Start with the first line of a
famous book.
Guess which I chose!
IT WAS THE BEST OF
TIMES, IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES, it was the age of artificial
intelligence, it was the age of human ignorance, it was the epoch of
universal knowledge, it was the epoch of fake news, it was the season
of Enlightenment, it was the season of Blind Prejudice, it was the
spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had a brilliant
future before us, we had death and destruction before us, we were all
going to die through man-made catastrophe, we were all going to live
with unlimited growth – in short, the period was so far like the
Dickensian period, that some of the noisiest Politicians insisted,
for good or evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
There were a queen
with no power and a prime minister with no clue at the head of the
United Kingdom, while he of the strange yellow hair stood ready to
grab the reins of power; there was a president with too much power
and no clue and strange yellow hair at the head of the United States
of America. In both countries it was clearer than crystal to the
Ministers of State that nothing was settled and everything was about
to change.
It was the year of
Our Common Era two thousand and nineteen. Existential revelations
were experienced in the United Kingdom at that favoured period. Mrs
May had recently failed to achieve a separation from Europe that many
predicted would lead to a new Nirvana, and which others believed
would lead to the the destruction of the Kingdom. One half of the
People prophesied that separation was absolutely necessary to achieve
prosperity; whilst the other half prophesied that it would absolutely
destroy the common wealth of the Nation. And in one thing they were
united: Short-Term Growth was the goal. Messages had lately come
from the Politicians of Scotland that separation from Europe was such
anathema that they would press for separation from the Union.
Meanwhile, contrary-wise the Politicians of Northern Ireland insisted
that separation from the Union was such anathema that they would
press for separation from Europe, and especially from southern
Ireland.
The American Nation,
on the whole, was in similar ferment to her sister of the shield and
trident. It rolled with exceeding smoothness down hill while
continuing to worship money and spending it. Under the guidance of
twenty-four hour news channels, she entertained herself with such
wonders as mass shootings every twenty-four hours, mass
incarcerations of its minority populations, and an economy dependant
on the cruel exploitation of immigrants. One half of the People
prophesied that everything would be solved by guns and hatred of
minorities; whilst the other half prophesied that everything would be
solved by inclusion, equality and love. And they too were united in
one thing: Short-Term Growth was the goal. Meanwhile the
yellow-haired one pursued a policy of erosion of the principles of
fairness, justice and truth that the founding fathers and the statue
of liberty stood for, and the Politicians encouraged him, all in the
name of Short-Term Growth.
So the United Kingdom
and the United States were Disunited as never before. But somewhere,
even amongst the distracted populations of those two great Nations,
and in the bedrooms of Sweden and Germany, Japan and India, it is
likely enough that even as the Politicians and the news networks
reached their maximum capacity for distraction and dissembling, new
ideas were taking root. Amongst the young, Growth was a form of
Cancer on the body of the good Earth. They saw the despoilation and
the destruction for what it was; they saw the need to look ahead
beyond the short term, beyond the violence and the destruction, to
forge a new world, one in which all Populations, not just the people
of this or that Nation, this or that Alliance, could live in harmony
with Nature, sustainably.
All these things, and
a thousand like them, came to pass in and close upon dear old year
two thousand and nineteen. While the young in their bedrooms built a
new consensus unheeded, the new Prime Minister and the President both
with their strange yellow hair continued to exercise their power with
a high hand, with no clue beyond the Short-Term thoughts of their
next elections. Thus did the year two thousand and nineteen conduct
their greatnesses, as they led the myriads of small creatures of
their Nations along the destructive road that lay before them. But
soon they would reach the cross-roads of a new era and the young
people would be waiting there for them.
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