my transportation needs are taken care of.

That was their last piece of legislation before the one-party system was adopted. The democrats, as they were called, had all those low-income and non-resident voters support so having the dole and all of the other socialization was inevitable. Majority rule become minority suffering as it has always been. However it was good move financially. The many millions of dollars that used to be for politics went to the general fund as saving instead of keeping up the illusion of two or more parties. “Get along or get out” became the slogan of the day.

The old cars either go to Mexico and other Third World Countries or are kept as second and third cars. I read that in Peru they are two years behind in building roads for the vehicles that the USA shipped there as part of the Share Wheels Initiative that gives old cars to the needy. The last earthquake in Peru has also delayed building of the superhighway up to Machu Piccu by more than five years.

Here at home in the cities, the problem is they’re narrowing the sidewalks since almost no one walks and they’re widening the streets. I suppose the new construction keeps the workers occupied and that’s a good thing. I just wonder about the disruption as traffic signals are relocated, power poles are taken down and there’s all that drilling in the streets as new sewer lines are laid. At least there should be something done about the noise and dust.

My sister is all busy with the Sex Without Guilt Program even though the Church has strongly condemned it. One of the side benefits of the implant technology besides preventing pregnancy is that men can have their equipment triggered like the blue pill used to do. There has been heated disagreement, however, about when to trigger it and for how long. The Jews want to pick their own times; the Baptists hate the whole idea and those who work nights want it on their days off.

Polls show that by a slight majority most biblically oriented men think 5 minutes is enough. Women are equally divided between 30 and 60 minutes of activation. The gay community members want an hour and a half and to have it occur on the same day to celebrate their unified stand. The rotating week is the most favored plan according to the polls.

Under that program, the man’s equipment would be activated on a given day of the week for a limited period. Couples would schedule themselves and while that could remove some of the spontaneity from the activity, it is better than random erections or so many each week it would interfere with television advertiser audiences and revenues. The publishing industry voiced concern as well that controls would be called for or that people wouldn’t want to read and he country could fall into decline.

Teens still aren’t recognized as people, and having no rights their opinions were not sought. Good progress has been made, however, with modulating their hormonal output through the newly named “driver implant” installed at age 12 when a driver’s license is issued. It is believed that hundreds of thousands of lives will be saved on the highways. Under-age drinking isn’t a problem any more thanks to the legal implant high available on weekends and holidays. 

Their right to participate in the Sex without Guilt Program doesn’t start until age 21. Until then, it is said to be kept “under wraps.” While you might think they’d mind being excluded, they don’t--which is another side benefit of the implant technology. As they enter their teen years, they are enrolled in the WINS program (Workers In National Service) and focus on urban renewal, environmental clean-up and parks maintenance. They get an allowance and you see scores of them happily working, wearing their headsets and not worrying about sex. I know it must be a relief to them as it is to the rest of us to see how we’ve taken care of unwanted teen pregnancy and family disagreement. They’ll be able to sign up for sex later.

For those adults who enroll, there’s a 969 number to call if your male equipment is activated beyond the allotted time span and presents itself as a medical problem. Partners are not neglected either. Wives register with DICS (Department of Internal Control Satisfaction) so their implant improves their receptivity at the moment when their partner’s program is scheduled. Night workers have to apply for special status and the Naturalist Party has lobbied against the whole scheduling idea claiming that a male’s testosterone is at its highest level in the morning hours and artificial stimulation is against God’s Laws.

Considering what could be done with the implants controlling the minds of the people, I am grateful to have even a small voice to present. In other countries, no so lucky, infants are implanted just after delivery as in our society, but the control here is much friendlier, enhancing childhood development and creating a better society. In those other places the children are turned into low-cost workers making sneakers and other products for export. Here, at least, the children are prepared for careers in service. At age 6 for girls and 7 for boys there are the Junior Citizen Leagues and mandatory summer camps to socialize youngsters and prepare them for entrance into the WINS program and then Civil Service. Government is not just big business in the US; it’s the only business.

Yet even in our new cradle to grave caretaking (CTGC) individual capabilities are acknowledged. Achievements are recognized and one can rise through the ranks, like in the 20^th century, to reach the highest civilian career status of a worker, GS-15.

Government Service is not Government Slavery despite what some claim, but an ideal that will lead us all to an improved future. War has almost ended thanks to technology and our excess resources go to making a happier and healthier whole with few highs or lows.

Health care is easier too. My implant scans my body for the needed vitamins, minerals and drugs and sends the energy signature directly to my brain and on to my organs. The other part of life that that became so much easier was when they closed the prisons for non-violent offenders. They used the buildings not only for rescuing the homeless cats since there weren’t that many; they also converted them into senior citizen centers.

People kept living longer, were mellowed out with the implant technology treatments and needed space just to sit and be. The dole takes care of economic needs and little personal space is needed for the aging. Initially there was an insistence on exercise facilities and recreation. Those concerns pretty much went away when seniors found they could apply for brain stimulation of their pleasure centers instead.

Watching sunsets pretty much disappeared which was OK since air quality had deteriorated so badly. It’s gotten much better since energy is all solar and free of pollution. Entertainment comes from wearing a pair of glasses that place you in a virtual reality in Scotland, on the moon or anywhere, so senior travel has pretty much disappeared as well.

Individual accomplishment is not overlooked and innovation is still encouraged. Although it is contrary to human nature in this second half of the 21^st century that one person have appreciably more than another, rewards do exist. Inventors, artists and writers all qualify for ESP (Electro Stimulation of Pleasure) dispensed monthly in recognition of achievement. Stimulation is intermittent to incentivize creativity and programmed so as not to interfere with the program run by the DICS.

The other thing that has been good to see is the disappearance of the banking system. All money belongs to the government anyway, so paychecks no longer exist. What we get are “refunds” that are above and beyond the dole based on cats in the home. These are efficiency bonuses paid to every citizen. The credits are automatic and convenient and your PEP (Personal Entrainment Program) keeps track of everything for you. Truly everyone is equal and those who are more equal get their due and that’s OK with the rest of us. Oh Brave New World, what new wonders will we next behold?

END