Chapter 45. A Friendly Invasion

I did not personally experience what happened on Earth in the aftermath of P-Day. Instead, I later gathered accounts from Ramael and Hazael, and from the trainees. And I used the detailed journal which Melinda kept.

The first-wave trainees woke in Ramael and Hazael’s ’mobile. They could see Earth far below them. They were all a little bit stiff, having been asleep in the ’mobile for several days.

Ramael switched off the quiet-mode field, which had made the ’mobile invisible. He chose to approach from south to north over the South Atlantic, as this seemed the least obviously threatening area to come from. That done, he turned north-west, towards the nearest Earth had to a capital city – Washington, where it was a bright, cool Wednesday morning in March.

Ramael’s piloting on the way in was energetic. The passengers weren’t sure whether he was trying to evade missiles, to show off his piloting skills to the people of Earth, or to give them a good ride. Or, perhaps, all three.

Ramael had no trouble at all in evading the missiles sent to blow him out of the sky. They did, indeed, explode. But by the time they did, they were at least a million kilometres from Earth. The pilots that scrambled to intercept him suddenly found themselves a thousand kilometres or more away from where they had been a moment before.

Hazael turned a switch, and broadcast on a lot of radio frequencies at once. “That was not very kind of you. If anyone attacks us again, we will be forced to defend ourselves actively,” he said.

No-one took up the offer. And so, Ramael flew the ’mobile ostentatiously over Washington, and brought it in to land on the White House lawn.

The incumbent was away, having been Pulled to the Punishment Pit. It was easy to imagine the hordes of scurrying officials trying to work out what to do. But Hazael chose to make life simple for them.

“I’m from the Company for Galactic Advancement, and I’m here to help you,” he broadcast. “Will someone who has authority to speak for the people of this country please come out of that palace, and parley with us?”

After a short delay, two bureaucrats that had drawn the shortest straws came out. Hazael, in his pink robe, and two white-robed Americans from among the trainees, got out of the ’mobile.

“I,” said Hazael to the bureaucrats, “am Hazael of the Seraphim. And this gentleman and lady are two of your own. They have been trained in the Galactic way of doing things. We have brought them here so they can help the best of your leaders, and all good people on your planet, move Earth societies into the Galactic way of peace, prosperity and justice.

“I must warn you, do not do them any harm, or allow anyone else to harm them. Neither I nor my pilot would be at all pleased if anything bad happened to them. I am sure you already have some idea of what we can do if we need to. And my project managers also can punish wrongdoers most harshly, if they wish. Think about what happened recently to your president and his predecessor.

“Is that clear? Do you agree to protect this gentleman and lady, and to let them access your leaders and advise them?”

The bureaucrats hesitated. Did they believe Hazael and his friends really could do what they threatened? Eventually, “Yes, he can,” one of them murmured. The other nodded to Hazael.

“Good,” said Hazael. “Let us drink a toast to seal our agreement.”

Another white-robed trainee came out of the ’mobile, bearing a tray with five glasses of Seraphim red wine. He offered them to the two bureaucrats, then to Hazael and the two trainees. He went back inside.

Hazael raised his glass. “To humans as members of the Galaxy!” he said, and drained the glass. The two trainees repeated the toast and the action.

After a pause, “Who could say no?” said one of the bureaucrats. And they both drained their glasses.

Hazael bowed to the others, and re-entered the Seraphimobile. Ramael gave the warning cry of “Sit back,” and took it off. Straight up for fifty metres or so, then the nose lifted and the ’mobile powered upwards and to the east, turning, weaving and occasionally looping as it went.

“Show-off,” said Hazael to Ramael, who beamed.

* * *

In the first day’s work, 12 hours or so, they dropped off about a dozen of the fifty-nine first wave trainees in their own countries. Without subjecting its passengers to uncomfortable accelerations, the ’mobile could get from anywhere on Earth to anywhere else in a little over an hour. So they had time to visit Europe as well as the Americas.

On that first day, they used, as their targets, presidential palaces and similar haunts of ruling élites and their hangers-on. So, the ceremony was similar each time, although sometimes the trainees had to interpret. The only effect the repeated doses of wine seemed to have on Hazael, was that he became a little more verbose each time.

Ramael had told the trainees about the third wave. He explained that those being dropped off first were considered the most likely to remain safe, even without a third-wave member in their country. He told them that the later drop-offs – and those in the second wave – would often be accompanied by a sponsor from the third wave, who was likely to be close to, or even possibly in, power.

After a good day’s work, they returned to Washington for the night. A tycoon had radioed Hazael and offered rooms for the party in his five-star hotel. The trainees were glad, because they felt a strong need to stretch out in bed for a while.

The ’mobile simply landed on the roof of the hotel. The owner greeted the trainees cordially, and in return was offered a ride in the ’mobile the next day. Ramael and Hazael told him that they did not need to sleep, and so preferred to remain in the ’mobile. No-one from the government dared to bother them.

* * *

As the days unfolded, the trainees of the first wave were gradually unloaded. As time went on, the drop-offs became far less public. Though, whenever the ’mobile came flying low near a neighbourhood, there was no shortage of people coming out to see if it landed, and if it did, to mark where it landed and who came out.

Ramael had a list from me, of who he should look to drop off where and when. But he had full authority to make changes as needed. And trainees sometimes wanted to be dropped off somewhere I had not expected. This meant a fairly substantial admin task for someone in the ’mobile itself. Knowing that she was to be among the very last to be dropped off, Melinda had volunteered to be the one to keep track of what they had achieved, and what they still had to do.

The third wave of sponsors, and the second wave of trainees, were Pushed from Perinent into the ’mobile while it was at rest relative to the Earth, then taken to their drop-off points. Each night, those remaining took advantage of the Washington tycoon’s offer, or of one of a number of similar offers from hotel owners in other countries.

At least, that was the theory. But, as had happened with the Brjemych, there were some troubles. There was unrest in a number of countries, particularly in tropical South America, the Middle East and parts of Africa. And there were places, where even Pulling the main culprits to the Pit had not loosened the grip of tyrannical governments.

We had agreed that Ramael would not, initially, interfere unless the ’mobile was threatened or a full-scale war was about to be started. We would try first to deal with these problems from the Perinent end, by Pulling more bad individuals to the Pit, or potential leaders to be briefed and sent back. Only if that failed would we send Ramael in to assist one side or the other.

But otherwise, things went well. No-one made any attempt to attack the ’mobile, or anyone from it. And a swathe of the media, at last, started to tell the truth. John and Galina’s bombshell had had its effect. People knew instinctively that what was happening was so big, that it couldn’t be ignored, or hand-waved or politicked away.

Change for the better was in the air.

How to Visualize the Future

(From the archives - April 12th, 2002)

Those, who have read my previous papers, will know that I have set myself a program(me). To stop complaining so much about how bad things are, and to start asking two kinds of questions: WHY are things how they are, and HOW TO make them better.

Thus paper is the first in my HOW TO series. There will be more!

Before we lovers of freedom can create constructive change, we must understand our goals. What do we really want – both as individuals, and for those around us?

We are all different. So what each of us wants is different. But we have desires in common. For peace. For prosperity. For individual freedom and human rights for all. For justice. For an environment of honesty. For everyone to have the maximum opportunity to develop themselves to the full, to trade with others, and to enjoy their earned rewards.

A few years ago, I wrote some words about the kind of world I want to live in. Today, I would like to share these words with you.

* * *

Imagine, I thought, if our economy were really flying! Imagine if the jobs pages were always full of exciting, new and lucrative opportunities for you. Imagine knowing that, when you have finished the job you are currently working on, there will always be another good opportunity just round the corner. When, that is, you have had a long and luxurious holiday first.

Imagine if your job was full of interest, excitement and achievement. Imagine if you were greeted by your work-mates with happy, smiling faces. Imagine if your job was well paid, and gave you a real feeling of being able to make a difference. Imagine if you could afford to take several months each year of time out for travel, study, creative art, spending time in the countryside, or whatever else you wish.

Imagine the transport, which would take you anywhere you wish to go. Imagine if that transport was door-to-door, extremely fast, affordable, private, very convenient, luxuriously comfortable, fun to ride in, safe and totally hassle-free. Imagine if you could use your computer or talk by video with your friends as you travel.

Imagine the places you could go in that transport. Imagine yourself visiting the most beautiful countryside world-wide. Imagine yourself visiting imposing cities, elegant towns and fun resorts, all over the world.

Imagine if you could go anywhere in the world, knowing that you will encounter only peace, love and honesty. Imagine if you could live and work anywhere in the world you choose, without formalities.

Imagine if you could choose to share the wealth you earn with just those whom you care about. Imagine if you could spend your income on what you want to spend it on. Imagine the beautiful home, in which you would live. Imagine if you had machines to do all the boring chores for you. Imagine the goods and services, which you would buy. Think of all those people who provide those goods and services, whose jobs you would be helping to support. Imagine knowing that you are helping to make those good people wealthy and happy.

Imagine if you could live in permanent, robust good health. Imagine that, if you do fall ill, you know that doctors whom you can trust will treat you quickly, efficiently and painlessly. Imagine knowing that your old age will be physically and financially comfortable. Imagine that you might be able to live, healthily and happily, significantly longer than the norm of 70 years and some.

If you have children, imagine that you could buy courses for them which are cheap, yet educate them to higher standards than ever before. Imagine the joy of finding that your children are able to do, easily, things which you could not even have dreamed of doing at the same age.

Imagine being able to feel that you can trust the people around you. Imagine knowing that everyone respects your right to privacy. Imagine feeling physically secure, and well protected from the very few criminals in existence. Imagine knowing that you are safe from attack by falsehoods or by fraud. Imagine being able to feel that the law is just, honest and on your side.

Imagine knowing that everyone will treat you at least as well as you treat them. Imagine knowing that you have a positive incentive to behave well towards others, and they to behave well towards you. Imagine knowing that, if you want something good for yourself, all you have to do is an equivalent amount of good for someone else. Isn’t civilization wonderful?

Imagine if you felt fully appreciated by those around you, and by human beings as a whole. Imagine being able to feel the joy of achievement, the happiness of fulfilling yourself, the harmony of knowing that what you are doing is good. Imagine experiencing, every day, the happiness which you have earned and deserve.

Imagine if the news were filled with new discoveries and new possibilities, with things to make all our lives better. Imagine if the headlines were always about positive human progress. Imagine new sources of cheap, abundant energy. Imagine new, more powerful and even cheaper computers for everyone. Imagine that cure for cancer at last. Imagine new strong, light materials, and the things people can make with them. Imagine if life for all human beings were getting better all the time, and imagine if you knew that progress was going to continue into the foreseeable future.

Imagine if you had all the love and companionship which you need. Imagine if the world around you was beautiful, and getting more beautiful all the time. Imagine if you had unlimited opportunities for personal growth. Imagine, imagine, imagine…

Most people have some of these good things in their lives. But no-one has all of them. I am not a betting man, but if I were, I would wager that no-one could honestly say that they have even half of these good things in their lives. Why not? Shouldn’t all of our lives be like that picture, which you have just put together in your imagination? Why should anyone settle for any less?

* * *

As I said earlier, each of us is different. Your vision of what you want for the future may not tally in detail with mine. But that does not matter. What matters, is that you do have a vision. And you can express it to others. You can get it out there into the market-place of ideas, where first dozens, then hundreds, then perhaps millions of individuals may see it and begin to think about it.

Here is a little piece of HOW TO. When something is negative, when you see something badly wrong, turn it into a positive. For example, all of us lovers of freedom want to reduce or eliminate taxation. We can turn this into a positive by asking, if those taxes did not exist, what would we spend our earned wealth on, beyond our own needs and the needs of our dependants? Would we invest in development of energy supplies for the long-term future? In entrepreneurs, and their ideas for products and services to make life better for everyone? In setting up self-financing insurance schemes to help those who are economically poor through no fault of their own? In a “University of the Internet”? Or in all of the above, and more?

What kind of future do our rivals, the lovers of tyranny, have to offer? Endlessly increasing taxation and regulation. Progress and technology grinding to a halt. An economy that regularly falls into stagnation and recession. A climate of hatred, directed against productive people. A "quality of life" that is low, and forever going downwards. Escalating violence everywhere. World-wide war and terrorism. Ever-mounting crime and insecurity. Armies of bureaucrats spying on us, ready to pounce on us and bully us every time we look as though we might break some totally arbitrary “law”. More and more political claptrap and spin. Socialism, environmentalism, Toryism and any other kind of evil “ism” they can think of. Fear, rage, hatred and pain. And they expect us willingly to pay for that stuff?

In contrast, we lovers of freedom look towards the kind of future that every peaceful, honest, productive human being wants deep-down. Freedom. Justice. Honesty. Peace. Prosperity. Progress. Excitement. Achievement. Happiness. Respect for individual rights. Quality of life, in its true sense. In short, an environment fit for civilized human beings.

In common with other lovers of freedom, I know that we still have much work to do on HOW TO achieve the kind of world we need and deserve. But first, we need people to understand that radical, positive change is necessary. We need to get good people around us – and, eventually, very many good people – to buy into our vision, rather than our rivals’. And there is only one way to do that. It is to make their visions part of our vision.

So, I address my final question not just to those who are already lovers of freedom, but to every human being who reads this: What’s your vision of how the future should be?

Chapter 44. Of Trouble Down t’ Pit

I ordered, for those who had worked through the night – Seraphim excepted, of course, “Eight hours of sleep-gas for all of us. Let’s have a meeting of everyone, at the 16. Ray and Jenna, please prepare dinner for the normal time.” I asked Michael and Gabriel to tell everyone about the meeting who didn’t already know.

I got up around the 15, and spent some time in the Pedia room telling Harv’I what we had done. While I was there, John and Galina came in. “I have checked the Earthly news media,” said Galina, “and I find surprisingly little. There were a couple of unconfirmed stories about politicians disappearing, but since then – nothing.”

Typical, I thought, of the mainstream media. Ignoring the facts right in front of them, while keeping to the party line – not rocking the political boat.

“Then,” I said with a smile, “we are going to have to give the media a scoop or two. Now it is time for you to take your recorders down to the Pit, and to get filming. If you like, you can start right away – this is more important than coming to the meeting at the 16.”

“We’re on the case,” said John, and the two departed to get their equipment.

At the meeting, I told everyone that Ramael would be landing the ’mobile openly on Earth at 9 of the 22, our time, the next morning, Friday. And that we would start Pulling the third wave on the following day, Saturday. We planned to have the third wave Pulled, briefed and sent back in approximately two weeks.

The second wave of trainees, too, would be sent back during this period. They would be Pushed into the ’mobile on Earth, then delivered in it to their own countries.

The other announcement to be made was that the first of the Brjemych would leave Perinent on the Monday. Gavantchin would pilot them to the Naudar’I docking station. As the ’mobile could take only two Brjemych at once, four trips would be necessary. These would take almost three Perinent days. And Gavantchin and Zer’ael themselves would go back to Seraph, leaving on the Thursday.

* * *

After the meeting, I went to the Pit. It was going dark. I took with me a laser gun. Not only for fear of predators; but also, to have something nasty-looking to point at the politicals I hated and despised so much.

There was no Cherub to guide me from the lift. But I could walk easily enough, for Hoong’s lights were still – mostly – on.

As I reached the outer door, a Cherub came out of the airlock behind it. “Greetings, Neil,” he sent. “You come opportunely. There is much to see. Compose yourself.” He led me inside, through the lock and then the inner door into the punishment building. Though the light was brighter than outside, it took me a while to adjust to what I saw.

To my right, Galina was filming, and behind her John keeping up a commentary. A second Cherub was near them. The remaining two Cherubs were on guard, to prevent any inmate of the bunks interfering with the action Galina was filming.

Two well known ex-politicians lay in their suits, sweat-soaked, on the sandy floor. One trying to break the windpipe of the other, the other trying to scratch out the eyes of the one. It was a very ugly, slow-motion dance.

Further to the left, a fat slob of an ex-politician had fallen off its top-tier bunk – or, perhaps, been pushed. It lay grunting and wheezing, body broken. No-one moved to help.

These were the most obvious, but there were other scenes of distress too. And only about half the inmates had woken up yet! It would be worse later.

“Nice work,” I sent to the Cherub. He genuflected, and led me back through the airlock.

* * *

John and Galina came back to the hotel, looking satisfied, about the 18. “We have plenty of material,” John said. “Including some shots which will enable viewers to recognize the individuals concerned.”

“How quickly can you edit it and get it out?” I asked.

“Tonight,” he replied. “We will skip dinner, if Ray and Jenna will provide us room service. Then we will work as long as it takes. Before the morning, what we have recorded will have been sent to hundreds of news outlets on Earth.” “Good,” I said. “Go to it.”

After dinner, I stood up and said, “I’ve been working on a few things not all of you may have been aware of.

“Firstly, I asked Gabriel and Tuglaydum to teach Galina how to Push mescaps quickly to several destinations on the same planet. And I asked Gabriel to procure several hundred low-quality mescaps to be sent to Earth. There’s no danger – we won’t be trying to Pull these back. We’re doing a mailshot, folks.

“Secondly, John and Galina have recorded some brilliant material from the Pit. I witnessed a little of it myself. They are working through the night – again! – to edit it, then they will make many copies and send them to Earth. Newspaper and TV editors, beware.”

Cees smiled, for he now understood why I had, weeks earlier, asked him to Pull two laptop computers and several hundred memory sticks from Earth. And Marie understood why, earlier still, I had asked her to design a cartoon to attract the attention of media editors.

“Thirdly,” I continued, “I have set up a mechanism for Pulling food from Seraph for the inmates of the Punishment Pit. Gabriel is doing the Pulling work. But there will also need to be a transport team, like the one we had yesterday, to wheel the supplies down. Volunteers gratefully accepted.

“And please don’t think I am being kind to our enemies. I have set the level of supplies at three-quarters of what they need to survive. I want them to keep fighting each other.”

Why Lovers of Tyranny Are Against Inequality

(From the archives - March 10th, 2002)

Amid the propaganda, with which our rivals the lovers of tyranny bombard us, a constant theme is their hatred of what they call inequality. We are supposed to believe that this inequality is morally wrong. That it is increasing, and has been since the Industrial Revolution. (Which, some of them say, caused it in the first place). That, if we do not accept their draconian policies, their high and ever-increasing taxes, their violations of our freedom, this inequality will continue to increase until… well, until exactly what is not completely clear.

But our rivals’ screams of “inequality” are nothing new. For, back in the 17th century, John Locke observed: “I cannot be supposed to understand all sorts of equality; age or virtue may give men a just precedency; excellency of parts and merit may place others above the common level.” It is not hard to guess what kind of arguments he was opposing.

There are good grounds for saying that in one sense, we are indeed all equal. In the same paragraph, Locke says what he means by equality. “That equal right which every man hath, to his natural freedom, without being subjected to the will or authority of any other man.” Meaning, that no-one has any right to rule over others against their wills. Right on, John!

Our rivals try to give the impression that they are following in this liberal tradition. They would have us believe that something they call inequality is wrong in principle. They would have us believe that governments should use laws, and force if necessary, to reduce or even eliminate this inequality.

Yet even some of our rivals might admit that, if their goal really was to enforce absolute equality on everyone, it would be unattainable, not to mention utterly ridiculous. How, for example, do you make someone six feet six tall equal to someone of five feet five? How do you make sure that no-one has a chance to have a second child, until everyone has had the opportunity to have one? Besides which, the policies, which supposedly implement this equality, would need to be enforced. And this would require a class of men (and women) to be the enforcers. Which would lead to perhaps the ultimate inequality – where those with guns have legal licence to use them against those without.

So, what inequalities do our rivals really complain about? When we ask this question, we begin to see that they are extremely selective about the kinds of inequality they attack.

Our rivals do not complain, for example, about social inequality. If A has hundreds of friends, and B only a few, that is fine by them. They do not object to inequality in physical size and strength. They do not object to inequality in how often individuals get the chance to have sex. Nor do they mind reproductive inequality. If C has four children, and D none, they see nothing wrong in that. Indeed, they want to aggravate the inequality, by forcing poor D to pay taxes for the benefit of C and C’s children.

Still less do they mind political inequality. They see nothing wrong in Tony Blair and its cronies having the political clout to make a bad law called IR35, specifically designed to ruin the careers of tens of thousands of honest, productive one-man IT consultants, including me. They do not demand that I and my fellow-victims should have an equal opportunity to ruin the careers of Blair and its minions in return. Far from it. Instead, those that cry out against inequality actively demand more political inequality, more taxes, more bureaucracy, more harming of innocent people whose only "crime" is being better than average at earning an honest living.

Nor do our rivals object to the fact that they have constant access to the mainstream mass media, through which they trumpet their shrieks of “inequality.” Whereas, without such access, the cries of “injustice” from the victims of their schemes can reach only a very few.

Our rivals’ claim to be against inequality in the broad sense has no substance. What, then, can it be that they are really against? To answer this, we must look more closely at the kinds of inequality they actually do complain about. Mainly, they are two – the educational and the economic.

Education is a large subject, on which I can only touch here. But it is clear that our rivals do not like people to develop their minds to their utmost. Decades of socialist educational policies in Britain have resulted in a rash of “bog-standard comprehensives,” which even Blair has seen fit to condemn. In the USA, the situation is even worse. Since the early 1970s, scores in the Scholastic Aptitude Test have been steadily declining. So much so, that in 1994-5 education chiefs re-jigged the system, to make the tests easier and to make the results look less bad than they are. The effect of our rivals trying to impose their ideal of educational equality seems to have been no better than to dumb people down.

In economics, our rivals have had their way almost without interruption for the best part of a century. They have created a climate of hatred against the economically productive. They swamp entrepreneurs and their businesses under torrents of taxes and regulations. And, under their guise of lessening economic inequality, they treat us honest working people, who develop our skills to our utmost, like no more than slaves, pack-animals or objects, to be exploited and taxed out of existence. They have not yet found a way to stop us developing our talents, but they are doing what for them is the next best thing – stopping us reaping the rewards we deserve.

No, our rivals’ real target is not inequality. Their real target is success. They have created a climate in which, as expressed by a well-known football manager, “People don’t like success.”

Our rivals hate success. And yet, they hate some kinds of success less than others. They do not object to people getting rich through winning the Lottery. They do not seem to mind political success gained through fraudulently buying Paul’s vote with money stolen from Peter. No, the success they really hate is that success which has been earned through the free development of an individual’s natural talents. They hate those who have succeeded in distinguishing themselves from the herd. And, most of all, they hate success when it has been gained through years or even decades of honest effort.

Why do they do these things to us? It is not hard to see. Their real agenda is simply that they want to haul good people down. They want to force us down towards, and in the end right down to, their own level. They don’t want people to learn too much, particularly those near the top of the class, who are the most likely to start asking awkward questions. And they hate honest, productive, independent, successful people – because we are productive, because we are honest, because we are independent, because we are successful. They hate us precisely because we have earned what we have earned through our own merits.

It is plain that the waffle about equality and inequality is no more than a smoke-screen. For our rivals do not respect our equality – our equal right to our natural freedom. They do not respect our right to live our lives in our own way, subject only to the rule of law and justice. Far from wanting to end or even to lessen political inequality, they actively seek more political inequality, so their kind can rule over us as with a rod of iron. They want to subordinate us to the "authority” of the likes of Blair and its cronies, just as their predecessors subjected Germans to the whims of Hitler, Russians to the whims of Stalin, Chinese to the whims of Mao.

But smoke-screens cannot last for ever. Sooner or later, people will tumble to what our rivals are doing. And it is our job, the job of the lovers of freedom, to hasten that tumbling.

Here is one way, in which we lovers of freedom can publicly distinguish ourselves from our rivals, the lovers of tyranny. Let us oppose our rivals’ hauling down of good people. Instead, let us concentrate on raising standards for all human beings. Let us aim to lead out the creativity for good, which is there, even if latent, in every human being. Let us try to help our fellow good people to grow their talents, and to use them for more good.

In education, let us do what we can to help individuals develop themselves to the highest standards they are capable of. At the same time, using technology such as CDs and the Internet, we can distribute education at a fraction of the cost of the conventional product.

In economics, let us make plain the simple truths, which everyone knows deep down. That earned success is commendable. That there is no nobler human activity than creating wealth by honestly providing goods or services, which others are voluntarily willing to pay for. That people who put in great efforts, and develop their productivity and skills, deserve to be rewarded instead of reviled, cherished instead of censured. Let us create a climate in which people have the incentive to put as much into the economy as they can, and can fully enjoy their earned rewards. That climate, of course, is a totally laissez-faire economy, an unbridled economy of human happiness, prosperity and progress.

Our rivals are horrified by even the mention of the prospect of a laissez-faire world. For, shorn of their unearned privileges and influence, they will have to earn an honest living in the free market like everyone else. Stripped of political power, they will no longer be able to violate our natural freedom. They will no longer be able to damage innocent people’s lives with impunity. And they will be brought to justice for their crimes.

Now that’s equality – real equality, John Locke’s kind of equality. Let’s get some of that.

Chapter 43. Of P-Day

As we set ourselves at last towards P-Day, the Team became restless. They understood that our project, if successful, would change all the cultures they had grown up in. Nothing would be left untouched. And they had committed themselves to making it happen. They were not sure they had decided right.

The trainees picked this up too. They had doubts. And the Tuglay reported that they were being asked many difficult questions.

It didn’t help that it was now the sharpest period of winter. The winters at Camp Two were continental – think Minnesota. Going outside the hotel for any length of time became a major undertaking. Even the twenty metres from the east door to the big old bus’s normal parking spot was now a jog, not a walk. And I could only visit Harv’I when Gavantchin was with us to take me in her ’mobile.

Michael and Gabriel did what they could, and it was much. They were always available, always smiling, always helpful. But that was not enough.

I noticed that it was those, who had often before been outspoken and cynical, who were now the staunchest supporters of what we were doing. Ray, in particular. And Ben. Elise, more gently, weighed in too. “What was the point of coming here if we don’t change the world for the better?” she asked.

* * *

Over the weeks, the news from Camp Four got better and better. The alliance of the Sixty-Four Kings (well actually, sixty-two kings and two presidents) was rapidly taking control of the Brjemych planet. There were bloodless coups in many realms and in several republics. Violence was down, happiness was up, and even the economy was starting to recover from all the bad kings’ predations.

I worried that Voltan, who was clearly the first among equals and the king-pin of the Sixty-Four, might try to make himself emperor. But Harv’I – on one of my, currently rare, visits to him – put me right. “I mind-scanned him when we met,” he said. “I took a complete dump of his mind. That is Galactically taboo, but I did it anyway, because the matter is so important. Voltan is trustworthy.”

All the Brjemych trainees had been sent back within the first three weeks after B-Day. Maijier and his advisor had been the last to go. There were now only eight Brjemych and two Tuglay left there, along with Zer’ael and Gavantchin. And the only reason Tuglayino and Tuglayono were still on Perinent, was that they had volunteered to stay on, to be the teachers for the next species to use Camp Four.

Meanwhile, I had some more planning to do. I put to Balzo the idea that we should have a Third Wave. We would Pull some of those with a good chance of acquiring power in the aftermath of P-Day. We would brief them. We would show them the Punishment Pit, and take them to meet Harv’I. And we would then send them back to play their parts in the revolution. With assistance, where appropriate, from one or more of our trainees.

I wanted to keep the second wave on Perinent until the third wave was properly started. I wanted to send them to a “safe house” – Ramael’s Seraphimobile, where they would join those still remaining from the first wave. And then, to distribute them round the planet as needed. That was ultimately why I had decided to Pull Paul, and with him Melinda. I wanted a doctor on board that ’mobile.

I also spent much time exchanging ideas with Ramael and Hazael while they were on Socotera. Because of the physics of the force fields, it is not possible to contact Naudar’I ships in flight, even by mescap. So, once the first wave left Socotera, my next opportunity to communicate with them would be when they were in geostationary orbit above Earth.

We agreed that Hazael would send us a mescap when they arrived there. That would be the signal that we could start P-Day. My plan was for the Seraphimobile to land – very publicly – on Earth exactly forty-four hours, that is two Perinent days, after we began P-Day. A further twenty-two hours later, we would start Pulling the third wave.

* * *

As winter at Camp Two turned into early spring, the anxiety passed. Yes, people came to think, this really can work. We, we lucky few, really do have the chance to change for the better the lives of all the peaceful, honest, productive people on Earth. And to punish the political class for their crimes and injustices. So let’s do it.

We in the Team spent a lot of our time detailing who should be taken in the third wave, and monitoring them. They were a mixture. Some were prominent opposition leaders. Some were heirs apparent to power, should there be an emergency. Others had only very recently acquired power, and had not yet done too much harm.

A week before P-Day, we had news via Balzo that the Board of the Galactic Association had considered the Brjemych’s application for Galactic status, and had formally accepted them as Juniors. Several hundred Galactic dignitaries would gather on the Brjemych planet for the celebrations in approximately eight Perinent weeks. And it was time for Zer’ael and Gavantchin to make the arrangements for Gelmar and his Team to go home.

I urgently asked Balzo to make sure that the Brjemych didn’t leave Perinent until after they had helped us with our own P-Day. He agreed, but said they would have to come to Camp Two almost immediately, as Camp Four was to be prepared for another species. So, I had Gavantchin bring in relays the entire Brjemych Team of eight, with their three Pulling and Pushing machines, to Camp Two. Zer’ael, Tuglayono and Tuglayino came too. We had enough rooms for them all – just.

* * *

P-Day was set for a Wednesday. On the Tuesday afternoon, Gabriel came to me with a mescap. It was from Hazael, who was now in Earth orbit. The trainees in the ’mobile were under sleep-gas; they could be woken up at eight hours’ notice. I replied that we would start the Pulling at 9 of the 22, Perinent time, the following morning. And that the trainees should be woken up in time for the landing on Earth forty-four hours later. That would be Friday morning, our time.

Wednesday came. It was a sunny late spring day, cool but promising warmth later. All was in place for the Pullers. Michael had mixed several hundred large sleep-gas doses, which he would administer to keep those we Pulled unconscious for about a Perinent day. As well as a similar number of smaller and quicker-acting doses, to be used for the act of Pulling.

Gabriel, Cees, Elise, Hoong, Galina and three Brjemych Pullers would each work at a dedicated machine for as long as it took. Gelmar would be reserve Puller, ready to step in while people were eating, or to take over from anyone who became too tired. And I would do the occasional Pull too, if only to keep my hand in.

With much ingenuity, Hoong had rigged up some lights, both on the way from the hotel to the Punishment Pit and between the elevator and the building in the Pit itself, so that we could continue to work at night if we needed to. And the strongest among the second wave of trainees had been co-opted into the transport team. Some of them would wheel those destined for punishment from our building to the elevator, down into the Pit, and to the punishment building. Ben would organize them. Others, down in the Pit, would take on the really heavy job, of loading the sleeping prisoners on to their bunks. Lily would direct this work. We had Gavantchin and Zer’ael to help too; they were each as strong as two humans.

The Cherubim were primed to keep a look out for anyone we brought that they thought did not deserve punishment, as their fellows at Camp Four had done for Maijier.

Sabrina had on hand all the information on which of those to be punished would likely be found where and when. John was ready with camera and sound recording equipment. Dede and Marie were the runners, carrying messages wherever they were needed – and, in particular, taking to each Puller the dossier on whomever they were to Pull next. Since the Brjemych could not read English, three of our trainees were ready to read out the dossiers to Borong and their two other Pullers. Ray and Jenna were in the kitchen. I was ready to oversee the whole, and to react to anything that might happen, as it happened.

As he had been earlier at Camp Four, Cees was a Trojan that day. Despite all the monitoring work we had done, it was harder to find those to be Pulled than it had been with the bad Brjemych kings. Still, Cees averaged a Pull every twenty-five minutes throughout the day. This time, Elise was only a little slower, about thirty-five minutes per Pull. Gabriel worked at about the same rate as Elise. Hoong, Galina and the three Brjemych each averaged around one Pull an hour.

We didn’t stop for lunch, we didn’t stop for dinner. Anyone who felt hungry simply went along to the kitchen and grabbed tea or coffee, and whatever they fancied from Ray and Jenna’s ever-changing menu.

Night fell. Our tally was in the 120s. We were a little over half-way to today’s target. We were going to have to work through the night. We were going to have to work right until the first of those we had Pulled began to wake up.

We Pulled dictators. We Pulled warmongers. We Pulled presidents, prime ministers and former occupants of those posts. We Pulled senior UN and EU bureaucrats. We Pulled politicians and “scientists” that had fraudulently claimed that human activities caused catastrophic climate change. We Pulled many of those that had ruled over people by lies and deception. We Pulled a good selection of those whose disappearance would bring joy to the hearts of the people they had mistreated.

The Cherubim remained silent throughout. Obviously, we had not made any mistakes like the one Mittveld had made over Maijier.

Things went wrong, of course. Some of Hoong’s lights failed, and I had to ask Zer’ael to fix them – which he did, quickly. One trainee, hauling a laden trolley too enthusiastically over the rough ground, sprained his ankle. Zer’ael couldn’t fix that instantly, but he could lessen the pain. Having a combined engineer and medic in my team was a boon.

It was an uncanny scene that I saw in the sputtering light. Some of the worst individuals on Earth, strapped to trolleys, being wheeled unconscious towards their nemesis – and good riddance. Many of them in suits, some in pyjamas. A few, indeed, in evening dress.

Down in the Pit itself, as the bunks were slowly filled, it felt even more eerie, though the building had far better lights than the ones Hoong had installed.

By 6 of the 22, after nineteen hours of concentration on the work, even Cees had begun to flag. I determined that we should stop when the tally reached 200. That would be enough to make our point. We could – and would – Pull more later.

You Are Not Guilty!

(Neil's Note: While searching through my archives, I came across this one, dated October 27th, 2009, which hadn't been published before. I thought it would fit very well as one of the "starters" for the new blog.)

My friend, you are today bombarded by accusations designed to make you feel guilty. All around you, again and again, the politicians and media accuse you of things like: (tick all those applicable to you):

• Producing waste
  
• Damaging the environment
  
• Using energy
  
• Wasting natural resources
  
• Failing to recycle
  
• Emitting carbon dioxide, so causing dangerous global warming
  
• Endangering species
  
• Taking part in greedy, grasping business
  
• Being successful through your own efforts
  
• Being well-off while others are poor
  
• Being selfish
  
• Being unnatural
  
• Being naturally bad
  
• Not giving to charity
  
• Spending on what you want
  
• Driving a car (or, worse, an SUV)
  
• Eating meat
  
• Not eating enough fruit or veg
  
• Being fat
  
• Drinking alcohol
  
• Smoking
  
• Flying in aeroplanes
  
• Causing Hurricane Katrina
  
• Being sceptical about environmentalism
  
• Exploiting people in the third world
  
• Having ancestors who were “colonialists”
  

And that’s before you’ve done anything that might in some places have been declared, or might in future be declared, to be “illegal”. Such as:

• Taking drugs
  
• Enjoying pornography
  
• Going to a prostitute
  
• Hunting foxes
  
• Failing to vote for politicians
  
• Driving too fast
  
• Using incandescent light-bulbs
  
• Being a one-man business
  
• Downloading something from the Internet that might be “copyright”
  

But there’s more. The guilt-trippers bombard you with guilt for just about anything. For example: wars, pollution, poverty, the decay of society. Over-population, stress, not caring about future generations. Even though you have no, or almost no, control over any of these things. How can you possibly be guilty for anything you could never have controlled, or even influenced?

Now, my friend, you’re an honest, truthful human being. Yes? You make your contribution to the economy. You take responsibility for what you do. You don’t use or support aggressive violence. You don’t support political agendas designed to harm innocent people. Yes? Why, then, are you being treated as if you were guilty? Why are you bombarded by messages trying to make you accept guilt? Something’s wrong here.

My friend, I have news for you. You’re being had.

But I have better news for you too, You are not alone.

Your friends – and I am one – see through the lies and deceits of those that want to be our political masters. And what we see, and you will soon see – if you do not already – is this:

You are not guilty!

State Your Terms!

On the Mis-Use of Language to Convey Subtle Collectivist Messages

(Neil’s Note: This wasn’t the very first “philosophical” paper I ever wrote, but it was the first one which someone else – in this case, Brian Micklethwait of the Libertarian Alliance – thought good enough to publish. The date stamp on the original was October 5th, 2001.)

* * *

A well-known lover of freedom, writing about the causes of the atrocities of September 11, 2001, used a phrase which jarred on me: “our meddling in Middle East politics.” What he really meant was “the US government’s meddling in Middle East politics.” My friend, living in the USA, had found it natural to use “we” or “our” to refer to the US government. The effect was to give the reader a very subtle statist message. Namely that everyone, particularly US citizens, and including my friend, must accept a portion of the responsibility for the US government’s meddling in Middle East politics.

This small, unintentional slip showed one way in which language can be used to convey subtle collectivist, anti-individual and anti-freedom messages. Those that hate individual freedom - I will call them lovers of tyranny - are masters of this particular art. I decided to write this paper to alert lovers of freedom to (or to remind them of) a few of these deceptions, and to suggest how they might try to avoid these traps in their own writing.

The misuse of the word “we,” and its derivatives “us” or “our,” is very common. Many people, when they beat their breasts and say “we must do something about this,” mean “I want the government to force people to do something about this.” But, by using the word “we,” they are fraudulently claiming to speak for large numbers of people, many of whom if asked might well disagree entirely with what they say.

The key to detecting the fraud in this case is the simple one of asking, “Who’s we?.” If a speaker or writer uses “we” in a way which is not clearly defined, you may perhaps have caught a lover of tyranny in the act.

Another misuse of “we,” often perpetrated by religionists and environmentalists, is to project guilt on to the entire human race. “Ever since we were given the Ten Commandments, we’ve ignored them,” moan religious fanatics. “We are polluting the atmosphere. We can’t go on like this,” scream enviros. The key here is to apply their own arguments to themselves. Have they, as individuals, ignored – for example – “Thou shalt not steal?” Are they polluting the atmosphere – the mental environment - with lies, and falsely trying to make people feel guilty? There are two lessons to be learned. First, never accept any guilt for anything other than your own actions, or the actions of someone under your direct control. Second, if those that use “we” in this way genuinely believe what they are saying, they are damning themselves out of their own mouths.

Related to both these misuses is the making of statements which bundle people together according to nationality, or according to some characteristic beyond their control, such as race. The motivation for this collectivist “bundling” is often to rouse emotions, either for or against those people. One should be suspicious of any sweeping statement, either positive or negative, about (to give two examples) “Americans” or “blacks.” Apart from the difficulty of determining just who exactly is “American” or who exactly is “black” (and who not), such blanket statements obscure the fact that human beings are all different.

Another misuse of language is the personalization of nation-states, as in, “France wants X extradited” – or, when already speaking of France, “She wants X extradited.” In reality, a nation-state is not a person, and should never be given the pronoun “he” or “she.” The example above would have been better expressed as, “French leaders want X extradited,” or even as “French government officials have said they want X extradited.” France, indeed, is a piece of land; France cannot want anything (except, possibly, rain).

There is often similar misuse of the names of cities, particularly capital cities. For example, “London says such-and-such” or “Washington has confirmed so-and-so.” Even buildings are sometimes personalized: “The White House wants to tell the American public that…”

In English, capital letters are not normally used for nouns, except for proper names and for the first word of a sentence. However, it is conventional to use capital letters for the names of establishment institutions and personages. Examples of such words are government, king, parliament, president, state, church, pope. To dignify these words with capital letters – Government, President, State, Church, for example – gives to the reader an almost subliminal message of power, respect and even reverence. But, as historians and lovers of freedom know, many of these organizations and individuals have shown, by their actions, that they are not worthy of any such respect or reverence.

Those that hate freedom – statists, collectivists, lovers of tyranny, call them what you will – have two words, which they very often pervert. These are “public” and “people.”

The adjective “public,” in its true meaning, means “for the benefit of all.” No less a thinker than John Locke, in his First Treatise of Government, defined the “public good,” which must be the objective of every government, as “the good of every particular member of that society, as far as by common rules, it can be provided for.” (In other words, if even one non-criminal individual in a society suffers nett harm from government, that government is not acting according to the public good, and so is not doing its job).

There are many common uses of the word “public,” in which it has its true meaning of “for the benefit of all” or “open to all.” For example: public footpath, public house, public transport. But statists often pervert this word into a meaning more like “of or pertaining to the state.” For example: public purse, public sector, public works. And when any politician talks about something being in the “public interest,” you can be sure that this is no more than an excuse to “justify” the particular policies of that politician.

The word “people,” in English, has two quite different meanings. People (plural) are human beings. The word “people” (singular) is used to mean a nation, or a sub-group within a nation. And statists often use “people” (singular), when they want those receiving the message to think that they are talking about people (plural). The key here is to ask, if you replace the word “people” by “persons,” does the sentence still mean the same? For example, when Abraham Lincoln spoke of “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” did he mean a society in which individual human beings run their own lives, or did he mean something else?

Which leads to one of the most misunderstood words of all, “democracy.” Western politicians, especially US presidents, love to extol how wonderful democracy is, how no social or political system could possibly be better. This is hardly surprising, as democracy is, after all, the system through which they obtained power. This paper is not the place to discuss in detail why democracy today doesn’t work, and why so many individuals feel disempowered. Here, I will only address one reason why democracy fails; namely, that the word democracy doesn’t mean what people have been led to believe it does.

Democracy, says conventional wisdom, means “power to the people” – power to you and me. But this is not so. The word consists of two parts, both from the ancient Greek. The “cracy” bit, as with other –cracy words like aristocracy, means power. (In modern Greek, the root word “kratos” has come to mean “the state”!) The “demo” bit is more interesting. Democracy means power to the “demos.” “Demos” means people. But as you will have already seen if you know Greek, the word “demos” is singular! Indeed, this very word “demos,” in modern Greek, has taken on the meaning of “municipality” or “borough.” So, the real meaning of democracy has nothing to do with empowering individuals. It really means something more like “power to the municipality,” or even “power to the state”!

Lastly, lovers of tyranny often show themselves for what they are, by their liking for military expressions. Politicians fight election campaigns, from which they want victory. And the word they like best of all is war. War on poverty, war on waste, war on litter, war on drugs, war on crime, war on terrorism – their list is long, and their wars are never-ending.

There are on planet Earth two conflicting world-views. The world-view of the lovers of freedom is, in essence, that human beings are individuals, naturally good, peaceful, productive and constructive. That human beings must take full responsibility for their own voluntary actions, but are not guilty for anything done by others outside their control. That all laws should ultimately boil down to just one kernel, namely, respect for others’ rights. That all the problems in the world are due to a minority of “bad apples” or, as John Locke called them, “noxious creatures,” and to the rot caused in others by their words and their activities. That good human beings, left to themselves, will create order out of chaos, and so make the planet a fit place for the human race to live.

The world-view of the lovers of tyranny, on the other hand, is that human beings are naturally bad, warlike and no more than cogs in a social machine. That all humans must accept a collective responsibility or guilt, which extends even to things outside their control. That, left to themselves, humans will destroy the planet. That humans must be controlled and regulated, and order imposed on them, either through force or through manipulating their beliefs. (And, that they themselves, the lovers of tyranny, are best equipped to do this controlling and regulating!)

Each individual shows his or her world-view in the way he or she uses language. And we (that is to say, lovers of freedom) are too prone to slip into our rivals’ way of speaking and writing. When we use “we,” for example, we should try to make it clear just who we mean. We should be alert to other misuses of “we,” for example to represent statist institutions, or to project false guilt. We should avoid implying that individuals must accept responsibility for things outside their control, particularly for actions carried out by politicians. We should try to avoid “bundling” people together into groups and making sweeping statements about them. We should reject the personalization of nation-states or cities. We should not dignify with capital letters personages or institutions that do not deserve them. We should not misuse words like “people” and “public,” and we should avoid warlike metaphors, such as calling our rivals “the enemy.” In short, we need to “state” our case in our terms, not our rivals’.

We lovers of freedom are usually strong on facts and logic. But facts and logic alone will never persuade those very many people, whose minds have been poisoned towards our rivals’ world-view by their long-term, persistent propaganda. We will never roll back the power of the state, still less heal the damage done by nation-states and politicians, unless we strive to make our use of language reinforce, rather than dilute, our uncompromisingly individual, peaceful and optimistic message.