Breaking The Ban

           The world was once filled with inconsistency, unbearable heartbreak, and an unquenchable thirst for wholeness that could never be fulfilled. There was no point in this pain that everyone felt on a daily basis; there was no reason to go through so much misery for only a few moments of pleasure. Life wasn’t worth living to so many, they took their own lives, and it was time for an end to this. Life was changing at an unexpected rate and people were adapting easily to it. The rules changed into something no one had expected, but eventually appreciated.

            The word love is now a mere myth, something that existed fifty years ago. It’s the mid-21st century and change is something that people are used to by now. The world had evolved into everything being run by machines. Machines ruled every aspect of the day: they’ve told time for hundreds of years, now they’re controlling life itself. Nothing is homemade; it’s made in a factory. All authority figures are machines. Transportation is run by a central base where people have to clock in times they need to use it to get to work and back home every day. There’s no room for mistakes anymore.

            Rules are strict everywhere around the world on everything and anything a person could possibly do. Many people didn’t even know this because they never felt the urge to do anything out of line. The world had taken itself away from grief, traumatizing incidents; people in general hardly seem like people at all. They run like machines: no emotions, they just take things day by day according to their set schedules and never change a second of it. Everything’s planned out and every day’s the same as the last.

            All was quiet now. All the drama of life had completely vanished. This wasn’t a choice amongst the population: this lifestyle was chosen for them. The President from the 2020 election Jerald Randrup is who decided this only for the United States at the time, then it spread around the world until everything ran this way. Jerald campaigned on the idea of freedom from ourselves and people were so overjoyed with his ideas, he won by a landslide. After he was elected he brainwashed the entire country, then moved on to the rest of the world after he saw how great his plans were turning out here. Now his son, Brendan, is in control. The entire world belongs to him.

            Love is no longer an emotion people have, and by early 2026 the world’s population began to decrease due to the lack of compassion people used to feel. Artificial insemination became a huge thing for women all over the world. Perfect partners were matched up with the women to create the perfect babies that would grow to be intelligent, diligent workers. Then it turned into something much greater: since the mother’s would become attached to their children, Jerald established a new idea. Through an identity chip that’s placed into everyone once their born, the world’s computer base is able to use new technology to match up two people from all around the world. The sperm and egg are taken from them and the child is developed in a tube, where specialists can keep an eye on them and make sure they turn out as planned. 

            Children are raised by childcare machines, virtually ending family life -- only the president allows himself to keep a steady family – now children only learn the necessities to survive. They’re capable of working by the age of 10 and begin living on their own by the age of 14. The world was no less than perfect in the eyes of Jerald, and Brendan is successfully fallowing in his father’s footsteps.

            Under Brendan’s law, emotions are against the law and anybody that feels them is sent directly to the insane asylum. “Anyone who has the gull to feel something other than the desire to work deserves to be locked up,” Brendan has been quoted saying. No matter how hypocritical he sounds because of the love and admiration he has for his father and his family, Brendan wants the rest of the world to run smoothly. What goes on in his household is no one else’s business. No one would dare to question it either. It’s not like it matters to them anyway, all that’s on their mind is work.

            All people thought about was work, their whole day was based around it. From the moment they wake up to the moment they go to bed. At least it’s not as stressful as it used to be fifty years ago. Since work is really all people have to do it’s just a part of the daily routine all around the world. Work is life. Even in sickness people must work. To skip a day of work meant jail time – no one wanted to face that; no one wanted to skip work either because that’s all they had to do.

            The world is peaceful now. Everyone knows their place and wouldn’t dare step out of it. To step out of line means to ruin the tranquil life the Randrup’s have created for them; it would mean they were against the entire world prospering and becoming something greater than it already is. It would mean they had to be absolutely crazy to want to do anything that didn’t involve their duties as a citizen.