Africa (Complete)

Chapter Forty-Seven

Kam wasn't sure when he was planning on telling Cara about his real identity, but for now, he was enjoying the anonymity.

"Tonight, we celebrate new friends, good fortune, and eternal health," Mr. Bennet said, raising his glass in the air. "Salut."

Everyone raised their glasses in celebration.

"We're glad to have you here, Chris," Mr. Bennet said. "I'm a fan of your work."

"Thank you, I appreciate the hospitality."

"Cara hasn't always made the best choices of the company she keeps, but down here, I don't have to worry about tennis coaches, or personal trainers, or scuba diving instructors... we're all from the same tribe so-to-speak."

"Is there something wrong with being a scuba instructor?" Kam asked, somewhat defensively.

"I only want the best for my daughter," Mr. Bennet said as he put his arm around Cara.

"How do you feel about that?" Kam asked Cara.

"Her fiancé is a prince," Mr. Bennet announced proudly, "Tell him, honey."

"I'm sorry, your fiancé?" Kam said, nearly choking on his wine.

Cara showed her finger proudly, flaunting the largest diamond he had ever seen.

"They're getting married in December."

"That's a nice ring," Kam said. "Where did you meet a prince?" Kam asked.

"Here. We met the day I arrived and we just sort of hit it off. We were both new to the city and explored it together."

"A prince, huh?"

"As you know, Chris, this city is home to some of the world's most influential people from around the world. Famous celebrities such as yourself, musicians, politicians, athletes, business people, authors, artists... "

"We also have plenty of doctors and engineers, people who can fix things, solve problems..." Mrs. Bennet added. "Not to mention the family and sometimes friends of those people. But it's highly exclusive."

"What about all the menial tasks like garbage collection, plumbing, cooking, delivery, and so on?" Kam asked.

"We have robots to do most of that stuff."

"Robots?" Kam asked.

"We're a Type 2.0 civilization," Mr. Bennet said.

"I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that terminology."

"Carl Sagan outlined different types of civilizations. First there were roaming groups of hunter-gatherers living in Africa with primitive stone tools. There were no laws and lots of violence. To protect themselves, these groups were either conquered or formed other groups until they became large tribes that could adequately defend themselves.

"To keep everyone safe, they would make agreements — I won't attack you, if you won't attack me — that sort of thing.

"As these tribes became larger and their political and economic power grew, they became empires, who would conquer lands beyond their previously defined geological boundaries. According to Sagan, these empires eventually reach type 0.7, which is where democracies form and that power is bestowed to the people.

"Democratic capitalism takes over and markets are free. Eventually we reach Type 1.0 — Globalism. This is a world where there is a complete global economy. Markets are fully free without any interference from any sort of government. Anyone can trade with anyone else, anywhere in the world. There is worldwide wireless internet with all knowledge digitized and available to everyone.

"Of course," Mr. Bennet added, "we never actually achieved a Type 1.0 civilization in the way Sagan described. Thanks to the meteor event, it set humanity back to the beginning... well, some parts of humanity that is. But this time around, it won't take thousands of years — humans are much smarter and have the great benefit of historical reference. So they can become organized and accelerate through the types very quickly."

"You mentioned being in Type 2.0?" Kam inquired.

"Yes, there is one spot on the planet that is Type 2.0. Ironically, in the very place where humanity first clawed its way from the ocean, making their way up the sandy shores and evolved. Africa is the birthplace of homo sapiens, but now we are homo deus (man 2.0) as Yuval Noah Harari once said. You can meet him later if you like, fascinating guy."

"You seem really into evolutionary biology, Mr. Bennet," Kam said. "If the first humans came from Africa, I guess that would make us all African, wouldn't it?"

"That was a long time ago. Here in this place, we have reached a point where we have made leaps and bounds in social and economic development, and even human evolution. We have technology that can re-write the human genome, defy the laws of physics, eradicate any problem that has plagued humankind from hunger, disease, and even death. We are human, but it almost doesn't seem right to label us as such compared to the primitive beings out there.

"You and I, all of us here... we are the next wrung on the evolutionary ladder so to speak."

"What good is being a Type 2.0 — you know, having all this technology, all this abundance — if we don't use it to help those who are less fortunate?"

"You're a Platonist, I see."

"I don't even know what that means, but what I do know, is that I'm a humanitarian. There are smart and resilient people out there. Kindhearted people who have hopes and dreams... they care for their family, care for their friends, have compassion toward animals. If what you say is true and we are truly a higher-order civilization, we have a duty to elevate those below us."

"It's a noble pursuit, Chris, and I applaud your passion. I get you actor-types want to save the world and all, but it just isn't practical to save everyone. We send scouts out in the world to find exemplary individuals and offer them a new life here. But as much as we would like to help, there are limits to our resources. We're living in a zero-sum game where the gains of others take away what we have. Do you understand?"