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As a teenager I was of course a staunch advocate for the importance of personal freedom. As a prolific devourer of science fiction, I love thinking about the potential changes that science and technology will bring. However, back in 1991, when I was in high school, it occurred to me that freedom and technology may be incompatible. To help me think through these troublesome ideas, I wrote the The Historian’s Address. It was difficult writing from so alien a perspective, and the result still leaves me troubled.

THE HISTORIAN’S ADDRESS

by Ranjit Singh Mathoda
created and copyright February 6, 1991

I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,
And in short, I was afraid.
- T.S. Eliot

Oppression and manipulation are the tools of life. Manipulation is nothing other than one thing affecting another. Oppression is merely badly conducted manipulation.
- Historian’s Address 2154.17C

Sleep assailed the child, but he fought against it, eyes shut yet aware of a glaring light. Time flowed like thick molasses, straining to show sign of its passage. Melancholy music stained the room; stale air carried the seemingly irremovable stench of exercise and exhaustion. Drowsy sensations penetrated the mind to fight strange battles with concentrated thought: there was no desire or struggle, only a sense of conflict. The boy’s mouth was dry, his skin leathery, and his body aching. The child felt impotent, lying upon a bed in a town on a world revolving about a star within a galaxy plummeting deep inside the universe.

An image formed within his mind, a maelstrom of activity, with horrific speed. The youth constructed an empire, a series of nations, worlds barrenly hostile, sandy plains of sanguine hue, pale white moons, the remains of asteroids pierced with ant-like diligence by efficiently designed machines, and countless other wonders. Technological advances were considered (and discarded if unwieldy), until humanity lay encompassed by progress. Fear of death, the rank odor generated from evolution’s favored children, penetrated the future. Immortality and other advances both great and sinister were cast into motion upon the fictional universe. He recognized the newly formed universe as his own propelled through time.

The child’s attitude rapidly became serious and calm, as he pulled and tested the fabric of societies, acquiring a momentum of consequence that would leave his worlds shaken without sign of the slightest trembling. In the dark firmament, between dying suns, space conquering humanity established itself. Amidst the wretched, powerful masses a character was created in a manner designed to elicit interest. Facial characteristics shaped themselves, clothing attained structure, social position was asserted, and a history congealed from the grave enthusiasm of the child. He let it all ring with authenticity …

~

Upon a planet whose strange syllables formed the word Caeroon, a historian resided, moulding the appearance of her features slightly with facial accents, leaving an impression of ruggedly elegant beauty. With care she lifted a device curved sensuously to complement her hand. A figure, dark and brooding, appeared. It spoke with a levity that contradicted the grim countenance and the archaic seriousness of its garb. “Are you coming? The Address begins soon.”

She signalled affirmation to her colleague, adjusted the device, and viewed herself. Satisfied with superficial appearance, she fingered controls for mood regulators. Legal, within limits. Technology not boasted of on democratic planets, she thought haughtily. The historian placed graceful fingers upon the surface of a wall, examining the texture of the pale blue material. Imbedded in the structure lay multitudes of miniscule scanners, probes, and detectors. She smiled at those who watched, pleased at their presence. With care the historian entered a medical booth for final preparation.

Body intensive scans probed with a hushed murmuring, signalling a prognosis when they had finished. Supple and slippery, a hose shaped synthetic serpent entered her mouth, dispensing a wash of fluid once it had penetrated a sufficient depth. The object slithered out of the orifice and the historian breathed slowly as she scanned the diagnosis. Apparently a colony of potentially harmful nanodroids had become lodged in the stomach; specifically constructed mechanisms terminated the invaders and then decomposed themselves. The problem had been solved efficiently.

The lady finished last adjustments to her appearance, moving out of her chambers and into a hallway of tepid air. Artistically sculpted walls that seemed to move with a fluid grace were vigorously repaired, cleaned, and examined by near-infinitesimal machines. She noted a recently crafted aviary with approval. Birds of paradise cawed their enigmatic songs, spreading white frocked wings wide within transparent nets. The historian absently recorded and compared the species and genus of each as she walked towards the lecture chamber.

A man met her at the entrance, fulfilling formal greetings peculiar to the planetary culture. The servant had a soft, pampered face, accentuated by vibrant robes. The historian acknowledged his presence coldly. Swiftly the man spoke, humility evident. “Regulators are in place, illumination is as you requested, citizen.”

The lady passed into the chamber beyond the servant, without replying, and was watched by most of civilization. With careful attention she stood in the center of the chamber, wondering if she really was being scanned by thousands of sensors. Seemingly without notes or material, the historian began to speak in a soft, careful voice.

“Citizens, I thank you for your audience. We stand the product of a decision made by our ancestors, wisely I believe. It is in relation to that which I will talk today. Citizens, here is your Historian’s Address.”

She moved slightly, nervous despite her cool demeanor.

“Of late a great variety of discussion has probed the question of what is sentient. It has given question to the possibility of self awareness, probed the essence of the survival impulse, and even given credence to the concept of irrational thought as the basis of the mind. Topics thought to be closed and finished have been opened anew, largely due to questioning of our legal system. What species are society limited to? Is it within the ‘rights’ of society to seek revenge? How then, can it not be an individual’s ‘right’? Five conflicts within the past cycle have addressed these questions.”

“Place a male member of Homo sapiens, c. 2000 A.D., within a sealed room. Wake him. Then plunge a pendulum of sharp, dense material, very slowly and deliberately, through the center of the room towards his body. I promise he will be frightened, and try to move, in most circumstances. The impulse to move in a ‘healthy’ person is direct and there, whether it is contradicted or not by ‘rational’ thought. The impulse for revenge follows.”

“Often we use these terms, ‘rational’ and ‘healthy’ I mean, in a loose manner. Someone is behaving rationally if they are acting in an intelligent way, just as someone is healthy if they are physically and mentally fit. What about a martyr? Are they acting in a rational or healthy manner? It becomes a matter of comparison. If a person places thereself in a position of relative weakness for the benefit of others are they still being rational or just brave? Maybe they are acting without concern for self interest. We might imply self interest even if it weren’t there. The feeling of being altruistic, or good, can conceivably be coveted and wished for. Is it still altruism, if the feeling is being sought actively by the individual to the point of risking self for a sense of gratification? The definition is not establishing what something ‘is’, it is more a comparison.”

“Our society tends to frown on such altruism, with ‘good’ reason. But why is it ‘good’ reason, and not ‘bad’ or ‘evil’? Why should we not welcome martyrs to the cause? Perhaps because we can not distinguish between martyr and hypocrite. Comparisons are made both irrationally and rationally, emphasizing the possibility of the mind being relatively unstructured. We must recognize this before analyzing our own system of government and attempting to decide whether it seeks, or has sought, vengeance. Fellow citizens, the idea of ‘representative democracy’ as ‘good’, and ‘oppressive oligarchy’ as ‘bad’, is one that plagued our ancestors for a great length of time. In our nation we assume that ‘oppression’ is equatable with the word ‘limitation’, and generally recognize its worth along with its weakness. This was not always the case.”

“As a historian I refer to broad, generally recognized trends in society. Because they are broad, or recognized, does not mean they are correct and present. These are things I leave to the individual to decide. In making that supposition, that you can partially decide on the presence of these trends by yourself, I have placed emphasis upon the major factor that unites both representative democracies and our nation’s oppressive oligarchy. The knowledge possessed by the individual is central to the society. They both expect things of the people; our system of oligarchy is merely more honest. Despite this we seem less benign. How can such an illusion be crafted?”

“The word ‘benign’ has often been applied to a government that works in the interests of the people. It was believed for a lengthy period of time that representative democracies result in a greater number of benign reigns, and in more peaceful transfer of authority, than oppressive oligarchies. To understand why this might be so, let us probe the first true representative democracy, the United States of America, as it was for some time.”

“A small nation, although relatively powerful and wealthy, the United States existed as a result of a revolution and overthrow by a disgruntled minority of a colonial population. This minority constructed a framework for their society based upon their beliefs, which would then change during a period of rapid expansion in which the nation conducted whatever actions it felt necessary. When the nation ‘outgrew’ its past ‘crimes’, the expansion ceased as rapidly as it had begun, replaced by economic and then technological expansion. The needs of colonization and settlement, however, had already placed an indelible mark on the framework of the relatively young and influential nation. Technological progress became proliferous due to an inwardly competitive economy, relatively vast funding of educational institutions, and a limitation-sparse environment for communication. Exploration of new sciences became of great ‘national’ interest, clearly showing that the young nation violated its own principles in favor of continued survival.”

“Those principles, established at its inception, implied individual freedom without constraint insofar as no other individual was harmed or limited. Mentally, citizens suffered stress from one another, an obvious harm that was not prevented. Nor could the term ‘individual’, at that time loosely observed as members of Homo sapiens, be specifically defined. Mass numbers of less complex and more specialized life forms were exterminated with some regret; little real outcry was targeted against the society itself. However, as exploration progressed in a technological sense, these flaws became readily apparent. Thankfully, the nation was beginning to cope with rapid social change as a result of technology, and became prepared for the vast schism which would divide its members later.”

The historian paused, grasping for words.

“Representative democracy had been the most dangerous of political systems in its implications. In no other system of governance was the truth more perverted by social impulse. Individual wishes for freedom allowed for rapid growth and progress. However, they resulted in mass destruction as well. Corporations began to manipulate one another in a complex manner, and the representative government was soon incapable of coping. Vast quantities of information became a burden to those who limited their ‘rights’ to search, and a boon to those who placed no self impositions. If a society is a conglomeration of its members, then representative democracy leads to direct collapse in any technologically advanced society. The ‘unalienable rights’ as they were called, are a myth. A myth with serious, and often beneficial, repercussion, but a myth regardless.”

“Individuals are flexible, but they are also readily manipulatable through scientific means. Mental probes opened an entirely new arena for humanity. It became possible for benign oligarchy to survive with individual support, through therapy. Oppression of the mind, five men from the past caught in a faceless room might cry forth in their anger and fear. Yet place them in contact and competition, giving each the capability of destroying the rest. Deterrence, the fear of equal reprisal, might prevent destruction. Increase their number to fifty billion seething people, each with individual cares and desires, some seeing that there is no design or direction to life and unwilling to create one, each capable of destroying the rest with their knowledge of technology, and the need for therapy becomes evident. The American societal impulse, and the ‘morality’ it professed, was based upon a desire for vengeance equal to crime and not direct cognitive or emotional understanding of survival.”

“When individual passions can vary, and technology makes it possible to destroy all other individuals, constraints must be placed in society. The folly of many nations was to accept this need too late; it is historical record that some of the slowest were plunged into infernos, whether biological, chemical, mechanical, anarchical, nuclear or a combination of these, resultant of their own false needs. Their ‘inalienable’ rights, the struggle for dignity, and implications of the underlying connection of all humanity failed miserably because a single individual could be stubborn.”

“We live in a society that stands at opposition to such failure. Each of our citizens is more productive, genetically hardier, and spiritually more sure. Our government realizes the limitations it must impress on itself, for its members are veterans of therapy as well. It is incapable of oppression, where such alludes to unequal manipulation of people. If we are watched continuously, lose all privacy, ‘deprived’ of the ‘right’ to speak without limitation, and face other ‘barbarities’ then these are things that apply to our rulers as well. Perhaps these limitations are unjust. Regardless, they are necessary.”

“Back then, to the question of social vengeance. Whether the so-termed Massacres were ‘evil’, ‘bad’, or ‘vengeful’, is a faulty attempt at definition. They can be interpreted as such, for comparatively the motives of our government may have been ‘evil’, ‘bad’, or ‘vengeful’. They might not have been; the actions must stand free and clear of an attempt to link purpose, for the purpose is not known. Regardless, the actions of this nation were necessary to the continuation of stability. What we do, we do not lightly. What we are, we must be to continue to exist. The limitations of our society are sorely felt. They must be strenuously followed.”

The historian paused, bowing her head, mouth slightly dry. “I thank you.”

She exited the room, avoiding those who sought further statements, pleased with her analysis. The historian stopped suddenly, muttering an ancient passage to herself. A sensor technician half a planet away relayed and strengthened the signal, until the statement could be given to the records department, disseminated to the nets, for comment and discussion. He smiled as he did so, impressed by the speech; the woman, he thought, was a genius. He turned his attention to the voice pattern which he had just strengthened. It was a poem, he noted. “Shine, perishing republic …”, it began.

~

… The child stopped his living dream, lying silently upon the bed for a few moments. It all faded from his mind, giving way to the glaring light which penetrated closed lids. He opened his eyes, blinking as he watched the door to his room decay and crumble, victim to forces that were already present. He blinked again, and it stood straight and white, as it had always been. Air smelt of burnt death, deteriorating in its paralysis. He disregarded the false sensations, and smiled. The music had ceased to emanate from his crude alarm clock, the bright green facing showing the time in ugly numerals. He rose slightly in his bed, reached for the light switch, and then the room lay cloaked in blackness pierced only by ghastly green. The child reclined, bed creaking, and slept.

~ The End ~