I've neglected this for a while, mainly because there didn't seem to be a lot more to add on the firearms guide section. But, I'm taking an online writing course and part of that is posting exercises. This is the first one.
By way of a set up, the exercise was to do about 500 words on the first thing I heard when I turned on the radio. It's 2016. We don't have a radio. We have dozens of streaming services and personal mp3 libraries. I don't even have one in my car. It broke a few years ago, and between portable Bluetooth speakers, headphones and a phone with 96 GB of storage, I don't miss it. So that's what I went with.
This is unedited, and I've not even read through it after finishing it. Feel free to ignore it.
The Future
Radio? People still
have those? Funny old world.
Dave never was one
to cling to the old technology. Streaming music killed radio. Streaming
services eliminated the need for a television. Mobile phones eliminated the
need for land lines, and computers as far as home use went. There were people
who still used them because the screen was bigger, or whatnot, but for the
average person, a phone was good enough.
The future. He was
living in it. Electric cars that drove themselves were coming soon. Three
dimensional printing would soon advance to the point that the only thing that
needed an actual physical delivery to the house was the raw materials.
Everything else could be made from plastics, bio-gel, various metals, and wood
paste. Most of that could be harvested from the personal waste reclamation
systems that were only ten years out.
Friends were
available through the Internet. So were jobs, music, culture of all kinds. Education
too, was out there for the taking. In twenty years, there would be no need for
face to face human interaction at all, unless you wanted kids or some kind of
disease.
The future was
going to be incredible.
“And that’s the
attitude that brought on the most recent global extinction event.”
Billy’s voice rang
out of the back of the group. “Miss Jefferies, I don’t understand. How?”
The tour guide
smiled and gestured to the row of benches, waiting for the class to settle
before explaining it.
“I’m sure you’ve
all heard the idea that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat
it. That’s basically what happened here. You see, for thousands of years,
people were hunters and gatherers. They went outside and worked hard just to
survive. Many died at relatively young ages, mainly because they could no
longer get their own food and there were no others willing or able to share.
“When people
started living in permanent places and learned to farm, things got better
because the strong could provide from the weak, and the old could pass on the
things they knew to the young.”
“Like you’re doing
now?” asked Mary.
Miss Jefferies,
blushed. “I don’t think of myself as old, but yes. Sort of like this. As time
went on, those little towns grew into cities with millions of people living and
working together. Then, in the early 21st century came the technological
revolution. Small gadgets that could do all the thinking became popular. People
talked through those gadgets rather than to each other, and this resulted in a
loss of that sense of community. People grew outraged at things that happened
thousands of miles away, but cared nothing for things happening outside their own
doors.
“Eventually, the lack
of interaction caused deficiencies in their immune systems. Contact with others
carried a terrible risk, and since they had found virtual sex, the reproduction
rate dropped off to the point that only handfuls of more primitive communities
that lived like they did in the beginning survived.”
The class rasped their
wings together, buzzing to show they had enjoyed the presentation.
“If you follow me
to the next exhibit, I’ll explain how the loss of humanity resulted in the end
of insecticides, and the birth of our society.”
