Letter from the future
May 13th 2010 01:41
Dear Jose,
I bet you’re wondering how this got to you. In your time, they were only talking about things like this in science fiction novels and esoteric physics journals nobody actually read. There’s a lot of things about it I don’t understand either, but then it’s not really my job to. Anyway, I’m sure that’s not what you’re waiting to hear about.
I’ve heard that people in your time were afraid. There were economic problems, there was terrorism, there was the global warming question, the crumbling infrastructure, the teen pregnancies, Facebook and Twitter . . . I guess the fact you’re reading this means all of that didn’t destroy the world. Of course, things are different now – you’re living in a time of great change, as I’m sure you knew. But you’ll be glad to know that things will change, and even if I’m biased, I’d say they changed for the better.
People aren’t afraid any more in my time, Jose. The main reason, I think, is that we’ve learned to trust again. That’s the foundation of society – even something silly like getting Rickrolled, as I think you used to call it, is an abuse of that. Most importantly, we’ve learned to trust where trust is due.
See, Jose, people seem to have an instinct for divergence. That includes writers and bloggers and moviemakers. Everyone sees the world in a whole different way, and that makes things difficult. How do you know whose point of view is correct? How do you know who’s right and who’s wrong? Who do you trust? Individuals are agents of chaos, pushing and pulling everyone in every direction. How is someone supposed to decide what they should do?
This is what we realized in the end. Why make radical change when the institutions to protect people and do things right already existed? All we had to do . . . was trust them. People lie. Institutions don’t. Why would they? After all, the government’s job is to take care of everyone. Decide what’s right for everyone. And our job is to let the government do its job. That means we don’t have to ask why they think certain technology is bad for us, or what they’re spending money on, or why the National Security Council sentences someone to death. Thinking about questions like that just worries people, anyway.
I must wrap up this letter, as there’s a compulsory rally in Imperial Square in half an hour to show our support for the conscripts. The war’s going great – after all, the government says so.
Yours truly,
[signature indistinct]
"Here in the interference, the Machine has partially conquered the future but it never quite succeeds."
-- Grant Morrison, The Invisible Kingdom
I bet you’re wondering how this got to you. In your time, they were only talking about things like this in science fiction novels and esoteric physics journals nobody actually read. There’s a lot of things about it I don’t understand either, but then it’s not really my job to. Anyway, I’m sure that’s not what you’re waiting to hear about.
I’ve heard that people in your time were afraid. There were economic problems, there was terrorism, there was the global warming question, the crumbling infrastructure, the teen pregnancies, Facebook and Twitter . . . I guess the fact you’re reading this means all of that didn’t destroy the world. Of course, things are different now – you’re living in a time of great change, as I’m sure you knew. But you’ll be glad to know that things will change, and even if I’m biased, I’d say they changed for the better.
People aren’t afraid any more in my time, Jose. The main reason, I think, is that we’ve learned to trust again. That’s the foundation of society – even something silly like getting Rickrolled, as I think you used to call it, is an abuse of that. Most importantly, we’ve learned to trust where trust is due.
See, Jose, people seem to have an instinct for divergence. That includes writers and bloggers and moviemakers. Everyone sees the world in a whole different way, and that makes things difficult. How do you know whose point of view is correct? How do you know who’s right and who’s wrong? Who do you trust? Individuals are agents of chaos, pushing and pulling everyone in every direction. How is someone supposed to decide what they should do?
This is what we realized in the end. Why make radical change when the institutions to protect people and do things right already existed? All we had to do . . . was trust them. People lie. Institutions don’t. Why would they? After all, the government’s job is to take care of everyone. Decide what’s right for everyone. And our job is to let the government do its job. That means we don’t have to ask why they think certain technology is bad for us, or what they’re spending money on, or why the National Security Council sentences someone to death. Thinking about questions like that just worries people, anyway.
I must wrap up this letter, as there’s a compulsory rally in Imperial Square in half an hour to show our support for the conscripts. The war’s going great – after all, the government says so.
Yours truly,
[signature indistinct]
"Here in the interference, the Machine has partially conquered the future but it never quite succeeds."
-- Grant Morrison, The Invisible Kingdom
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