A Secret Organisation: Short story on a possible future.Written by Jesse S. Somer
Roger Ricketson’s smile was enigmatic. When anyone looked his way they could not help being infected by his contagious facial expression. Something was definitely going right in this man’s life, but until now no one could quite put his or her finger on it. But now, as I look through my office window at man packing up his briefcase at end of workday, turning off his computer, I can’t help sneaking out my own mini-smile. I know his secret. Funny thing is, it wasn’t that hard to discover-it just took a few simple searches on my super-magic machine. The name computer doesn’t really give device enough credibility anymore, it has come a long way in last hundred years, computing is least of its positive attributes. I’m not your average woman in workforce. Vice-President of a huge multinational corporation, millionaire, you’d think I’d be fulfilled with my life’s successes, but no matter how hard I try, something always seems to be missing. I wanted a bit of what Roger’s got and now I know what makes him tick. He wasn’t always like this, hell he used to be quite a grump. Being CEO of a giant pharmaceutical company can be a bit boring, especially when all your competitors are just mindless drones with only one thing on their mind-making more money. However, over last couple of years Roger’s persona had gradually changed, and I was sure it wasn’t from his business life. So, being a bit of a sleuth-cross-hacker I recently tapped into Roger’s personal email account, definitely not an easy task, but then again I’ve always been far from average. It still took me 6 months in my spare time. I could be arrested but I just needed to know this man’s secret, and whenever someone would ask him why he was so happy, he would just smile and wink and then walk away. Well, now I know answer and I can tell you it sure was a shock! Roger belongs to a secret organization. The members of this group aren’t to be scoffed at either; world leaders, billionaires, famous intellectuals and academics fill boss’s contact list. There are also a lot of names I’ve never heard of; there are over 10 thousand members! As far as I can tell they only communicate on Internet, but from their dialogue they all seem tightly connected, and they do get a lot done. This is mind-blowing part, what they do! They call themselves ‘Fixers’. People from every nationality, religion and creed are involved, and I can see why Roger smiles so widely. War, starvation, poverty, sickness, and religious and nationalistic separation have plagued our world for generations. The ‘Fixers’ have decided that enough’s enough. These people from so-called ‘different’ backgrounds are diminishing human-made boundaries of past. ‘Country’ means little to these new-world souls whose only ‘country’ is Internet, and all are allowed to belong. Their goal is to fix Earth: to create a planet where all people have an equal opportunity, where quality of life is high, environment is sustainable, and all are informed of intrinsic ‘togetherness’ of all humans. Spirituality is to be recognized as a common thread instead of focusing on separate cultures’ different practices.
| | The Good Samaritan - Does Human Conscience Still Exist?Written by C. Bailey-Lloyd/LadyCamelot
Stories of old tell us about a lone travler who while making his journey was attacked, robbed and left for dead. As he lie by wayside, a priest passed by and barely glanced his way. Later, another man came along; stopping briefly to investigate what had occurred. He looked upon traveler but just didn't feel like it was his duty to help him, so he left as well. Some time went by, when a Samaritan came upon traveler and immediately showed mercy. He didn't question traveler's race, creed, sex or religion - he simply saw an injured human lying there before him. Not thinking about criminals who might have still been in area, nor about his own safety, Samaritan simply knew that traveler was in need and suffering. Removing his own garment, Samaritan covered injured traveler. Then, taking his own oil and wine (which was to be used for his own journey), Samaritan healed and relieved wounded traveler. After he cleansed traveler's wounds, Samaritan then lifted and carried weary traveler upon his own beast at a careful, slow pace so not to jolt him along way. Bringing him to an inn, Samaritan attended traveler throughout night; and upon morning break, traveler was doing a little better. While Samaritan still had to complete his journey, he arranged for Innkeeper to tend to sick traveler, paid bill and even left a provisional committment to Innkeeper so that if further need should arise, he would return to repay traveler's bill. The story of Good Samaritan has been retold (Luke 10:36) for ages and ages past. The story about good Samaritan was originally told by a man named Jesus. Living in an Invidualistic Country, focus of humanitarian efforts are being continuously diverted to personal vendettas of war, contempt, hatred, greed and uncivilized conduct across International lines and especially within our own borders. Aside from religious aspects of Good Samaritan, story raises and conveys real moral behavior. Similar to Aesop's Fables and Hans Christian Anderson's stories; parables like Good Samaritan present morals so that others may come to understand real understanding of what it means to be a decent human being. Unfortunately, in United States, many people can no longer distinguish necessity from greed. In doing so, our individualistic behaviors prevent us from seeing reality of world around us. How is it, that we can so easily alienate ourselves from fallacies that surround us: war, death, poverty, hunger - just to name a few. To uncover enchantment of political agendas, it is vital that we return to a similar path of Good Samaritan. The publishers of Sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset's book, 'American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword' wrote a summary of Mr. Lipset's novel: "In this timely new study, one of our major political analysts, Seymour Martin Lipset, explores deeply held but often inarticulated beliefs that shape America's society and thought. Is this country in throes of a revolution from right? Is it in decline morally? Is Japan about to replace us as leading economic power? Why does United States have highest crime rate, most persons per capita in prison? Why is our electoral turnout so low? Why are we most open, socially mobile society and most unequally developed nation in income distribution? Why is America most religious country in Christendom? What explains our persistently high rate of opposition to wars and, conversely, our propensity for flag waving and expressions of patriotic enthusiasm? As 1996 election year begins, Professor Lipset examines remarkable persistence of an American creed, a double-edged sword that provides both good and bad, offering fresh insights into our culture and its future. "1
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