Button in the Fabric of Time (5 page)

“In my time, this was a desert. Where did you
get the water to irrigate it?”

“I don’t understand your question, ‘where did
we get the water.’ Three-quarters of earth’s surface is covered
with water.”

“I’m aware of that, but most of that water is
salty; therefore, unfit for plants and animals. Do you convert salt
water to fresh water, or do you use fresh water from the rivers and
lakes?”

“Three hundred years ago, people used water
from rivers, but they stopped using it because it was contaminated.
Since it had to be purified anyway, they found it easier to purify
ocean water, because ocean water was more abundant, and more
available.”

“Where did you get enough energy to purify
ocean water? We were running out of energy.”

“How could you run out of energy?” Roc-2
asked. “The entire universe is composed of energy.”

“Of course it is,” I replied, “but how do you
convert the energy of the universe into a form that you can use to
purify water?”

“We use the power of the universe itself,”
Roc-2 explained. “The sun has always provided power for the earth.
We collect solar energy from locations unfit for other uses, and
convert it to electricity.”

“But the sun shines only in the daytime,” I
commented. “What power do you use at night? Do you store
electricity in batteries?”

Roc-2 smiled and explained, “Until they
learned a better way, people stored energy in one form or another,
but then they found it was easier to transfer energy from areas
where the sun was shining, to areas where it was not. That way,
there was no storage problem. We transfer power all over the world.
. . . In the time you left, most people overlooked the fact that
the sun is shining on half of the earth all the time. It’s high
noon somewhere on earth, at every moment of every day.”

I was overlooking that simple fact and
feeling a bit foolish. I said, “I see what you mean.”

“Knowledge is accumulative. The more we
learn, the more we are capable of learning,” he graciously replied.
“People with inquisitive minds accumulate knowledge by being
exposed to knowledge.”

* * * * *

Chapter 7

Our keri was moving only a few feet above the
surface of the earth. Jan-3 held my hand and pointed to things she
thought might interest me. People were doing all the things
necessary to create and maintain this magnificent landscape. Some
were planting, some were maintaining, and others were harvesting
crops. Still others were tending animals. They were all working
diligently, but no one seemed to find the work unpleasant.

“What form of government do you have?” I
asked.

“We have a democracy,” Jan-3 answered, “but
it’s different from the democracies of your time.”

“How is your democracy different?”

“We have a true democracy,” she replied. “It
seems to me that one of the founding fathers of your democracy
stated it clearly. Democracy is a government of the people, by the
people, and for the people. History tells us that the democracies
of your time were dominated by special interests. Most of those
interests were capitalistic. Men of wealth used their money to
obtain power, and then used their power to pass laws beneficial
only to themselves. Speaking metaphorically, they didn’t produce
the crop, but they reaped the harvest. That type of democracy
doesn’t represent the working people. It benefits only the wealthy
who pass the laws. Our historians tell us that some of the workers
in the past knew what was happening, but they couldn’t correct the
problem because the ones in control used their influence to appease
the religious masses, and the religious masses kept the wealthy in
power. You didn’t have a democracy—you had an autocratic theocracy,
and that’s the most oppressive form of government. Our history
books also tell us that, by the time you realized your government
was collapsing, it was too late.”

“Your history books are right,” I admitted,
“but how is your democracy better?”

“In our system, everyone benefits relative to
what he or she contributes. Everybody contributes something, and
for that contribution, they are entitled to the necessities of
life, such as food, water, shelter, clothing, education, and health
care. If they want more, they must earn more.”

“Can they own property?”

“Of course, and many do. As an example, some
residences are more desirable than others, and those who earn more
money buy the better homes. We don’t have what you called
entrepreneurs, but we have many people who dedicate their lives to
developing things that will improve all our lives, and they are
rewarded and honored for their contributions. No matter how much
wealth a person acquires, they must do something that benefits the
people. We don’t allow anyone to acquire wealth, and then hire
others to do the basics for them. That would take us right back to
the type of democracy that you had, which was oppressive.”

“What if someone refuses to work?” I
asked.

“No one is forced to do anything; but if they
do nothing, they get nothing.”

“That sounds like what we called Communism in
the twentieth century. It was tried and failed miserably.”

“I read of that time. The governments you
mention failed, not because the concept was wrong, but because it
was administered incorrectly. A few men gained control and
administered the system for their own personal advantage. The
Communist leaders maintained control by killing millions who
resisted their dominance.”

“That is true,” I admitted. “In one of the
Communist countries, millions were put to death and millions more
were exiled.”

“Another reason Communism failed,” Jan 3
continued, “is that it destroyed initiative. Communism denied
people the right to acquire wealth and own property. They couldn’t
improve their lives by working hard, so they did only what they
were forced to do. We learned from their mistakes—we don’t hold
anyone back, and each person is rewarded for his or her
achievements.”

“Can people with money hire others to work
for them?”

“Yes, many people provide services and
receive pay for their work, but the ones doing the hiring must do
the basics themselves. Hiring people to do the basics for you would
create a master-servant relationship, and that is degrading and
divisive.”

“If people use their money to hire workers to
manufacture
things
beneficial to the populace as a whole, is
that not making a contribution?” I asked.

“That is what we call capitalistic democracy.
In that system, workers—for economic reasons—were unable to build
or manufacture things for themselves. Most workers came to realize
that that was a form of slavery because they had no say in how much
they were paid, and they had to do the work—no matter how meager
the wage—because they had no other way to feed their families.”

“In our system,” Jan-3 continued, “there is
nothing a corporation could build, manufacture or do, that the
people can’t do for themselves. The people provide the material and
do the work, then share in what they create. No one makes a profit,
but everyone benefits. If they want to make a profit, they must do
it in another way. That’s why I call our democracy a true
democracy.”

“Who decides what work the people must
do?”

“They decide for themselves. Many people
improve themselves by acquiring knowledge and developing skills;
then they contribute their skills and knowledge to meet their
obligations. As an example, we have little need for doctors, but
people do medical research to improve our mental and emotional
welfare. For those who do not have knowledge and skills, there’s
always a list of things that needs doing. They can choose from the
list. Only a few hours of work each day are required to meet the
basics. If they work longer and do more, they are compensated by
accruing more buying power. They can then buy anything they want,
except servitude.”

“Then there is no unemployment and no
welfare?”

“That’s correct,” Jan-3 said. “Everybody
works, and everybody benefits.”

“What happens if someone is unable to
work?”

“Why would they be unable to work? We have no
illnesses, and we don’t grow old physically. Some might be disabled
temporarily, and while they are disabled, they continue to receive
the basics, but they are quickly treated so they are able to return
to work. Tools are provided for every task, and if a worker doesn’t
know how to do the work, someone will show them. No one is required
to do anything beyond his or her ability. There are always others
doing the same kind of work—they work together and help one
another. People can accumulate points by working longer in order to
have time off. I think you called it vacation time.”

Pointing down, Jan-3 said, “Look at the
people working below. Do they look uncomfortable or unhappy?”

The people she pointed to were doing
agricultural work in verdant fields, and I could tell by their
movements and gestures that they were laughing and talking. I had
to admit they didn’t look unhappy.

“Are you rewarded for doing good and punished
for doing bad?”

“Your reward for doing good, is that you live
a long, healthy life, in a beautiful place. No one bothers you. You
do whatever you want, whenever you want to do it. We have only one
law, and that law is—DO NO HARM. There are times when people
inadvertently break the law, but no one would knowingly break the
law, and why would they? It wouldn’t benefit them in any way, and
they would be denied the basics.”

“How do you define harm?”

“To intentionally deceive for social,
political, religious, or economic gain is doing harm. To
physically, mentally, or emotionally damage someone, is harmful. To
steal something, or to deny someone something that they are
entitled to, is doing that person harm. To force your will upon
another person is harming that person. Everything that is needed is
provided, so there is no reason to do harm.”

“How do you know that the person’s intent was
to deceive or do physical damage?”

“We have robots that cannot be deceived.”

“It does seem simple and efficient, but I’ll
have to see it in action,” I said, still not convinced.

* * * * *

Chapter 8

We crossed over a low range of green
mountains and started out over the ocean. In the distance, beyond
the coastal islands, I saw a gleaming structure with rainbows of
light radiating from it. Amazed, I asked, “What’s that?”

“That is the first of the two cities I told
you we would be passing,” Roc-2 replied.

“It looks like it’s made of glass. Is that
why it’s glistening?”

“It
is
made of glass, and the glass is
reflecting the sunlight, but that doesn’t account for the colors
radiating from it,” Roc-2 explained. “The rainbow of color is
obtained by building prisms into the glass. The prisms separate the
light into spectrums, displaying the colors of the rainbow.”

“It’s beautiful. I’d like to talk to the
engineer who designed that. He must be brilliant.”

“He is brilliant, and that’s only one of our
many engineering innovations. We’ll show you others.”

After getting closer, I saw that the city was
a single massive structure, made of glass, floating in the ocean.
Wondering how they held the glass together, I asked, “How do you
support the structure?”

Not completely understanding my question,
Roc-2 replied, “The city floats in the ocean, and it’s anchored in
place, so no supports are needed. Glass is an excellent building
material, superior in many ways to most other materials. Silica,
from which glass is made, is the most abundant naturally occurring
element on the earth. Glass is easy to recycle. All we have to do
is melt it and reshape it. Glass doesn’t rust, rot, or corrode. We
build colors into the glass and the color resists fading. We can
make it optical or opaque. Glass is an engineer’s dream. It has
some tensile, flexile, and compressive limitations, but we’re
making headway on eliminating them.”

“I can see that the city is made from panels,
blocks, and beams of glass, but how are they held together?”

“We use dovetailing and interlocking. The
interlocking is similar to what you called jigsaw puzzles. We
manufacture the pieces precisely, and fit them together perfectly.
When the pieces are lubricated with crystallizing silicon and slid
together, they are airtight, waterproof, and nearly impossible to
take apart.”

“I can’t wait to see that being done. I can
see the results, and it’s magnificent. The structure looks
enormous. How big is it, and how many people live here?” The warmth
of Jan-3’s leg pressing against mine was distracting, and her smile
made me think of things other than buildings.

I could tell by the sly look in Roc-2’s eyes
that he was aware of my distraction, but he ignored it when he
replied, “The city is ten kilometers square and forty floors deep.
Each floor is ten meters high. Eight floors extend into the ocean
and thirty-two floors extend into the air. This is a complete city
in every way; it contains everything that the people need. They
live, work, and play here. Many work in the country doing landscape
maintenance and agricultural work, but we transport the things they
produce to the cities where everyone lives. People travel to the
country for work or pleasure, and they travel to other cities to
visit friends and family. Only in Africa and a few remote islands
do people live on land.”

“How many cities are there, and how many
people live in a city this size?”

“There are thousands of cities and this is
one of the smaller ones. This city alone contains more people than
the twenty-first century cities of New York, London, Paris, and
Rome combined, yet it occupies only a fraction of the space of even
one
of those cities. Those cities wasted a lot of space on
roads, highways, parking lots, garages, and there was wasted space
between the buildings.”