“Welcome to the future! Brought to you by Genuine Ingenuity! If you’ve been paying attention in history, you know that there was a time when people were forced to perform even the most grueling tasks of menial labor. Yes, there were even times that people forced other people to do this work as slaves. Even during the best of times, many people had no other choice than to go out into the hot sun and the dirt and the muck and mud to break their backs, stress their bones, sweat and stress, suffer heat stroke and exhaustion and waste all of their day working just to survive. Many people have even died working for a bit of bread and a drink of water.
“As time went by, robotics came into the world. Great minds like the ones at Genuine Ingenuity created magnificent machines capable of performing a variety of tasks from the simplest menial jobs to the humanly impossible, but it was still lacking. People were still necessary. While robotics performed most complicated factory tasks, real men and women, flesh and blood, had to fulfill the arduous daily tasks left by lacking technology. Part of the problem was that people failed to realize the need and, worse, the greedy government and corporations lacked the insight and vision to see the vast benefit of allowing machines to fulfill all physical needs so that people would be able to use their time to consume.
“In more recent history, technology was revolutionized and robotics was fully realized, but it wasn’t enough. In the early stages, robots were seen as tools for performing only the hardest tasks that humans were incapable of and later robots were used for recreation. It wasn’t until the latter half of the last century that Gene Russell appeared in the world with an idea, an idea that would change the world and revolutionize everything that people had known before.
“Eliminating the human element from the workforce would take away all risk of human error and injury as well as increasing efficiency and productivity by no less than tenfold. Of course, this idea was met with stark resistance at first due to people’s adherence to old world views and fear of such drastic change. People feared being replaced or possibly even eliminated by this new wave of technological interference. Over time, however, Gene led the masses to see the world in a new way, his way. He brought them the idea of Sponsorship.
“Thanks to Genuine Ingenuity, no human would be forced to undergo the demeaning labor that has been the norm of humankind for millennia.
“At the age of eighteen, each of you will be issued a standard Genuine robot. You will all start with a factory grade robotic arm that will generate a standard income of three bits per hour. As sponsor, you do not have to have any physical interaction with your robot, but you are responsible for its financial upkeep, maintenance and general well-being. You may also customize your machine as you wish. Purchase upgrades and accessories to make your robot yours and express yourself through your working avatar. When you have enough money, you will be able to upgrade to a new and better robot that will generate more income. In the event that any serious damage or malfunction renders your robot unusable and irreparable, you will be responsible for purchasing a new one to replace it. Don’t worry, though, our machines carry out their jobs efficiently in the safe environment of our factories and work reserves. As a sponsor, all you should worry about is how to best enjoy the fruits of your robot’s labor. Thanks to Genuine Ingenuity you can live your life instead of working it away!”
The teacher clicked off the 3D projector and the lights faded on, shining light on a room full of young eager faces. They were the faces of the future and they were bored.
YOU ARE READING
