Daniel Brooks
Now children, when Grandpa shows up, let him talk about the great lockdown of 2020. It means a lot to him. Before the lockdown, he flew in airplanes all over the place, ate in restaurants and was fond of his smartphone. Yes, I know. In those ancient times, people carried their phones around in their hands and didn’t use home delivery all the time. Sometimes, they even cooked their own food. It seems so primitive nowadays but that’s how they did it, back then.
In 2020, everyone considered a smartphone to be the best device. You could lose them. Someone might steal your phone by pickpocketing you on public transport. What is public transport? Well, children, before 2020, people just got on a bus and went wherever they wanted to, without getting a Freedom Pass. Was that dangerous? Sure it was. That’s why the virus broke out. All those people were walking around, carrying their primitive phones in their hands and talking to each other face to face, even shaking hands whenever they wanted to without any Freedom Gloves. Don’t worry, children, you can sleep soundly today. Those days are long gone. We no longer take such silly risks. Everybody learned their lesson, back in 2020, when your Grandpa managed to survive by locking himself in his apartment for months on end with only a computer screen to entertain him. What is a computer screen? Well, it is a long story. Curl up under your blankets and I will tell you.
The new belief in freedom began in Russia. Before then, freedom was the ability to move about when and where anyone wanted to. Unbelievable, I know. Like I said before, that’s what caused the human race to get into so much trouble. Back then, the Russians performed an experiment that most folks didn’t notice at the time. Later on, it became an important way to preserve the human race. The government in Russia told everyone in 2020 that to go anywhere, they’d have to use their phones and laptops, another long-forgotten device, to go online and get a pass. Yes, they could use the internet to get any information they could find, not like today when we only get the information online that we agree upon to begin with. Times have changed. Anyway, the idea back then was to keep everybody at home and stop them from getting sick by issuing passes. There were several kinds of passes used in Russia back in May and June of 2020. In one version, people could pretty much travel when and where they wanted to by sending an SMS to get a pass. What is an SMS? Oh, children, so many questions. SMS was a very primitive way to communicate, at the level of a fax or two tin cans tied together with string. Anyway, there were three or four other ways to get a pass. The people who had jobs were almost completely free to move about for days and weeks on end. Shocking, but true. Sometimes the pass system stopped working because the system was overloaded and after a couple of months, it was cancelled. The important thing about the passes is this. They showed what human beings like us want and need. When the pass system in Russia was finally closed down, many people were disappointed. They enjoyed beating the system and being one the select few that had a pass, while everyone else was stuck indoors, not knowing when they would be allowed out.
Many wise and intelligent leaders in governments around the world came to understand that introducing the passes is a great idea. But how to do it? Luckily, technology improved quickly after 2020 and it soon became possible to put Freedom Chips in our arms, the kind that all of you children now have. They give us our God given right to go outside for two hours, every single day. We know when freedom is coming, not like Grandpa who wasn’t sure. With the chip, no longer are people limited to having conversations by looking at someone on a computer or phone. Now of course, with the Freedom Chip we can meet people in 3D anytime we want to. Entire entertainment series in real life can be played out in front of our eyes with three-dimensional people and things. Children, I can tell you, 3D is so much better than those old Netflix series that were limited to those goofy, worn out stories about time travel, high school drama and vampires. 3D is better than real life. We have much better computer games these days. We’re so proud of you children, with the friends you have made in Freedom World, now that you can freely exercise your constitutional right to invent friends. Friends in Freedom World are so much better than human ones. They will never give you as much as a head cold.
As you can see, children, life today is much better than it was in Grandpa’s day. We don’t need the outside world. Those who can put up a bond and prove their net worth can be thanked by us all for doing the difficult and risky task of producing children. Yes, I know, it is shocking to think about physical contact without protective clothing, masks, goggles and gloves. It’s not for us, but it has to be done. The Foundation is to be thanked. It established the ability of our Freedom Chips to make sure we are virus free and the places we go outside for two hours every day are completely safe. Of course, we don’t need money, that’s paid for by using the chip, nor do we need to work. The Foundation gives us enough to eat, buy a few things for home delivery and spend time in Freedom World.
But remember children, once you get older, you’ll have to play by the rules. The Foundation can easily turn off your chip if you misbehave. That will leave you without any money at all. In fact, you won’t even have an identity. Who you are, where you live, your existence, it’s all on the Chip.
So, my lovely children, hush. Here is Grandpa coming down the hallway. He complains about being inside all the time but don’t pay any attention to him. He is pre-Freedom Chip. In his day, everyone would put their lives at risk, wandering all over the globe and having children at random. Let’s be thankful those terrible times are behind us. Humor Granddad. It’s not his fault. He doesn’t know any better.
Copyright, Daniel Brooks, June 9, 2020
