From the collection "The Yarn Spun Soft" by William Estabrook
“On this date, September 31, in the year 2207,” the young man announces, “six professors from the Department of History at Creighton Leigh University and one outside observer have convened in room 206 of Franklin Hall for the purpose of administering an oral examination to Cheryl Honeywell, who is a candidate for the doctoral degree in World History. The time is exactly 0100 hundred hours, Greenwich Mean Time. Please begin.”
“Good morning,” Professor Grelnik says to the candidate. “How are you?”
“A little nervous,” Honeywell smiles, “but otherwise fine.”
“Splendid. As you are well aware, there have been many profound changes in the world during the past two centuries, developments that no one could have predicted. We are still struggling to assess their full import, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Certainly.”
“Your course work here at the University has dealt primarily with this tumultuous period, and your written exams have demonstrated your grasp of the material. What we propose to do here this morning is not so much to grill you but simply to touch on many different areas and discuss them with you, as a sort of summing up ceremony before you move on, out into the real world.”
The candidate nods and smiles.
“All right then,” Professor Grelnik continues, “let’s get right to it. I have some basic questions in the area of linguistic geography, a topic with which I trust you’re familiar.”
“Yes, sir.”
The professor picks up a sheet of paper and begins to read his questions aloud from it.
“At the present moment, there are how many official languages used in international commerce in the world?”
“Technically there is just one, which is English.”
“Are there other languages that are otherwise widely used? And if so, how are they distributed?”
“English is generally the sole language of the United States of North America and the African Federated Republic. Spanish is still spoken among the people in the United States of South America, and Chinese survives fairly widely within the Asian Union. A variety of local languages can be found in isolated enclaves around the globe.”
“And in what way did English become the official language throughout the world?”
“Primarily as a perfectly natural process. From colonial days English had remained in use in many areas. And then, already in the nineteenth century, many businesses in non-English speaking areas had taken to posting signs outside their establishments in English as an aid to tourists, many of whom knew English as a second language. As time went on, American English became especially widespread, as the vehicle for much of popular culture, with films, television programs, lyrics to songs and mass magazines appearing in it. A knowledge of English allowed people to travel widely in the world without the necessity of learning many different languages.”
“So it was not by government decree that English attained its dominant status?”
“No, not at all. It was not until the World Youth Congress in 2108 that English was suggested as an official world language, a status that it had already achieved quite on its own.”
“After this recommendation was accepted, how was it implemented?”
“Most countries agreed to make proficiency in English a requirement for graduation from secondary school. All universities in the world began to use it as their medium of communication and instruction, in order to provide faculty members and students with the broadest possible access to knowledge. English became very much as Latin had been many centuries earlier, when all universities in Europe offered instruction exclusively in Latin, and all books were published in that language.”
“In what other ways, other than in commerce and the teaching profession, has English become the primary language?”
“Because of the ease of travel and the general practicality of having one universally understood means of communication, local tongues are slowly dying out. Some limited publication does appear in non-English sources, but they always employ not their former writing methods but the World Alphabet, which is based on the Roman system. These changes came in the aftermath of the Great Revolution.”
“Speaking of which, I’m sure Professor Deng will have some things to ask you.”
“Thank you,” Professor Deng says, looking down at his list of questions. “As you know, Miss Honeywell, my area is geopolitical history. Tell me, if you would, what exactly was the Great Revolution which led ultimately to the World Youth Congress? Where did the revolution start and what were its aims and what did it ultimately accomplish?”
“It started in Beijing, China, in the year 2098, as a result of long standing resentment among the university students at what they considered the increasingly repressive policies of their government.”
“What was the first indication that an upheaval was underfoot?”
“The students had organized a peaceful protest demonstration, and the government responded with armed force. A melee ensued during which forty-seven young people were shot and killed. Within a week, young people had rioted and burned the university to the ground. Individuals in the academic community who opposed the students were summarily executed. The carnage spread rapidly to every other Chinese university campus as well as to most secondary schools.”
“How did the rest of the world react?”
“At first with horrified fascination, and then the Chinese students were joined by their colleagues throughout Asia who were also revolting against oppressive governments. Violent incidents rapidly became commonplace. Assassinations and bombings and acts of wanton destruction and murder were the order of the day.”
“Would you say the strife was primarily a rebellion of young people against the established order? Youth against their elders?”
“Very much so. There were incidents in which groups of extremists, rowdies and hooligans, invaded retirement communities and slaughtered the residents. They also sacked government buildings and massacred the employees. The savagery rivaled anything seen since the collapse of the old Roman Empire.”
“And the result was?”
“The terrorism spread rapidly beyond the borders of Asia, westward into Europe and then to South America, followed by the United States and Canada. The continent of Africa, which is now the African Federated Republic, was the last to become the scene of such strife, but certainly the place where the worst of it occurred.”
“How long did the unrest continue?”
“After approximately eight years, order was finally restored when leaders among the young people began to call for peace and reconciliation. Two years later, in the spring of the year 2108, a World Youth Congress was convened in Geneva, which is located in the current entity of Switzerland.”
“Describe the Congress for us, if you would, please.”
“Delegates from all nations, none of whom was over the age of twenty-five, met for the summer in the country’s largest soccer stadium, for the purpose of creating a new world from the ashes of the old. They intended to issue no decrees or laws or regulations or anything that would suggest the desire to form a world government. That was a concept to which they were unanimously opposed. The proceedings were relayed by television to all corners of the globe.”
“What were the primary accomplishments of the Congress?”
“After much debate and fiery oration, the delegates decided to suggest a new map of the world, dividing it up into the five entities I mentioned earlier: the United States of North America, the United States of South America the European Union, the Asian Union and the African Federated Republic.”
“This new political arrangement was accepted?”
“With varying degrees of enthusiasm. Some of the European populations were not at all happy about relinquishing their national sovereignty, especially in France. But eventually the plan was adopted universally.”
“And tell me if you will, what was ultimately the fate of the military establishments of the formerly sovereign countries?”
“Following a recommendation by the Congress, all armed forces were disbanded. Ships and aircraft and vehicles that had purely military utility were scrapped and melted down. Every military base was converted to civilian use. Factories were set up for the sole purpose of shredding uniforms and re-cycling the fibers.”
“And what happened to career military people?”
“No one disputed that these individuals had performed well and often gallantly in the causes in which they had been taught to believe. Many were absorbed into the new civilian economy, and the remainder found themselves pensioned off. The last person to have served in any military force died in the year 2162.”
“Thank you, Miss Honeywell. I shall defer now to my colleague Professor Mildred Chadrash. I am sure that she has many questions for you.”
“Good morning, Cheryl,” says the young lady, before she glances down at the paper before her. “As you are aware, my specialty lies in the history of agricultural development.”
“Yes.”
“Late in the twenty-first century the concern over the lack of food to nourish the world’s population had reached crisis proportions. Can you state briefly what developments have occurred since that time that have helped to alleviate the problem?”
“Well, first of all, despite the excesses of the Great Revolution, some scientific research continued. For example, in the country of Australia, which had remained peaceful and is now part of the European Union, a team of scientists developed through genetic engineering a process by which all sorts of useful plants could be made to grow in salt water.”
“And when did that occur?”
“I believe the first announcement was made on February 30, 2112.”
“Correct.”
“The next development was the construction of pipelines through which sea water could be brought into various formerly unproductive areas, so that the new plants could be introduced. The Gobi Desert, as well as the Sahara and the arid southwestern part of the U.S.N.A. were slowly turned into vast agricultural preserves. Over many decades, a layer of topsoil has been built up in regions formerly covered by sterile sand. In fact, the continent of Australia is now one immense green forest that produces the world’s finest salt water varieties of pine, teak, oak and ebony lumber.”
“Why does the soil not quickly become overly saline? So much so that even salt-tolerant plants would not grow in it?”
“The introduction of so much plant life led to a rapid change in climatic conditions, the chief among them being a significant increase in rainfall over formerly desert regions. The leaching effect of the fresh water from the clouds has kept the soil fertile.”
“And the raising of animals as a source of food – how does that differ now?”
“The U.S.S.A. has become the primary area for animal breeding. Its products are distributed world wide by ships as well as aircraft.”
“May I inject a question at this point?” asks Professor Johansson, “on the subject of those methods of transportation?”
“By all means,” smiles Professor Chadrash. “I am finished with my queries.”
“What is the primary power source for the ships and aircraft?” Johansson reads from his list.
“Well,” the candidate replies, “the ships use steam turbines, and the aircraft employ jet power. Neither of these devices has changed fundamentally in centuries. Except, of course, for the fuel that they consume.”
“Which is?”
“Let me start at the beginning. Early on -- it was in 2110, I believe – a group of young agricultural engineers in California, which had just become part of the United States of North America, developed a plant that produced something they called the Davis bean. This artificial creation was much larger than any other similar legume, and when processed it yielded an extraordinarily abundant quantity of oil. Experimentation revealed that this oil could be refined and employed as a fuel that was as efficient as gasoline and much cleaner burning. Also, it lacked the caustic properties of methanol.”
“No doubt oil from the Davis bean has many commercial uses.”
“Certainly. It has turned out to be the perfect basis for the plastics industry. By 2135 the use of petroleum products had all but ceased, and the atmospheric pollution that they caused was eliminated.”
“Are there any other ways in which the Davis bean has proven to be valuable?”
“Yes. In fact, it quite edible and has replaced rice as a staple in much of the Asian Union, since it is vastly easier to grow and is a better source of protein.”
“And also quite delicious, as I may personally attest. But, since my field is actually historical sociology, let us turn our attention to the evolution of the family unit. What are the major changes that have occurred in the last two centuries? Say, from the year 2000.”
“Up to the time of the Great Revolution in 2098, the family had been under assault from many sides. The traditional view of the union in marriage between a man and a woman, for example, had been all but abandoned. Young people growing up found themselves confronted by a world in which there seemed to be no standards of personal behavior. On one hand, the individual was free to pursue any course in the search for pleasure. On the other hand, coercive and arbitrary governments were assuming increasing power over every aspect of the citizen’s life in any way that was perceived to be of benefit to the state. Thus there existed a bewildering blend of moral anarchy and political despotism.”
“Quite accurate. Please continue.”
“Well, the result was a widespread youthful disaffection with the establishment everywhere. This festering discontent was a topic that was discussed at great length and with much passion in underground publications that flowered again as soon as they were suppressed. The Great Revolution greatly accelerated movement toward change. Leaders of the Youth Movement commissioned an Association of Scholars, none of them more than twenty-five years of age, to begin a study of the Christian Bible, the Moslem Koran and the Jewish Torah, from a purely objective viewpoint, as practical guides to behavior. Their mission was to combine these separate documents into an amalgam, a single book whose moral principles the Congress could recommend as a practical guide to the proper life.”
“And of course they succeeded.”
“Yes. Much care was taken to lay down the rules of behavior in clear and unmistakable language. They called their book the Doctrine of Conduct. It was printed in English, and thousands of millions of copies of it were distributed world wide so that the people could render their verdict on it. The reaction was uniformly positive.”
“What was the first practical effect of the Doctrine?”
“Immediately, the various political entities initiated a requirement that each eighteen year old must pass an extensive written examination in the Doctrine of Conduct before receiving a certificate of graduation. The Universal Code of Law, formulated in 2114 and approved everywhere in the world, incorporates the principles of the Doctrine.”
“What are the penalties for infractions?”
“They vary, from a light admonition to forfeiture of one’s life.”
“And what has happened to the religions that were based on the original texts?”
“They thrive. The Association of Scholars agreed that faith is an essential ingredient in the lives of many people, and the freedom to believe in a greater good should in no way be discouraged. The Doctrine of Conduct is a purely secular construct, based on practical considerations.”
“Thank you, Miss Honeywell. I have no further questions. Professor Thaznaris?”
A silence falls over the room as the next inquisitor shuffles through a sheaf of papers before him on the table. He selects one item and scans it carefully.
“Yes, “ he says, “my area is the evolution of government. I believe that is a topic that is of particular interest to you.”
“Yes, sir. That’s true.”
“So, tell me - what good is government? I mean, why have any? What do we get from it in return for our tax money?”
“Those are exactly the questions that the World Youth Congress debated at great length. There were those who wanted to eliminate all governmental control of the individual, and others who believed such an arrangement would prove to be impractical and even foolhardy. They were all united, however, in their rejection of anything that smacked of coercion, systems such as communism or fascism, which they regarded, and I believe quite correctly, as two evil branches of the same totalitarian tree.”
“They were basically anarchists?”
“Not at all. They saw anarchism as simply another method of forcing the general populace into a course of action that many of them did not like. All adherents of these totalitarian systems had a nasty habit of killing off those who did not agree with them.”
“Describe, if you will, the solution that the Congress hit upon.”
“Gladly. First off, they rejected the concept of an all powerful central government. For centuries the delusion had prevailed among well meaning people that if only a small group of elected or appointed people could possess enough power over the citizenry, they would be able to organize the affairs of a nation so that there would be no more poverty or hunger or homelessness or unemployment. Everyone would be guaranteed a free university education and free medical care and be liberated from concern about almost any problem that might conceivably arise. Of course, everything in such a system would necessarily be either mandatory or forbidden. For the sake of efficiency, there could be no allowance for individual tastes or inclinations or choices.”
“And what happened in former times when such systems were put in place?”
“The results were uniformly disastrous. The inherent weakness in those authoritarian approaches to government, the World Youth Congress decided, lies in the fallibility of the people in power. Underlying the love of big government is the fantastic notion that the average citizen running loose in the streets can be instantly converted into a source of infinite wisdom by the simple act of placing him or her in some high position in a government. History teaches us otherwise.”
“Yes, but how did they propose to design a better system?”
“They suggested that each town or city should govern itself, in accordance with parameters laid down in the Doctrine of Conduct. Power would flow upward from the people and not downward against them.”
“A sort of inverted pyramid with government at the bottom.”
“Exactly. As a result of the changes, we no longer tolerate an all-powerful central government. There is no old style federal constitution, no massive bureaucracy that imposes on the citizens a welter of confusing and contradictory laws and regulations. No burdensome taxes to support a huge and inefficient ruling elite, or to encourage their tendency toward military adventures. The World Youth Congress opposed the notion of a Supreme Court or any similar body, and it was dissolved. There is no longer a small coterie of untouchable individuals who possess the power to thwart the will of the people or to force on them obligations that they did not wish to assume. The Youth Congress sought to balance the right of the individual to live his life as he saw fit with the necessity to maintain proper public order.”
“What are the flaws in the system that the Congress designed?”
“I must confess that I can’t think of any, but my belief is that if they exist, then they are certainly less onerous than those than they replaced.”
“How does our system of taxation work?”
“Each town or city, through its elected Board of Overseers, proposes a municipal budget, and then each citizen has an opportunity to study it and ultimately cast a vote in favor or opposition, concerning either the entire package or individual items. When it passes, by majority vote, each head of a household is assessed his share, according to his economic status. It is admittedly a cumbersome system, but it prevents the tyranny by a few over the many.”
“So, has the result been that everyone is simply allowed to do whatever he wants to, according to his own personal dictates?”
“Basically. As long as he does no harm to anyone else or to the community as a whole, directly or indirectly.”
“And if he should be guilty of an infraction?”
“There is the Public Guard, a necessary evil, whose uniformed members have the power to investigate allegations of misconduct and to arrest and punish perpetrators. Ideally, we should not need the Guard, but people will be people.”
“How about the system of highways and railways? Who maintains them?”
“There is an Infrastructure Commission that receives financial support from the various communities. The Commission sees to the roads and delivers the mail and prints the currency and performs other such non-local functions.. Its power is limited to the absolute minimum necessary to accomplish its mission. It can not, for example, enact its own regulations or laws that impinge on the freedom of the people. It is the exact opposite, one might say, of the now defunct and infamous Internal Revenue Service.”
“And in the event of a natural disaster such as a flood or earthquake, does each community fend for itself?”
“The Environmental Insurance Fund, with headquarters in the African Federated Republic, has the responsibility to respond globally to such crises, with the combined financial support of all the political entities. Of course, instead of the archaic system under which each political entity had its own unique currency, now there is only one world standard, the Yunito, which flows freely everywhere.”
“Fine, Miss Honeywell. That’s all I have. Professor Kozlowski?”
“Good morning,” the professor begins. “My field is macroeconomics, as you are well aware, having endured several of my courses. This morning I have just one question for you. What is the role of the corporation in our modern society? Why was it not abolished along with the central government?”
“There was much pressure among delegates to the World Youth Congress to do just that. For centuries the central governments and the great corporations had existed in a love-hate relationship, each seeking to assert power over the other, and usually to the detriment of the general public.”
“How true.”
“But cooler heads prevailed, especially among the delegates from China, headed by Lee May Soo. She argued that with the abolition of the central government, the corporations would lose their source of political power. They could no longer seek to elect politicians favorable to them or to influence legislation. It would be just them and the people now, each dependent on the other.”
“The Lee Principle of Economic Reciprocity.”
“Exactly. The people needed the corporations to produce the goods and services that were beyond the scope of what could be achieved locally. Heavy industry and long-distance transportation and large construction projects, for instance. And the corporations needed the people as consumers of their products and services. It was a perfect symbiotic relationship.”
“The Lee Principle condemns public ownership of corporations. Why is that?”
“The public never owns anything. What was meant by that term was always government ownership. The evil of vesting power in the various types of corporate states, as I mentioned earlier, was well understood by the delegates. And besides, now that there was no longer any central government, there was no controlling entity in whose hands the responsibility for the production and distribution of goods could be placed. As much as possible, the corporations run themselves.”
“How are the corporations prevented from the excesses of exploitation for which they were once so infamous?”
“The Doctrine of Conduct plays a major role in shaping their ways of doing business.”
“And if they refuse to conform their activities to the Doctrine?”
“That has happened. In the deplorable case of the Breslau Corporation, a manufacturer of baby food, harmful substances were found to be present in the product, used intentionally and with the knowledge and complicity of the owners, simply because these materials were cheaper than the proper ones. Many babies sickened and some even died before the company’s culpability was discovered. The entire Board of Directors was arrested by the Public Guard, tried in the court that had local jurisdiction and convicted. The following morning they were put to death.”
“A fairly persuasive deterrent against corruption.”
“Yes, sir. Very effective.”
Professor Kozlowski nods to the next and final questioner, a young woman whose purple tinted hair is arranged in a most unusual way and who is wearing a blouse that appears perhaps somewhat flamboyant, considering the occasion.
“Hi,” she smiles at the candidate. “I’m Thelma Crocetti, from the Department of Modern Art. I’m your outside observer, which I assure you is not at all as scary as it sounds.”
Everyone chuckles. A short silence ensues as the young woman looks over a sheet of paper that is lying on the table before her.
“Really,” she begins, “I’d just like to say that I’ve enjoyed your answers to the questions. I just recently returned from a month in Australia, and you could not tell in any way that it had once been mostly a sweltering desert. It’s like a veritable Garden of Eden now. Lovely trees and greenery everywhere. Even all those weird little animals they have seem happy.”
“Irrigation did the trick. Straight out of the Pacific Ocean.”
“And when I was traveling in the Asian Union, I had no difficulties at all. It must have been terrible centuries ago when a trip of just a few miles would land you in a place where you couldn’t understand a single word of what anybody was saying. Of course some of the people still spoke Vietnamese or Korean or whatever among themselves, but mostly only the really old ones. I guess the regional languages are all becoming extinct.”
“Yes, but there are efforts underway to record them before they die out completely. Basque and Hungarian and Latvian and Catalan, for example, are spoken now by only a few scattered individuals. As for Faroese, it has vanished, and we can only guess what it sounded like. In ancient times, the same fate befell the languages of people such as the Vandals and the Lombards and the Goths.”
“But I have heard of one group that refused for a long time to participate in all the reforms. The Islamic something or other.”
“Yes, in the Middle East a cluster of smaller nations refused to surrender their sovereignty on religious grounds, but they have become part of the E.U. now. In many ways they remained frozen in time until their young people forced changes.”
“And how about the calendar reform? When did that come about? And why?”
“The calendar that most of the world inherited from the ancient Romans involved a complex array of months with varying numbers of days. This basic form was retained by the Youth Congress, except that it was regularized. The first seven months of the year, January through July, have thirty days each. The remaining five, August through December, have thirty-one. In leap years an extra day is added to July.”
“And the old system of measuring, where they had twelve feet in a yard and some arbitrary number of yards in a mile or whatever. Is that still used anywhere?”
“It died of its own weight. For quite a while it was still employed in certain areas of the U.S.N.A., especially in the fishing and lumber industries, but it has fallen out of favor now.”
“I have just one more comment. In my travels I never encountered any borders separating political entities. Is that the case everywhere?”
“Yes. The point where one entity ends and another begins is marked with a small roadside sign. There are no barriers or checkpoints or such impediments. Travel from Bangkok to Budapest, for instance, is as simple and unimpeded as the route from Hoboken to Hackensack.”
“Thank you, Miss Honeywell. Your responses have been most fascinating.”
A short pause ensues. The stage lights are extinguished, and each of the professors stands and faces out into the audience, along with the young lady who performed the role of Miss Honeywell. They all bow slightly from the waist. Light applause rises and then abates. Mr. Greenstone leaves his seat in the rear of the theater and walks forward and climbs up the short flight of stairs onto the stage.
“Very nice, boys and girls,” he smiles at the students in Dramatic Writing and Performance 101. “Cheryl, you have put together a very entertaining little scene there about what the future might be like. Quite off-beat and quirky. Where do you come up with that stuff? And you were smashing as the doctoral candidate. Fine job of ad libbing. Everybody else – fine work. Very professional. OK then, tomorrow we’ll be hearing the class’s comments on Cheryl’s work. Don’t be too brutal, now. This is after all a learning experience. Then we’ll get into Patrick’s view of frontier life in 17th Century America. Do try to be on time, people.”
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