In the 2200's there was political unrest. The leaders of each nation on the planet were bickering over employment. History tells us that over 300 years ago the same arguments were being made over resources.
The 300 year old journal records a time when oil was reported to be scarce.
Oil was the main fuel in everything. Engines ran on refined oil, vehicles were used in business as well as privately owned. The emissions from these vehicles were polluting the environment. Trees were being cut down for wood and paper making. The reports said that the planet was being killed by humans and that the leaders of that time made minute token attempts to change with no real plan to save their world.
Whether the reports were true or exaggerated to cause panic is unclear, however it caused change.
2106 saw the first world president elected - Jane Nyakio. It was under her leadership that hydrogen replaced oil as the main fuel of engines. She oversaw the replanting of national forests and the world cheered as her administration produced 20 years of peaceful prosperity.
Engines were now fuelled by hydrogen, the world's paper was 100% recycled, 90% of manual labour was undertaken by robots. The bliss didn't last
20 years of peace became 80 years of laziness.
Against public opinion President Nyakio's term ended in 2126. The people argue that since it was a new position and that the 1st President had performed so well then she should stay in office. Their appeals were ignored and political candidates appeared in droves. Feeling betrayed the people refused to vote so the decision was made that the former President would choose their successor.
Worldwide outrage for this decision brought destruction.
The 2nd Unified Earth President chose instead of appealing to the masses, to turn his back on them. Under Sero Nuro's term, unemployment benefits were at the absolute minimum humanly possible while robotic workers were used in 99% of the manual labour jobs but they were not part of the office or service workforce. When Human Analogue Bots were perfected in 2130 that changed.
Within 6 months of perfection HAB bots had 5% of worldwide office jobs. By 2140 the figure was 50%. By the time the next election came around, 90% of the human population were unemployed.
This became the standard. Generation after generation were content to allow robots to do the most basic of jobs while the government was content to heavily tax the companies for using robotic labour and return 10% of those taxes to public funding. The world took the next 80 years off work. Only 1% of the population was in employment and those were Nation Leaders, The Presidency and to maintain the HAB robots. Robots that were so well made that they almost never broke down.
This was our paradise.
But nothing lasts forever.
In 2206 President Gene Rail initiated a program to reassess the planets resources and workforce, or so he said.
Under this new plan currency would no longer be necessary. All resources would be rationed. Basic food, clothing, medicine, entertainment and utilities would be provided to everyone while extra rations would be awarded to anyone who replaced a HAB bot in the workplace. The higher priority the job, the more the rations awarded. Initially the response was over 80% of the population, however once people realised exactly what entailed in the basic rations, such as VisionScreens and HomeWeb that number fell to almost 25.
So began the civilization that I knew as normal.
