The Neo Creadds Are Born (Ch.14g): Discussion Group (Part 2 - Section 1)

Part 2 : Calban’s Introduction

      The door slid open. It was unusual not to have pressed in a personal code for access. Calban found himself looking directly into the eyes of an instantly attractive woman. He quickly averted his eyes. Looking down he saw she was wearing a dress, which left most of her legs uncovered, also her arms and a low neckline. She was like one of the women he watched on Vidscreen. Something from an imaginary life he hardly could believe existed, was watching him over the doorstep and smiling.

 

    “My name is Calban,” he managed to whisper, while his heart rate flashed. He almost mentioned Vera’s name, but the woman was quicker.

 

     “Hello, come in. Vera told me you were coming. It is good to meet you. My name is Julia.”

 

     ‘Ah,’ thought Calban, ‘this is the occupier of the flat, Vera’s friend.’ She reached out to him, grabbing his arm and tugging it gently to bring him into the flat. The doors shut silently behind him.

 

     “Vera is here. I will take you into the room in a minute, but first, would you like a drink.” She led him into a room where there was a food dispenser and a drinks dispenser, and gadgets for storage and preparation, just like in his own flat, except this flat was quite a lot larger than his own. Calban did not stop to think why, but he thought about it later.

 

     “What would you like? I’ve got alcoholic drinks, stimulant drinks or neutrals.” When he hesitated she recommended an alcoholic.

 

       He felt awkward, but nodded and said, “Whatever you normally have.” She selected one for him. He was not familiar with it for he knew little about such drinks, he so rarely had them. He had heard the oft-repeated exhortations of Vid Screen presenters that alcoholics were dangerous and disadvantageous to health when consumed in large quantities.

 

    Over consumption of alcohol was one of the most publicised ‘social problems’ of the modern world. A disturbing proportion of man hours were lost each year or each week through it. A frightening proportion of people died from related diseases. Some percentage of flycars and boxcars crashed causing injury, due to the carelessness of consuming too much, despite rigorous legislation and the attempts at prevention by vidcameras, testing, and the police. For these reasons, and the fact that it was normally a social drink partaken by those who had friends, Calban rarely had any.

 

     Julia served Calban with his drink and took his arm, directing him back into the corridor, placing her hand on his shoulder when he followed. “Vera told you what we are going to discuss tonight?” she asked. Calban nodded, charmed into deeper silence by the slight physical contact. His mind flashed to his favourite vidscreen programmes, featuring attractive women in sexually arousing scenes. He was still a long way from that particular kind of reality, but he felt momentarily closer to it now than he could ever remember being before.

 

      Julia led him into the room. Around him were a crowd of people. He later counted them as eleven, excluding himself and Julia. He noted Vera among them on the far side of the room, in close conversation with two men. Many of them were engaged in conversation with their neighbours, but some looked around to see who he was.

 

      Julia introduced him as, “Calban who works for an Accounting House in the City. He is a friend of Vera’s.” On hearing this in the background Vera’s attention was caught. She called out a greeting to him.

 

     Julia showed him where to sit and sat herself down next to him. As chairperson of the meeting she said, “Let us begin. As you know tonight’s discussion is ‘The Society we live in, and how we would like to change it’.” Calban was pleased that he did not have to make conversation. His heart was beating very hard, and he felt nervous. Julia had taken the attention off him, and in the discussion he could relax and listen, and become more familiar with the people in this room.

 

      “All of us are here because we are not content with the way we live,” began Julia, glancing at some rough notes she had pulled out of her pocket. “This discussion group exists because we want to do something which our ailing society has no place for in its normal routine. Our lives are ruled by commerce and the workplace. The time we are given out of work is only granted to us because our employers know that we need to rest so that we can recover to perform on another day. We are not meant to question the system or to discuss serious questions. We live in a Democracy, but no political party of any stature challenges the economic and social systems which rule us.

 

     “Across this world people struggle in their daily lives for money, success, and achievement at work. We complain and are made greedy, but so many of us cannot even stop to consider why we are not happy. Most do not even realise that there are questions to be asked, or that there might be some solutions to our unhappiness.

 

     “This group has formed because we do believe there might be another way. At the very least we can comfort each other and dream our dreams together. At best we might grow in numbers, and start other similar groups in other places. Perhaps in the end we might build an alternative society, if enough join us, or maybe a Political Force to change the world system.”

 

     Calban listened excitedly. He could not follow everything she had said. He was not used to hearing clear thoughts expressed on this subject, although he knew he shared the basis of those thoughts. His mind was not schooled in argument. He could not have expressed himself in such a way. What Julia had expressed was not quite what he had expected of this evening, but he did not know what he had expected.

 

     A tall man wearing a grey suit lifted his arm in a gesture indicating a desire to speak. Julia waved at him to continue. “It is all very well, declaring our lack of contentment with our system, but what can we put in its place. What alternative system would actually work. We have a lot to be thankful for. There is no shortage of food. In centuries past many nations suffered from famines. We live in dry rooms with running water and instant food whenever we require it. We do not even have to cook it as our ancestors did. Waste disposal is instant. Clothing is easily purchased. We have music, Vidscreen programmes of wide variety at our instant demand. Information is at our fingertips. So many are supported in this lifestyle, more than ever before. It is a remarkable achievement. All the system asks in return is that we work in our chosen specialisms. We are all part of the system which provides the qualities of life. All we are required to give is to do our jobs properly.”

 

      Julia retorted, “But Vanos, we are slaves of the system. We work so hard that we lose the best years of our lives. True we have material comfort and entertainment, but our collective labours also provide things which no ordinary people want or need. The space programs of our leading organisations achieve nothing beyond minor technological improvements, which most of us do not want or need. Millions are employed in laboratories, factories, or learning institutions, performing mind numbingly boring routines, and for what valuable purpose? We have gone beyond the level of providing our material living standards. We are now creating work and technologies which have no or little benefit for human beings. And the endless rounds of system checks, reports, feedback meetings, audits, sales pitches and tenders, votes, legal cases and so on. Nothing is done quickly or effectively with the minimum of fuss. Most of our jobs are unnecessary. It seems the jobs exist merely to employ us, not because they are needed. We expend the energies of our lives on meaningless and unenjoyable work. Surely we need an alternative system?”

 

      “I have been coming to these groups for quite a while,” said Vanos. “We have had many debates, so I think we know many of each other’s views. You know as well as I do that I would like to change the world too. I argue with you to draw out your points and maintain some sense of reality in our discussion. We must not forget what our system has given us, while trying to change it for the better. There are unnecessary tasks which the system forces upon us. Naturally we should find ways to reduce them so that we can all lead better lives.”

 

      “Vanos, if we followed your advice nothing would change.” Another man was talking now, one of the men who sat next to Vera, a tall man with unkempt hair and colourful clothing, and an air of confidence. “Perhaps half of the functions our society performs are unnecessary and wrong. We are animals, not machines, created not only to produce, but to enjoy also. I have managed my own life so that I have quality and enjoyment in my life. I am lucky because I have found a life worth living, but I still pay the price of having to work in a dull routine. I am well placed to see what life for us all could be, and what it is for so many of us. I wish to share the good things in life, which I have found, to all around, but the system stands against us. Only by a reduction in the drudgery can people be brought together in community to build something new and better. So many are lonely and unloved, without companions they can talk to and share the many good things in life with. We can build a better world for all our sakes, where no one is without a sense of real purpose, real community, real companionship.”

 

       “Jairis would have us all stop working,” retorted Vanos heatedly, strong on the scent of his argument. “We should spend all our time chatting small talk with our neighbours, while the power supplies stop running and transportation breaks down. We would end up starving to death, miles from the sources of food in the country! You might very well laugh, but if the people stop working it will happen.”

 

     Vanos had noticed that a number of the onlookers were laughing openly at him, albeit with a good nature towards him. He went on regardless. He was used to their disagreement. It did not concern him. “You think that is an extreme outcome do you? Well alright, let us say the power supply engineers and food distributors do not stop work immediately, but the office boys and secretaries and the computer operators do. Who will then be able to manage the organisations which provide the food or the power. A price must be set, and when a sale is made it must be recorded so that the managers will know that they have received or will receive funds and that they have sufficient to cover the costs they must pay. If no recording was done organisations would soon find that funds would dry up and they would be unable to meet their liabilities. They would collapse in chaos, bringing down chains of other firms, suppliers, subcontractors, banks and Houses. If ample funds did remain they would soon disappear without trace, into the hands of corrupt employees.”

 

       A handful of voices spoke up in opposition to the extreme approach Vanos was taking in his argument. Julia’s voice was not the one which most of the gathering wanted to listen to. Jairis spoke with the loudest voice, and in his interesting and authoritative way he was the one all ears turned to. Even the tirade of ideas from Vanos was brought to a brief halt. “I do not think any of us have said we wish to cease the recording of transactions and the management of business. We wish to cut out wasteful activity, share the essential work between all people, and give our lives a balance which no one enjoys today. No one said we would stop work altogether. There is no need for anyone to starve or suffer.”

 

       There was a quick round of applause from smiling faces who were enjoying this argument. It was enough to interrupt Jairis and give Vanos a chance to explain himself further. “We live in what is called and economy. Some of you don’t seem to appreciate that. Cut out parts of that economy and you will create mass unemployment at a stroke. That will lead to a sharp reduction in the inflows of funds, demand if you like, into the houses and organisations which run our essential services, wrecking their profitability, and in many cases, their existence. Our economy will collapse like a pack of cards, and then we will find that power and food are cut off!”

 

      The audience were quieter now Vanos had made a serious point and many of them knew it. How could an economic system suddenly be changed so that the unnecessary and surplus tasks were avoided without stimulating an economic collapse. For centuries governments had encouraged economic expansion as the solution to problems of unemployment and relative poverty. How could a fair reduction in economic activity now take place without recreating those large problems of unemployment and poverty? (problems which most present appreciated existed today all over the planet, even if many members of the working population did not believe it existed.)

 

     Vanos fell silent as he let the impact of his words settle. He liked this group. They were generally polite to him, valuing the arguments he often constructed for the others to knock down. He was no system supporter. He would not have joined such a group if he had been, but he felt himself to be a realist. He was never fully satisfied with the ideas and arguments put forward by the various members of the group. They seemed always to be fallible. The group members were wishful thinkers, good people with a strong desire to improve their own lives and the lives of everyone in their world, but they were specialists, like every member of modern society, lacking the knowledge to devise realistic solutions to problems. They all lived in a fantasy world. It was a pleasing fantasy, and the satisfaction it gave them would keep most of them coming to these meetings for years, until perhaps one day their dreams would seem pointless and they would lose interest.

 

     Empathy with the other members of the group, similar people, and yet sufficiently varied to keep themselves interested, would also keep them together over the coming years. At the base of the group was a shared need for companionship. These people did not want to spend their lives alone in their rooms with the Vidscreen and the Vidnet, and if they were lucky, with a spouse and possibly a child or two. Vanos understood this. It was his own motive for coming here. He was a sceptic about the overenthusiastic aims of the group, but he shared its criticism of their existing lives and he needed friendship.

 

      The group was very open minded, surprisingly he felt, for a society which sought to motivate its young for the working world and efficiency from an early age. Widely educated, to an extent that would have shocked the generations of past times, they were not taught to question the basic principles of society: its freedoms, notably Democracy and Trade, the concepts of Specialisation and Efficiency, and the foundation of Law, the concepts of Property and Legal Responsibility. These principles were taught, and because they were logical there was no need to reconsider their validity.

 

      Thus a group like this was rare. Few seemed to question the society they lived in. This group had not sought to encourage a rigorous set of opinions on its members. Members were free to discuss whatever they felt. Vanos therefore enjoyed placing his rational arguments before the group whenever he felt they were becoming unrealistic. It was good for the group, forced them to question their approaches, and aided the search for truth. They were open minded enough not to shout down his points, but to think about them before answering.

Julia was the first to begin speaking again, “I think Jairis said what needs to be done earlier on. We would wish to cut the unnecessary activities out of our economy, because they are pointless and succeed merely in wasting our lives. So we cut our wasteful bureaucracy and legalism, excessive competition, advertising and sales tactics. We simplify our economies on the grounds of what is useful to society,