Ways of Living
The Talk by T. A. Spencer
"It'll be scary to see us forty years from now. The people of the world may be like sheep." He said to me as his eyes widened with seriousness. His greying hair reminded me of his age and what his eyes had seen in years past. A patch of silvery brown hair jiggled back and forth, as it dawned on me that the leg crossed over his knee had began to bounce. The sensation in the leg sent a wiggling response under his clothing and through his entire body. His eyes held the look of a startled rabbit, trying to stand still, aware of his every movement, as he knew someone had spotted him.
"Like sheep?" I inquired, knowing his statement was much more important than that. I tried to clarify the remark. "Like, baaahh, baahh?"
"Yeah, ya know, each person gets their little pill to stay in line. Well, let's put it this way, when my mom was your age, it wasn't like it is today. There wasn't any Rowe v. Wade or 'Baby Jessica.' No one would ever dream of giving up his or her baby, and no one thought there was any choice about having a baby. Sure, a few people might have found themselves in a tight position and given up a baby, but nobody thought it was right. Nowadays, it's practically encouraged. 'I know it's not a girl, and I only want a girl.' Or, 'I only want a boy…'"
"Isn't that what they're basically doing in China or Japan right now?" I asked inquisitively, hoping I was in the same frame of thought.
"Exactly. They've even got the technology to test if your baby has certain diseases or defects right now, and you can choose to get rid of the baby. It's a normal thing to do.
Then, look at this thing they're doing with doctors assisting suicide. Sure, it sounds good from the outside with giving people the right to choose and all, but look closer. There are many easy ways to kill oneself; there's painless ways to kill yourself if you want to. Hell, just go in the garage and listen to the radio in your car. I guarantee you'll be dead in a couple hours, and it's completely painless."
"I heard somewhere that drowning is very painless once you let go. I guess it's supposed to be like breathing in the amniotic fluids as an infant." I chimed in, more concerned with where he was taking this conversation.
"Sure, but the key is once you stop fighting," he confirmed. "Anyhow, my point is this: once a doctor crosses the line from being a healer to a killer, the world's in serious trouble." He paused, allowing me to contemplate his words.
"I mean, I remember when the first Sunday night movie came on - the very first one ever. My parents let us stay up past our 7:30 bedtime to watch it." He paused again to let me ponder what it would be like to go to bed at such an early time. "We didn't have a color television for a real long time, but I remember Bonanza was the first show in color. It was such a thrill," he said in a high pitch voice, trying to get a giggle out of me. "Well, I guess my point is that we didn't have the Internet and things like that back then. Nobody would have believed someone if he had tried to tell us that we would have it in twenty or so years anyway."
"Do you think I'll be telling my children about what the early Internet was like?" I soon began to wonder what the future held for my children, and how I would deal with the changes that were bound to happen. I had always loved and respected my father, but I now felt the same twinge of fear that sent his body shaking.
"It's hard to tell. Technology has been moving so fast; we've got so much technology now. They have all this stuff to tell about your genes. Are they going to start inspecting them now? 'Oh, this guy has a bad gene; therefore, he can't reproduce. To halt the spread of this gene he must be neutered to save humanity.' Even if it was not forced, they have enough technology to just put stuff in drinking water to make a guy sterile."
His shocking words made my mind tumble with thoughts. If the government began forcing bad genes out of society, it would have a conforming effect on society. People's mind would meld together into common thought. So common that an individual thought differing from the common could be prosecuted in the future. Sometimes it takes a maniac to put us in line, but if they blocked one bad gene, what would happen to the maniacs? What would determine a "bad" gene? The genes that make a person outspoken or ones that make a person talk back to others could be seen as ones from criminals. 'Those people don't respect authority and you want your children to respect you, right?' Each person could have their own pill to make them be a normal human. The government can make anything sound good when they want to.
Words from his lips began to pour my fears out loud. "When are people going to start fearing to breed. We already have the technology of cloning. When are people just going to say 'clone my baby of me, so I know it is free from defects. I survived, so I know a clone of me is strong enough to survive. I know what I like, so I know the best way to raise me.' We are already at a point to be able to do that, to be able to raise the Arian family.
I don't know that 'beam me up, Stevie', or whatever his name is, is that far away. I mean, there's that one book where the men, once they reach twenty-five or whatever, were vaporized to control reproduction on the planet. Technology. There's so much they can do with it. Of course, there's been a lot of books that have already been so prophetic. Technology could either just keep growing as it has been, or people could almost reverse it on us. I'm so scared. There's so much out there that was never there before. I've never seen it before. I've never had to deal with it before. That's why it's good to be on the cutting edge of this stuff, so you can have a say in what happens.
Education, that's the key. You have to have a good education. Think of how many people are out there that still don't know this stuff is even going on. They've still never seen all the technology. I hope this situation gets better. My generation must feel bad that they've produced so many ignoramuses in your generation. There are some kids that are just a joke of the educational system." I thought of my many friends that had screwed off their entire education and got pregnant before they even graduated. They weren't going to college. They couldn't tell you how to turn on a computer. They weren't going to have much influence on the future, just a vote of what people convince them is in their best nature. But even then, they probably won't even vote!
"I mean, my generation started it, started goofing around and just forgetting about their standards, but they were black sheep. Nobody approved of it. Now, people can get paid because they're addicted to drugs. The government tries to 'help' heroine addicts with treatment, so they can 'wean' their way off. Yeah right! It's an easy was to control…
I mean, think of the morals of some of your generation. Their standards are just so low. How are their children going to be? Each generation's standards will just keep dropping lower. Think about that. It's scary.
Some people talk about all these right winged groups, about how they're trying to hurt society. It's the government that says that, because these groups are keeping alive the only thing that keeps technology from taking us over. The Constitution. If one part of the constitution were struck down, the rest would crumble right after it. Part of it has pretty much been struck down, but we won't get into that. Just think of Russia when the people could only read what the government wanted them to read. That's already happened.
I think the problem is that too many humans try to put themselves above other humans. You can feel good about yourself. You can feel like you're above average, but never feel superior. No one is ever superior when dealing with the same species. No one is above the rest.
Well," he said, rising from the dining room chair. "I'm going to bed. That'll just give you something to think about before you sleep. Goodnight, Babe." He seemed peaceful as he stood above me, as if a great burden had released his mind, comforted that his wisdom had not gone unheard. He bent over to kiss me goodnight before he walked up the stairs.
