From the Journals of Jonathan Hemingway (Part Two)
December the 18th, 2071
It's been some time since I've written in this journal, almost two months. Remember, some recollections come easy, while others don't. But I think I'm ready to continue my story.
Now the Dems, you remember them; they decided that if we were to build a new and better society, we would need to build it based on their dogma. And that meant an interpretation of the Constitution that the founding fathers would have found incomprehensible.
First thing they did was to try and form an alliance with the Govs to pass some silly edict that essentially mandated that every school age child learn a curriculum that dictated learning advanced mathematics and some mutated abomination of the social sciences. This would assume that by definition, each one of us was either socially, physiologically, or intellectually defective from birth-an 'original sin' (or at least a social one) that could only be fixed by strict adherence to a regimen of counseling, and of course, a public education created and controlled to the smallest detail by the board of Dems in each town.
Well, it was generally known that the Govs thought this all to be over-the-top and a little bit silly, and in fact harbored not-so-secret fears that ultimately, this systematic brainwashing would undo all respect for government (any government) and its institutions. But in the end, the opportunity to pass laws which would affect all of us proved too enticing, and they threw their lot in with the Dems. I guess that no one ever told they that, just because you can do a Thing, it doesn't necessarily follow that you should do that thing.
In any case, this resulted in the drafting of the first significant piece of post-Event legislation, and created the first of the many bureaucracies which plague us today; the AMERICAN STRATEGIC STANDARIZED EDUCATIONAL SERVICE-known to us citizens as "asses." Praise the Lord of unintentional acronyms.
In case any of you who might read this journal find yourselves wondering why, in what has become primarily an agrarian society, eleven year olds need t learn algorithms, and there is one psychologist for every seventy-five people, look no further than 'asses.' Or try thinking about it another way: There's a common belief (considered by most to be irrefutable fact) that Thomas Jefferson was three quarters Native American Indian and that George Washington owned four thousand slaves, which he used as the basis of his revolutionary army. Well, believe me, it just ain't so. But since one would need a history book written before the Great Event, to refute these claims (and these have all been burned) I suppose the Dems version of history will have to stand, as it's all we've got for now.
Later on, time and tide willing, I'll take some time to set some of the more glaring inaccuracies straight. But for now, let's just leave it that the Dems, with a little help, managed to rewrite much of our history in their image, and at the same time create a nation of psychological cripples.
--Jonathan Hemingway
Jan.uary the 6th, 2071 Well, Christmas has come and gone, although truth be told, it's been almost twenty five years since Christmas was legal.
I don't remember the exact year, doesn't matter, because it was a while in coming, but one day the Dems just decided that because Christmas didn't include everybody, and the idea of an omniscient deity was pretty much outmoded, the whole holiday should be outlawed. So with the help of their friends the Govs, they declared that the celebration of any religious holiday, other than state-sponsored UNITARIAN HUMANISTIC celebrations, was a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine and several days in jail.
But a law on paper and a law on the street are two entirely different birds. The holiday law never amounted to much, and a lot of us citizens still openly celebrate in our own way. And there haven't been repercussions yet...
--Jonathan Hemingway
January the 17th, 2071
I don't want you readers to get the idea that the Dems and Govs were always in bed together. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. They're relationship is not as 'thought-out', not nearly so organized as all of that. But like flies and garbage, they do manage to use one another to make compost.
I remember one incident, back in 2022 or 3, I think. Remember how I told you how precious a commodity woman had suddenly become? Well, remember, this wasn't realized overnight. It took several generations before people began to catch on to what was happening. This problem was new to them and they didn't yet have the methods in place to deal with the situation, like we do now. In some ways society was a lot stricter then than it is now, and they had all sorts of social taboos and hurdles to overcome as they adjusted to what became known as 'the curse of modern man.' Well, right off the bat the Govs passed an ordinance, or law, or edict… I forget what they called them back then, but it created special "opportunity communes" in what were mostly uninhabited towns. They then declared that half of all marriage age woman would be relocated to these communes, and, you guessed it, only male Govs would be allowed to live there.
Gotta hand it to the Govs, at least they acted quickly in the face of disaster. Gotta hand it to humanity, given a big enough catastrophe, man will always rise to the challenge.
But seriously, it seems that the Govs actually went to a few villages inhabited mostly by Dems, and invoked what they called 'government police'. These Gov police (mostly bullies dressed in old postal uniforms, but with guns) then proceeded to relocate several hundred woman. Feckless as they were, the Dems apparently had no trouble giving up their wives and daughters, and didn't put up any significant resistance. Seems that they understood that drastic measure were needed to assure the perpetuation of the human animal. At least that's the way they teach it now in the Gov school books. Heh.
One day, a ragtag band of Gov police showed up right here in Prospect, led by a couple of the local bureaucratic brutes, and announced that all of our unmarried women between the ages of 18 and 45 were to be brought to the local Grange Hall within four hours for relocation.
The police (there were about forty-five of them) and their leaders then helped themselves to several cases of beer from the general store and strolled over to the Grange Hall to wait. I remember that it was very hot that day, it'd been a dry summer. The Grange Hall was the coolest place in town.
Well, once the Govs had settled into the shady hall to wait, Mayor Mitchell got busy and called us all to a meeting over in the Town Hall to explain the situation. Somebody suggested that we could try to get an injunction to stop the Govs, but acknowledged that that could take days, if not weeks, if not never.. Most of us were in favor of shooting it out right then and there, for better or for worse. These were our women, god-dammit. Our wives, our sisters, our daughters. We sure as shit weren't go to sit back while they were "relocated." In retrospect, it might not have been the best idea, or the most democratic solution to our dilemma, but at any rate some started to leave to get their guns.
There are a couple of different accounts of what happened next, but most seem to agree that Billy Jamison, a widower with three daughters under his belt, all in their twenties, without saying a word, left the meeting and headed home. He lived about half a mile away.
About an hour later, while most of the men-folk were still arguing over how to proceed (those who hadn't gone for their guns, that is), someone spotted Billy walking down the street, covered from head to toe in dynamite. By the time everyone had emptied out of Town Hall to look at him, we were just in time to see him enter the grange. I was one of the last few still inside when the explosion hit. Somebody who'd been down on the street later told me that the only thing Billy had to the Gov police as he walked into the hall was "Hiya fellas." Then he'd stepped inside and blew the entire grange and every Gov inside sky high. Mayor Mitchell was quoted as saying that it had rained postal hats for nearly two minutes.
After that, we never saw government police in Prospect again, and gradually, the idea of opportunity communes became little more than a distant, disturbing memory.
--Jonathan
April the 23rd, 2071
I probably should tell you a little something about the Corps, and how they got to the sorry state they now find themselves in. Although truth be told, I doubt if many will regret their passing. In another generation or two, they'll most likely cease to exist at all, at least in the form you know them now.
It's hard to believe that at one time, back when I was a kid, they truly were masters of the universe. That's what they called themselves, and it's what most everybody else called them. These were the people who literally controlled almost everything: institutions, resources, the production of goods, information… The whole kit and caboodle, as we used to say. In a both a general and specific sense, hell, in practically every sort of sense, they were the ones most assuredly responsible for the Great Event. Ask almost anyone who remembers, and they'll tell you the same. At any rate, after it occurred (the Event, that is), they found themselves in what they called a 'power vacuum,' and what the rest of us called "up shit's creek."
Just weeks earlier, they had controlled the lives of literally millions and millions of people, people who depended on them for their very livelihood. They'd hoarded huge fortunes comprised of vast stock holdings, gold, real estate, and material possessions. But after the Event, none of these had any value. Stocks were worthless when there were no employees left to work in the companies they represented.
Because most goods and services were bartered for one another, gold had little value other than in a decorative sense. Million-dollar homes, and even larger estates lay deserted everywhere, and after the Event even the poorest family was free to move into the mansion of their choice. And while there are still people who live better and have more than others, class distinction, as you know it these days, is not so pronounced. Trust me, it is nothing compared to what it was before the Great Event.
Gradually, the Corps all gravitated to a few areas of the country, places where they could live together, where they could employ those of remaining who still believed in the power of the greenback, as we used to say, who still had faith that stocks and gold would one day again have value. The Corps sought out remote areas where they could pretend that little of their former lives had changed.
Oh, there were many aborted attempts at reviving some of the old corporations. Don't think for a second that after the Event people didn't fight tooth and nail against the coming changes, no matter how inevitable they might have been. Man is a stubborn beast, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. But because manufactured goods (goods which prior to the Great Event had been valued millions and billions of dollars) could be had just for the taking, no one was really interested in a new and improved versions of anything. The Corps were just as doomed to the new times as everyone else, they were just the last ones to admit it.
One thing, however, might not be apparent to those of you who may read this. When you listen to the radio, or watch television, it probably is hard for you to understand and believe that fifty years ago, radio and TV did not offer the twenty four hour a day monotonous propaganda that we are all subjected to today.
True, fifty years ago, the Corps owned and controlled the media, but the need to attract viewers to sell their products at least forced them to provide a diverse mix of entertaining, informative, and educational programming, as opposed to the constant and seemingly endless stream of prozelization that we have today. All this crap that's designed to convince us that the old way, their way, would be better, and society could operate more efficiently if only they were in charge again. It's absurd when you look at it in perspective.
One tangible result of their control of the media, however, is the way that they successfully set groups of people against one another. While they produce nothing of value, they provide a soapbox for every divisive hatemonger to air his crackpot views.
But that's just something we have to live with I guess. The media has always had a bad rap, even before the Event. And the Corps? Like I said, they mostly live together in their sad little ghettos, pretending to be what they once were, and in another generation or two, they'll probably pass into history. Good riddance.
--Jonathan
May the 26th, 2071
May has always been my favorite month. Crops are planted and are beginning to sprout, and every day grows noticeably warmer.
I told you a while back that barter has become the main form of commerce, and food is at the center of the barter system, but it wasn't always like this. Money, which we use now mainly to keep track of goods that are owed to one another was once the only form of commerce. Everything was sold, and everything had a price. Money, and its accumulation, was once the paramount reason to work.
--Jonathan
