- 3 years ago
https://freedomain.com/freedomain_books/the-future/
Centuries in the future, an old man awakes from cryogenic sleep to face the judgement of a utopian society that barely survived his past abuses of power. In the vein of 'Atlas Shrugged, philosophy, philosopher Stefan Molyneux has created a compelling and powerful work of imagination. He vividly describes the wonderful future that mankind can achieve - and the barriers to getting there - and all that we need to leave behind to finally live in peace...
Centuries in the future, an old man awakes from cryogenic sleep to face the judgement of a utopian society that barely survived his past abuses of power. In the vein of 'Atlas Shrugged, philosophy, philosopher Stefan Molyneux has created a compelling and powerful work of imagination. He vividly describes the wonderful future that mankind can achieve - and the barriers to getting there - and all that we need to leave behind to finally live in peace...
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00:00 The Future by Stéphane Molyneux, chapter 20
00:07 David and Roman went with an attendant down a shiny hallway towards a white door at the end.
00:15 Roman could catch glimpses of people through square windows in the doors on either side.
00:23 Some were sitting like broken puppets sagging against cushioned walls.
00:29 Others were pacing, gesturing frantically.
00:33 Some were sitting with their heads inserted into white clubs, virtual reality he assumed.
00:39 One elderly man stood with his nose pressed against the glass, only his eyes following them as they walked past,
00:46 an eerie sight which gave Roman a slight shiver.
00:50 "What keeps them here?" he whispered.
00:54 "We should talk about that later," said David shortly.
01:00 The attendant opened the door, and inside was a comfortable living room with a low white table,
01:07 soft brown carpets, light blue walls, and a wall-window view of a Nordic forest in full bloom
01:14 with distant circling birds, shuddering butterflies, and a vague pine scent that drifted through the air.
01:24 On the couch sat a very thin woman, taller than average, with a cloud of thin bushy hair around her prominent skull.
01:34 She had high cheekbones, a wide jaw, and grey-blue eyes that alternated between staring dully and darting around with suspicious aggression.
01:46 On a love-seat to her right sat two children of similar age, somewhere in their mid-teens.
01:54 They looked drained, but determined.
01:59 "Good afternoon," said David, sitting in an armchair. "I just wanted to double-check before we start that it is still all right for an observer to be here."
02:08 He gestured towards Roman, who remained standing. "He doesn't have any recording equipment.
02:13 He's actually not part of the civ, so he couldn't say anything to anyone about what happens here.
02:17 I appreciate his presence, but it's finally up to you."
02:22 The two boys nodded, but the older woman looked up, suspiciously. "Who is that?" she asked sharply. "Who sent him here? Why is he here?"
02:32 "Christine, this is Roman. He's a guest of mine who's just learning about the civ."
02:37 She laughed bitterly. "I know you. This is not the civ. I'm not part of the civ.
02:42 I'm on the outside, inside here, staring up the ass of a machine." She gestured at the view of the sunlit forest.
02:48 "It's either a force field or a mirror or a window or a screen. It's real, but I can't get there."
02:54 Christine turned to the two boys. "And you, my children, you, leave me here."
03:02 Her eyes narrowed, and she took a deep breath. "It's not a prison, I know, but it's not free either. I'm not free."
03:07 She gestured at her hair. "I know something is missing.
03:10 Like when you go on a trip and you're sure you've forgotten something, but you don't know what it is,
03:13 and you have to wait for the trip to happen to find out, but by then it's too late."
03:17 Her voice rose. Insistently, there was a pause.
03:24 "Why are you here?" repeated Christine. "To help you, Mom," said the younger boy, his voice catching.
03:34 "Help. Help." As if in echo of his sentiment, her voice thickened with emotion.
03:42 "That's my job. Do you know what it's like? Do you know what it's like to be a mother and lose your children to philosophy, to UPB?"
03:49 Her lip curled in disgust at the acronym. "To be replaced by words and metal and sunlight?
03:57 I was supposed to lead you into adulthood, but I had a growth that killed my growth.
04:01 I want to be helped, but I don't know what dress I'm supposed to be helped into.
04:04 I feel naked all the time, like I'm missing my skin, like a robot to help doctors.
04:09 Up and walking around, each piece of wind hurts me. I'm an open tooth."
04:13 She looked up in self-pitying agony. "What do I need to do?" David said.
04:19 "Well, Christine, your children, you've asked to be their mother again.
04:26 Not that you ever stopped. That's not what I mean. And we would like to facilitate that.
04:31 We would love to, but your children suffered a lot with you and your late husband.
04:37 Not that I'm blaming you. It was so unfortunate that he got injured and you got sick.
04:43 But the privacy you had, which we all love, meant that your children suffered for a long time
04:49 as you both deteriorated. You didn't bring them in for scans. You moved around a lot.
04:54 You got out of the system, probably by accident. I'm not accusing you of anything.
05:01 And I know that you are in a fragile state, so I don't want to go into detail about what your children suffered,
05:09 but they really did suffer. And it's going to be hard for them to slide into the society of the sieve.
05:19 And it's my job as your DRO representative to make sure that their path to adulthood is as easy as possible,
05:26 because David Porce and everyone in the room could see that he was not used to this kind of conversation at all.
05:35 Now, trauma is so rare that a lot of people view it as a kind of toxicity or transmissible ailment.
05:43 You spoke more rapidly. Everyone knows enough not to blame you or your sons,
05:47 but it takes a lot of work to repair some of the upset.
05:52 And not everyone is exactly up to the challenge, because they're looking forward to marriage and children and so on.
05:59 David reached over and patted the older boy's knee. He looked away.
06:05 I am fully confident, and I put the resources of my entire organization behind this statement,
06:11 that your sons will have wonderful lives and will bring a depth and richness to the sieve
06:17 and everyone in it who interacts with them. But I am concerned that if they have more trauma,
06:24 that will be interrupted and possibly not be achieved.
06:30 Sorry, that's awkward, but I'm not used to this. No one really is, or at least very few people.
06:38 Christine stared blankly at him, through him, it seemed. Her voice was wobbly.
06:46 "I have only ever wanted what was best for my boys."
06:50 "We know, Mom," said the older boy, softly. She put her cloudy head in her hands.
06:59 "I was pouring away. I couldn't give you up. I couldn't." Her voice thickened again.
07:07 "You both, my boys, you stood between me and what was coming, what was going."
07:17 "And I kept waiting for the help to come. You boys couldn't help. I know that out so far."
07:24 Her hands closed into white knuckles and wrapped her skull.
07:28 "And I'm not young, not old. I come from a long-lived line of women.
07:34 I might have ninety more years without you, with a view of nothing but someone's dead dream of an old forest.
07:40 I can't bear it without you. I was greedy, I know it.
07:44 I grabbed at you and held you close because you were the only barrel that I was drowning."
07:50 Christine raised her pained eyes to David. "I will do anything. Tell me what to do."
07:59 David's lips quivered. "I've never doubted the sincerity of your desire to be these boys' mother.
08:08 You suffered a lot of damage from the tumor. It's gone. It won't be back.
08:12 But we can't regrow anything without turning you into someone else, which would be terrible for you and them.
08:22 And I hate to say it, but you would be alarming to the future spouses of these boys, your boys.
08:32 Listen, I will fully commit to finding you something productive to do with your time.
08:40 And no one is saying that you can't see your boys or that they can't see you,
08:44 but my job is to protect their minds and their hearts.
08:50 And we are faced with a terrible tragedy here, a tragedy that is no one's fault,
08:56 and for which there is no clear and easy solution.
09:02 I am a parent myself. The idea of not seeing my child, of not being a parent, is unbearable.
09:13 I fully understand that.
09:17 I have for the last... I've been thinking about how much I would sacrifice to keep my daughter healthy.
09:26 If I became a problem for my daughter in some way, would I withdraw from the relationship in order to keep her well?
09:33 Oh, it's an unbearable question.
09:37 And I'm so sorry for what you are facing.
09:43 I'm sorry for the entire family, he said, turning to the two boys.
09:51 And I wish I could turn the decision over to you, but you guys are still like 10 years away from brain maturity.
09:57 And you want to please your mom, of course. We all do, for our own mothers.
10:01 And so you will do what she wants.
10:03 And her loneliness and isolation here, which she feels so strongly, and I can't argue with that,
10:08 is something that you desperately want to save her from. I can see that clearly.
10:13 Look, your mom became very ill and lost significant portions of who she is... was.
10:21 We can't get them back anymore, or we can suddenly make you both shorter.
10:25 David stopped suddenly, plugging up his own torrent of words.
10:30 He took a deep breath.
10:35 "This is not to say that your perspectives are irrelevant," he gestured at the mother.
10:42 "We know what your mother wants, and I'm desperate to facilitate that if possible, to make that happen.
10:48 But what do you boys want? What would be best for you?"
10:54 The younger boy burst into tears.
10:57 The older boy looked stoic, but patted his brother's thigh absently.
11:03 David turned to the crying boy.
11:06 "Josh, what are you feeling?"
11:08 Josh took a shuddering breath.
11:12 "I feel... I feel cursed, to be honest.
11:19 I love my mom. She... she was great when we were younger.
11:25 And nothing goes wrong all at once.
11:28 It's so slow you don't even notice it until what's happening now smashes into what you remember from before.
11:36 And we were in the middle of nowhere, maximum privacy settings,
11:42 and dad went weird, and mom went weird.
11:47 Sorry, mom, I'm sorry.
11:50 And I feel outside of everything, like we go past these buildings, and the apartments look so pretty, but there's no one in them.
12:00 That's what it's like for me.
12:03 I think... I look inside, and there's no one there.
12:09 Just... survival."
12:13 The last word hit his brother hard.
12:17 "Sol," said David gently, "how are you doing?"
12:23 "I love her, too," said Sol, his voice cracking from more than puberty.
12:28 He stopped.
12:31 "What do you want to say to your mother?"
12:34 Sol turned to her. She sat like a prisoner facing a firing squad.
12:43 "I do love you. I do," he gestured at his brother.
12:48 "I know what ate away at you, but I don't know what ate where in you.
12:54 But help was a button away.
12:58 And for years, you and dad, you must have talked about what was happening.
13:04 With dad, it was all at once, but with you, it was slower, and you must have noticed something.
13:09 You hung on to us rather than face what was happening.
13:18 Dad got, like, decapitated all at once from the injury from Featherball.
13:24 He was gone mostly, but you, you weren't that sick yet,
13:32 and you took us away into--," Christine said, "because I loved him, you know."
13:38 A tear spilled from Sol's eye.
13:43 "I know you did, Mom, and I know that he was there first, but--"
13:52 There was a pause, as what needed to be said, the next inevitable words,
14:00 stopped in the throat of the older child.
14:05 David said, "You loved your broken husband at the expense of your children."
14:11 He immediately half regretted his words, because he knew that the shattered family needed to find their way themselves.
14:19 He apologized and told them to carry on.
14:22 He had forgotten all about Roman and glanced at him.
14:25 The older man stood stiffly, his lips compressed, his face set like stone.
14:33 There was a long silence, strangely not awkward.
14:44 "I thought it was just grief," said Christine finally.
14:53 "I was foggy and desolate and lost.
14:58 It was grief for the greatest man, but it was also the tumor."
15:05 Her eyes suddenly flashed with anger.
15:07 "It was not fair, none of it.
15:10 Why should I suffer?
15:11 Why should I give him up?
15:13 I didn't know the end of the road.
15:14 I didn't even know there was a road."
15:17 She turned to her eldest son.
15:19 "You're right, you're right.
15:21 It was gradual.
15:23 It was bit by bit, bite by bite.
15:27 Who could have known from the first forgotten name we would end up here?
15:36 It's easy to see now, looking back, but looking forward is a fog.
15:40 Let's never forget that."
15:42 The youngest boy said, "Mom."
15:46 There was such supplication, such a plea for an even temper that it tore through the room like a firestorm.
15:57 Josh could feel the possibility of family unity slipping away, and everyone in the room could feel his desperate desire to stuff himself into the widening holes of his mother's instability and make her whole.
16:14 There was another pause.
16:18 Christine stared resentfully at nothing.
16:24 Saul suddenly said, "Oh, for the love of...
16:28 She's not here.
16:29 She's not coming.
16:30 Why are we continuing?"
16:33 David took a long, slow breath.
16:38 "I don't know," he said, almost in a whisper.
16:43 "I think I so much wanted it to be something," Josh said.
16:50 "Something else.
16:52 Something else.
16:53 You always want it to be something else.
16:56 Just like she did.
16:57 Just like Dad did.
16:59 And it's at our expense, always."
17:02 He stopped miserably.
17:06 David got up and talked in low, rapid tones to the attendant who stood by the door.
17:13 He returned and sat down.
17:19 "Part of me wants to blame you, Christine.
17:22 I'm sorry, but it's there.
17:26 You are close, but I don't see any way to close this gap.
17:33 It's not your fault.
17:34 You're right.
17:35 Something is missing.
17:36 Something we can't put back."
17:39 He took a deep breath.
17:42 "Boys, am I right in understanding that this is a kind of torture for you?
17:51 If she was worse, it would be easier, in a way.
17:56 Am I right?"
17:58 The two boys nodded in obvious agony.
18:04 "I guess if it were easier, I wouldn't be here."
18:08 David stood suddenly.
18:10 "Christine, we will be back, but I will need to talk to these boys."
18:15 The thin woman leapt forward with a guttural shriek.
18:18 The attendant gestured and she froze.
18:20 In mid-air, mid-scowl, her hands like claws reaching for her children.
18:25 It was a terrible, terrifying sight.
18:28 A mad gargoyle suspended over the soft carpet, and David hurried the boys out.
18:33 Roman followed closely, breathing deeply.
18:40 David quickly led the two boys to a bear room about halfway down the corridor.
18:45 He thought of the number of children who got fidgety without stimulation,
18:50 but these boys seemed to visibly relax,
18:53 almost as if they were being gently hugged by the bare white walls.
19:01 "Josh, Saul, this is the last review of your mother before you reach adulthood in a couple of years.
19:10 We've done five of these so far, three without you,
19:14 and from what I have seen, there's no possibility of improvement for her."
19:21 As is so often the case, the younger boy started sniffling while the older boy hardened his face.
19:28 "Come on, Josh. We talked about this. It wasn't likely to change."
19:33 Josh's cheeks were red.
19:35 "I'm not allowed to be sad now?"
19:39 David let the two brothers talk to each other.
19:42 Saul said, "You can be sad. Just don't pretend to be surprised."
19:47 Josh's hands closed into white fists.
19:50 "You're such an empty rock. She's not coming out. We have to live."
19:57 He turned to David.
19:59 "Where are we going to live again?"
20:01 Saul answered, "You don't remember anything. You can live with me.
20:04 I can get support, or you can go off to some other family if you want."
20:08 Everyone in the room, even Roman, heard the sentence in Saul's mind that was not uttered,
20:14 "I don't care either way."
20:18 Josh stared miserably at the tiled gray floor.
20:22 If Saul felt any remorse, he hid it well.
20:28 Josh whispered, "What do you want me to do?"
20:33 Saul immediately shot back, "I'm not dead. Make your own choices."
20:37 "Stony ground," thought David.
20:40 Josh stared at him.
20:43 "I don't know."
20:46 David said, "You don't have to know. Right now, at least."
20:51 He turned to the older boy.
20:55 "Do you know what a short circuit is?"
20:58 Saul nodded, looking away.
21:01 "You have a kind of short circuit at the moment, because you had to grow up too fast.
21:09 We know what happened with your mother.
21:12 The mania, the depression, the hysteria, the cold rage where you couldn't have a different opinion.
21:21 You were squeezed from all sides and alone, and your father was violent.
21:29 We know that, too.
21:31 Violence is a kind of panic, you know, like someone falling off a cliff will grab at anything to stay up.
21:39 The hole in his brain was a black spot, one of the largest I've ever seen on a scan.
21:45 He was barely there, just a spine and arms with almost nothing on top.
21:51 And all of this was put on your shoulders.
21:55 And you're a strong boy, I know that, but it's too much weight for anyone, particularly a child.
22:01 So, what do you do with that weight?
22:08 What do you do with that helplessness?
22:11 David's voice grew softer.
22:14 "What do you do with that hopelessness?"
22:21 He moved his chair slightly closer to Saul.
22:23 Everyone started from the squeaking sound.
22:28 You were in a primitive situation, so you reverted to the mammal.
22:35 Helplessness is another kind of panic, and when animals feel helpless, they lash out to reassert dominance,
22:41 because helplessness is a kind of death.
22:44 Fight back at all costs.
22:47 Now, of course, you couldn't establish any dominance over your father, who was violent,
22:52 or your mother, who was chaotic and aggressive.
22:56 This is how the madness gets passed down, or at least tries to.
23:01 Madness is a kind of virus that replicates by creating the conditions for madness in others,
23:07 children usually, since they can't get away.
23:10 The brain damage of your parents tried to recreate brain damage in you, in your brother.
23:18 David's voice was barely above a murmur.
23:22 You wanted to run away, didn't you?
23:25 There was a long pause.
23:27 Then Saul nodded, almost imperceptibly.
23:32 But you couldn't, could you?
23:35 You couldn't get away, because the word unspoken hung in the air.
23:42 "Josh."
23:46 You stayed to protect him, or at least give him some comfort.
23:53 But you couldn't keep that up, because he was kind of your prison.
24:02 Saul took a deep breath and wiped his tears angrily.
24:06 She wouldn't let him go.
24:08 She thinks he's like her dad, who she worshipped.
24:10 She thinks I'm like her husband, who she feared by then.
24:13 She called me his name sometimes.
24:16 She thought I was attacking her some nights.
24:21 David could see Josh's hand moved slightly towards his brother,
24:25 but knew it was a make-or-break moment, and was glad he did not touch him.
24:30 There was a long pause.
24:33 David did not want to interrupt any of Saul's churning thoughts,
24:36 but it became clear that the older boy would not speak next.
24:43 "You know it's not your brother's fault," said David softly.
24:47 "Your brother was also trying to survive."
24:50 Saul's lip curled.
24:52 "But he's weak. I'm sorry, but it's true."
24:56 David nodded slowly, holding his hand up to Josh.
24:59 "What would you have done in his position?"
25:02 Saul's jaw tightened.
25:04 "Something different. Something stronger. Something not so pitiful.
25:10 He just curled into a ball and let things happen."
25:14 David nodded again.
25:17 "You had longer."
25:21 A deep sense of truth shook the boy's body.
25:25 He held up both his hands as if to shield himself from what was coming.
25:31 David said, "You are two and a half years older.
25:37 You had a lot longer time of normal stuff.
25:43 Your brother doesn't really remember things being very normal. Is that right, Josh?"
25:47 Josh shook his head. Everyone understood the ambiguous response.
25:53 David said, "You don't take any pride in being older, Saul, do you? Or taller?"
26:00 Saul's sharp look as if to say, "Don't ask such stupid questions!"
26:06 David said, "You were accidentally born earlier.
26:13 You were accidentally older. You accidentally had more responsibilities.
26:18 You accidentally got promoted to helpless pretend father.
26:22 You accidentally had someone to protect who trapped you there.
26:25 And you both accidentally fell through the cracks,
26:29 for which the entire sif is responsible, and we will help you out.
26:35 You are both what is called an outlier,
26:38 which means your situation is so unusual that I've never seen or heard of it before.
26:44 We left you out in the cold where you should never have been,
26:49 and we so much want you to come back into the embrace of society.
26:56 The entire basis of what we do here in the sif rests on...
27:01 I don't even have the words. Nothing like this ever happening to children.
27:08 Nothing we can do here in the sif can make up for what you boys suffered,
27:12 but we will do everything we can to bring you back in with us to a happy life.
27:21 If you want to take whatever little consideration you can from this,
27:35 I can tell you very frankly that we have put in place a number of new procedures
27:38 to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.
27:43 So your suffering will at least have saved children in the future.
27:48 We don't want you to ever think that what you went through was in vain.
27:54 It should never have happened, and I think we can now say with pretty good certainty
27:58 that it will never happen again.
28:04 The great danger now is this.
28:09 Because you think society failed you, and you're right, of course,
28:13 you will have no loyalty to society, to the sif.
28:19 I'm not saying that you're going to become criminals, of course,
28:22 but that is where criminals come from.
28:25 Thieves steal because they were stolen from.
28:29 Their childhoods, their security, their protection.
28:34 You are wary of society because we did not keep you safe.
28:43 We are sorry. I am personally very sorry,
28:47 because your safety was my responsibility, because your parents are our customers.
28:52 They paid us in part to keep you safe, and we failed.
28:58 That is on us. That is not on you.
29:01 We were wrong, not you.
29:06 You wouldn't want to judge everyone in the sif by your parents, right?
29:11 Because that was an incredibly unusual situation,
29:15 although it was normal life for you. I get that.
29:19 The combination of isolation, high security, brain damage, and a brain tumor
29:26 was not something that we had planned for, but we will now,
29:29 because we never, ever want anything like this to ever happen again.
29:38 David leaned forward further.
29:42 I don't think you're going to become criminals.
29:45 You both had people to care for you when you were younger.
29:47 Saul, you had your parents, and Josh, you had Saul,
29:51 though you may not feel that at the moment.
29:55 All this can be fixed, and you can be wonderful additions to the sif,
30:00 famous in a way, if you want to be.
30:02 But the great danger is not your relationship to the sif,
30:10 but your relationship with each other.
30:14 I have a brother, and I can tell you what an amazing thing it is
30:19 to go through life with someone who was there every step of the way.
30:25 I'm afraid to say that you have lost your parents,
30:31 though your mother's body remains alive.
30:34 And that happens to all of us eventually.
30:38 Aunts, uncles, grandparents, parents, they almost always die before us.
30:46 And our children, well, I have a daughter.
30:50 She doesn't know anything really about me before she was born,
30:53 or a couple of years after at least.
30:58 Siblings are the only people who can go through the whole life journey with you.
31:06 You have each other as companions in the journey of life
31:11 in a way that no other relationship can come close to.
31:19 If you let the tragedies of your parents tear you apart,
31:23 you will lose something immensely precious in this life.
31:29 If you let brain trauma and disease rip you in two,
31:34 you are giving up something precious for the sake of something accidental.
31:38 You lose at the most important game you might not even know you are playing.
31:44 Don't blame each other for what happened to you both.
31:50 Saul, don't blame Josh for being younger and more helpless.
31:54 That's just an accident.
31:56 Josh, and this is very important because it's harder to see,
32:01 but Josh, don't blame Saul for being older
32:07 and taking more of the horrors your parents were dishing out.
32:11 Don't blame him for feeling more responsible.
32:15 Don't blame him for resenting you because he had to shield you.
32:20 You know what it's like to feel helpless,
32:22 but you don't know what it's like to feel helpless
32:25 and have to protect someone else at the same time.
32:30 You don't know what it's like to try and be a human shield against adult violence.
32:38 You don't know what it's like to be trapped by loyalty.
32:49 Your brother has ended up resenting you, but he's still a child himself.
32:56 And one of the things that unjust authority always does is set its prisoners against each other.
33:03 The boys glanced at each other.
33:07 David continued, "You've learned, I'm sure, of the racism hysteria of the old world.
33:15 Everyone was trained to hate each other so that they could not band together against their rulers.
33:21 It's an instinctive thing, whether it comes from brain damage or a brain tumor
33:26 or just the mad power lust of the old world.
33:29 Unjust power always seeks to control through division.
33:35 Your relationship, or what's left of it,
33:39 is just a shadow cast by the ancient rulebook called divide and conquer.
33:46 Your relationship is like one of those insects trapped in amber from the time of the dinosaurs.
33:52 It's a relic of ancient times before civilization.
33:57 And the challenge now is that we are opening our arms to invite you back into civilization.
34:08 We are sorry. We are desperate to make amends.
34:13 We promise that this will not happen again.
34:18 We have learned. We have improved.
34:21 We've been humbled by what happened to you.
34:26 But you will never be able to love the civ more than you love each other.
34:32 Everything that happens in civilization starts in the family.
34:39 That is the great lesson the horrors of the cataclysms taught us.
34:44 You cannot fix anything without first fixing the family.
34:51 You cannot have a peaceful world while children are aggressed against.
34:56 You cannot find love in life if you cannot find it at the beginning.
35:06 I want you both to be great friends, great fathers, great husbands,
35:12 great participants in a world you don't know very well,
35:17 the world where people are raised peacefully and reasonably.
35:22 You need to speak the language we all speak, but you were taught the opposite.
35:29 David took a deep breath.
35:36 I will provide to you any and all resources you need to live happy lives.
35:44 I know that you know me as the head of a DRO, some kind of impersonal business guy,
35:49 and I'm also responsible to a large degree for what happened to you, which I take very, very personally.
35:56 I think of my daughter going through what you boys have gone through, and it truly breaks my heart.
36:02 David leaned forward and took the hands of the two boys.
36:07 This is personal for me, deeply personal.
36:13 It is not business.
36:16 I don't have to do what I do, but I do it because I know that the peace and plenty of the modern world
36:21 is entirely dependent upon our willingness and ability to protect children from exactly what you went through.
36:28 Your suffering is a personal dishonor to me, and I will make it right.
36:36 You have a servant in me, a slave, if you want.
36:42 There were slight giggles, and you will never, ever have to go through this life without support ever again.
36:52 The virtue of a society is defined by how it treats its children,
36:56 and the future of the sieve is in the cribs of our offspring.
37:02 David smiled.
37:06 You literally won't believe how many people are waiting for the outcome of this meeting.
37:11 It's not just me who feels ashamed.
37:14 We as a society feel absolutely wretched about what happened to you.
37:22 It is a brutal and humbling reminder of how close we are to everything that led to the cataclysms.
37:30 In the old world, what happened to you, all the suffering you went through,
37:36 would be just ignored by everyone around.
37:41 Family, friends, neighbors, teachers, priests, you name it.
37:46 There are endless reports in the archives of children being assaulted, beaten, tortured,
37:52 screaming at the top of their lungs while everyone in the building went about their business,
37:57 and no one even bothered to call the authorities,
38:00 which they could have done anonymously if they were afraid of blowback.
38:04 But no one lifted a finger.
38:08 Everyone stepped over...
38:13 This is an analogy, of course.
38:16 But in my mind's eye, everyone stepped over the broken bodies of broken children,
38:23 because they were late for the bus, or had a movie to see, or were excited to go on a date.
38:28 Everyone lived in this selfish bubble while the blood of children rained down on them.
38:37 And then they wondered why the world kept getting worse,
38:40 and they yelled at each other and spent their imaginary money and tried meditation and yoga and travel and drugs,
38:47 and even voted for different leaders to try to feel happy and rid themselves of their growing anxiety,
38:52 their terror at all they had not done.
38:59 But you can't brutalize children and ignore the brutalization of children
39:07 and be happy or secure or have a future, either as a person or a society.
39:18 They would watch movies about the days of slavery,
39:22 and they would understand that the slave owner could never be happy,
39:26 and then they would go back to brutalizing and indoctrinating their own children,
39:31 feeling weirdly secure that they were vastly superior to everyone who had come before.
39:38 They would genitally mutilate their babies.
39:43 The mothers would happily run off to work at some dumb job
39:46 and have strangers pretend to raise their own children.
39:50 The children were taught to hate themselves and their own society in the government schools,
39:56 and if they got bored or resisted, they were drugged into near oblivion.
40:03 They were exposed to adult topics and images very early in life, unsupervised, uncontrolled.
40:12 They had no say in their society.
40:16 No one profited from protecting them, and yet the prophet was always in the abuse.
40:25 David took a deep breath and wiped his eyes.
40:30 Children were treated worse than livestock,
40:34 because at least a farmer lost money if his livestock got sick or did not have any offspring.
40:40 The children of the old world were broken into tiny pieces
40:46 and reassembled into empty self-hating cogs in the machinery of power.
40:52 People, governments, even borrowed against the future earnings of the children,
40:59 casting them into a pit of economic slavery before they were even born.
41:05 Imagine stealing from a sperm and an egg!
41:10 That is pickpocketing of a truly hellish dimension.
41:15 David sighed.
41:18 "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't mean to give you a history lesson of things you probably already know.
41:23 But that's what I mean when I say that you are a shadow cast by the old world,
41:31 and we are here to bring you to the light, to the present.
41:37 You must not hate each other for what was done to you,
41:41 or the injuries and the tumor win. The old world wins!"
41:48 David's voice wobbled.
41:52 "And here's the basic truth. The last thing I want to say."
41:58 He stood up and gestured at the white door.
42:03 "Your mother, she will not leave. She cannot.
42:09 She's no place out in the world. She'll just frighten people and make messes.
42:14 And she will be around children. That can't be helped.
42:18 And we have to protect them at all costs, as you know.
42:22 At least by my words, not my historical deeds."
42:28 "She can't get out. But you can!"
42:35 David's voice sharpened in intensity.
42:38 "The real danger is that there is a part of you, both, that will never leave this building,
42:45 that will stay with your mother, out of a sense of responsibility, of guilt, of anger, at me, at the sieve.
42:53 You will be very tempted to stay here with her in your mind."
43:01 "Asking children to abandon their mother is one heck of a thing."
43:07 David smiled. "You've imprinted on her, like little ducks in a way.
43:14 You are trained to follow her wherever she goes, even into the whirlpool of what happened to her.
43:22 But the point of the sieve is to raise ourselves from mammals to angels,
43:31 to reject the material instincts of the mammal and rise to the angels of philosophy.
43:39 We are more angels than mammals. That's what defines us as a species.
43:42 Our capacity for rational thought and universal values.
43:47 We're not asking you to become less human, but more human,
43:52 which means to reject the suffering that provokes the mammal within you.
43:56 You, Josh, to scorn and reject your brother so you can feel more powerful.
44:01 You, Josh, to play out this pretend helplessness, which you know provokes your brother
44:06 because you're angry at him for putting you down.
44:10 Those are the mechanics of your relationship, but they don't have to be."
44:17 There's an old story called "Hamlet" where the main guy apologizes to his friend
44:22 with the analogy that he has shot an arrow over a house and hit him by accident.
44:29 "What happened to your family was a terrible accident.
44:33 Do not let accidents destroy you. That is what animals do.
44:38 But we are not animals. We are human beings.
44:41 We are angels, and we can rise above almost anything and everything.
44:47 Love each other for what you have survived.
44:50 Forgive brute circumstances for what happened to you and join us in the sieve."
45:01 David suddenly felt an intense and hostile skepticism radiating from Roman,
45:08 who stood stiffly by the door.
45:11 He stepped between the older warrior and the two boys as if he could be a human shield
45:16 against the radioactive cynicism.
45:21 He felt a strong urge to keep talking, but knew that the boys had to rise to meet his words
45:28 and that their futures hung in the balance.
45:35 But then an amazing thing happened.
45:42 David was desperately hoping that Josh would apologize to his younger brother,
45:47 but it was Josh who put his hand on Saul's shoulder and said,
45:55 "I'm sorry, Saul."
45:59 What exactly he was apologizing for was both opaque and blindingly clear.
46:08 He was apologizing for pretending to be helpless, for trapping his brother,
46:14 for not doing his part to maintain and repair their relationship,
46:17 for rolling over and letting events flatten him,
46:21 for not taking any shred of leadership in the suffering they both were going through,
46:27 for putting all responsibility on his brother and breaking him with the weight of his own inaction.
46:38 And it was the breaking of that cycle that broke the distance between them.
46:50 Josh returned the apology, and they suddenly hugged each other, looking very, very small.
47:08 David and Roman went for dinner in the cafeteria.
47:13 The serving bot was genuinely confused as to why Roman had no order history.
47:19 David tried to explain that Roman had enabled maximum privacy,
47:23 but the bot complained that it had no record of that setting or of Roman at all.
47:29 Finally, Roman snapped, "Maximum privacy, you tangled piece of machinery!
47:33 Which means I live in the woods and have no presence here!"
47:37 David soothed the machine with an override, and it bustled off placidly to get their food.
47:43 Roman turned to David.
47:46 "That was total crap in there," David shrugged. "Tell me more."
47:51 "Yeah, those kids had it rough, I guess. But all of this hand-holding and crying and hugging and—"
47:57 The older man shuddered. "It's like everything is being run by women or something."
48:02 "What do you mean?"
48:04 "Oh, all that sensitivity stuff. Bad things happen. You shut your mouth, you move on.
48:09 You spend, what, close to an hour talking to those kids. That's not the world. That's not realistic.
48:15 You keep thinking that the world is your world.
48:19 In this world, we process feelings because we understand that all psychological problems arise from the denial of legitimate suffering."
48:28 "Hey, I wouldn't deny that they have suffered. That never would have happened in my tribe."
48:34 "Almost nothing else happens in your tribe," said David evenly, obviously probing for resistance.
48:42 Roman laughed harshly.
48:44 "Oh, you see, even that weird little jab is so feminine.
48:49 If you have something to say, just say it. Don't sigh and pretend it's a conversation," David said.
48:55 "You and I speak different languages. I'm looking for common ground.
49:01 Let's start with this. You think it was a waste of my time to spend an hour talking to those boys?"
49:07 Roman shrugged and gestured vaguely.
49:09 "Y'all seem to have so little to do that who the hell am I to tell you that your time is being wasted?
49:14 But coddling those boys won't do them any good."
49:17 "Do you know the price of pain?" Roman started.
49:21 "What?"
49:23 "Those boys are in pain.
49:25 If we don't find a way to ease their pain through empathy or concern, then that pain will cost us.
49:33 Even in the old world, they knew that children who suffered a lot ended up costing society about 20 times more.
49:40 The average person produces at least a bitcoin worth of value over the course of his or her life,
49:48 tens of millions of dollars in old currency.
49:51 Criminals cost 10 to 15 bitcoins.
49:55 So that's what, a hundred million dollars plus that swings on one hour of conversation?
50:03 And follow-up, of course? I don't see how that's a bad investment at all."
50:08 The conversation paused as their food was delivered.
50:12 Roman grimaced, poking at his plate.
50:15 "I feel like there's going to be engine oil in my pasta."
50:19 "Once criminality goes below a certain threshold,
50:25 and we had 38 murders across the entire civ last year,
50:30 out of a population of 750 million,
50:33 then people don't need to protect themselves from it.
50:38 It's not just the cost of the stolen goods or the prosecution or the expulsion or whatever.
50:43 It's the cost of having to protect all of your stuff.
50:46 Alarms and thumbprints and voice recognition and insurance.
50:49 It's a staggering amount of money.
50:53 Here, people can leave their doors unlocked.
50:56 They make enough and have enough that they don't even think of stealing.
51:01 Why would you?
51:02 Children can roam freely.
51:04 Women can walk all night if they want to.
51:07 There are still occasional crimes, but we have found the cure for criminality."
51:14 Peaceful parenting.
51:16 Even in your world, where random accidents happen,
51:19 but you don't plan your life around them.
51:21 Someone gets hit by lightning, a tree branch falls on you out of nowhere.
51:24 It happens, but it's not a central part of life.
51:28 That's like crime here.
51:30 Those two boys were in grave danger of having no respect for their society
51:35 because their society had failed them.
51:38 There is a social contract here, though not like in the old world.
51:43 The real social contract, the contract of the sieve,
51:47 the contract I have spent my life defining and enforcing is this.
51:53 Protect children.
51:57 Roman had blinked.
51:59 I was kind of expecting more.
52:01 David smiled and shook his head.
52:03 Nope. That's it.
52:06 Roman scowled. Come on.
52:08 David said, "Do you know how we domesticated dogs?"
52:11 "We don't use animals."
52:13 "This isn't about you, but okay."
52:17 We domesticated dogs by feeding them and not beating them.
52:21 Same with cats.
52:23 Why not with children?
52:25 Treat them well. Don't hit them. Reason with them.
52:29 Don't punish them.
52:31 And they grow up to love you and your society.
52:35 If society has treated them well,
52:37 then society gains credibility,
52:40 and credibility is the very essence of the sieve.
52:44 So when their society tells them to obey a certain rule,
52:48 if the children have grown up respecting the rules of the society
52:51 which protected them,
52:53 then they are much more willing to listen to the rules of society
52:56 and obey them.
52:59 Why are you the leader?
53:02 The question obviously took Roman by surprise.
53:05 "Why am I the leader?"
53:07 He mused for a moment, then shrugged.
53:10 "Because I get things done. I win."
53:14 "And you have proven that over time."
53:16 "Oh, yeah. Yeah."
53:19 "And does anyone doubt your ability to get things done? To win?"
53:24 Roman scoffed.
53:26 "Ah, there was the young buck snipping at your eels,
53:29 waiting for me to go soft in my old age, but no, not really."
53:34 "So you have credibility."
53:38 "Yeah. Yeah, I do."
53:42 "Outside of your children,
53:44 when was the last time you had to use violence to be in charge?"
53:49 Roman's face softened slightly as his focus shifted to history.
53:54 "I don't know.
53:57 I'll get things done with a glance by now,
53:59 but when I was younger, I had to fight all the time.
54:03 But remember, violence was used on me as well."
54:06 "I don't forget that for a second," said David slowly.
54:12 "When I was, ooh, 12, around puberty, of course, we did this thing.
54:18 It happened for everyone, my boys.
54:20 You had to stay up all night standing, not even leaning on anything,
54:24 and then you had to dodge arrows.
54:26 Three times your age, 36 arrows for me.
54:30 My father and uncle shot at me.
54:32 You'd think that because they were family, they might go easy,
54:35 but I think they went harder.
54:36 They knew where I would dodge."
54:38 Roman laughed.
54:39 "All you had to do was not curl up in a ball,
54:42 just keep twisting and turning.
54:44 The arrows couldn't kill you.
54:45 They had cloth on the end, but they left a hell of a bruise.
54:47 And you had to watch your eyeballs, to speak of two of four."
54:52 "Oh, that was a long while.
54:54 Probably only a couple of minutes, but it felt like a lifetime."
54:57 His aging voice shone with pride.
54:59 "They only hit me six times.
55:02 Some of the best archers in the tribe.
55:04 I kept that record until--"
55:06 He turned and locked eyes on David.
55:09 "My son had just finished his trial the day before he met your daughter.
55:14 It's a point of pride, I guess.
55:16 You're really exhausted, but you stay up that night anyway."
55:20 Roman's voice trailed off as his mind got lost in subterranean warrens.
55:26 His unwound face looked slashed by the knives of time.
55:34 "That's the difference," said David softly.
55:38 He had an urge to place his palm on the back of the old man's hand,
55:43 but knew that it would be violently rejected.
55:47 "You have credibility because of your ability to withstand suffering.
55:53 I have credibility because of my ability to prevent suffering."
55:58 Roman murmured, "Not with those two boys, though."
56:02 David shook his head, "No, also with them.
56:07 I can't do anything about their past suffering, but I can do a lot about the future."
56:12 Roman shook his head slowly.
56:15 "And that's the vanity that will end you and the civ."
56:21 [BLANK_AUDIO]