Neo Kervoskia
10-12-2005, 02:11
I finished a short story. I don't have the final draft saved on my computer (myrth), but here's a semi-coherent draft.
Meritocracy
There wasn't a vacant seat in the auditorium. It was at full capacity with an crowd of fifteen million anxious spectators. All were waiting for the games to begin. The sections were segregated accordingly and no one was permitted to wander past their respective area. From Arabs, to Tibetans, Gaels, to Gorani, to Kazakhs , and Shangaan, each one was represented in the auditorium. The lighting was fair and it was mostly centered on the enormous stage that was elevated slightly. The auditorium was a half dome and had a superficial classical motif on the outside. This was only a skin to remind the dreary population of more prosperous times. The outside was characterized by elaborate Corinthian columns carefully chiseled from an exquisite Italian marble. The entrance was unlike that of the buildings that occupied the thousands of busy city streets. It kept to the classical feel and the doors were large and wooden and were supported by steel lining and hinges. In front of this mammoth construction stood a monolith made of the same white marble. It had an inscription on the front of it that read, " For All Humanity, May the Hand of Merit Guide Us."
As befuddled as humanity generally is, it required some abstract force for guidance. Passion, equality, faith; all failed to deliver the utopia that their proponents so eagerly promised if their ideal were instituted as the supreme commander of the hearts and minds of the people. Humanity, being imperfect by its very nature, rejected wholeheartedly the proposed changes. In the beginning such desperately needed changes were widely accepted and when the prospects of being enacted were bright, it was hailed as the coming of a new and glorious age. The people would proclaim that it would be a welcome change from the bleak world that the people themselves had engineered. Of course, as often occurs, upon enacting the widely requested change, it was promptly rejected by the usual band of old loyalists, grasping to a golden age in history that never happened, and the young radicals who always wanted more. The latter were the idealists, always wanting to alter the current state of things in order to form a society that followed the aforementioned ideals. What is the difference between these two groups and the sorts of changes mentioned? They differ in only one aspect; the amount of social engineering and illogic that were used in constructing the most wholesome society that the world has ever seen. One group wants represents a child who wants to crawl, the other represents a lame who attempts to run.
The only ideal that held enough popular sway over the world was merit, but not in it's natural form. Pure merit would not be suitable for a strong and blissful society. The majority of the populace was incapable of fully understanding the systems of incentives and rewards that were required to utilize pure merit. Personal preferences prevented this. The republic, being fueled largely by temporary whims, instituted the racism and made them into a tradition. Thus it was necessary to bind merit to another ideal, one that was already deeply imbedded into the minds of society. This was even more influential than merit. This was pride, but to more specific it was ethnic pride. Since time immemorial people have taken tremendous pride in their respective ethnicites. Conquest facilitated the pride and it spread throughout the known world. Together merit and ethnic pride would be fused into one and would save humanity from the new evil of the world. Adaptation. Refusing to change, humanity sought to control natural selection. Centuries passed and the process of taming nature became ever more sophisticated. Eventually this would lead to the current state.
The power to outwit the very hand that rules us is incentive enough to raise an offensive hand against any soul that dares to deny you that coveted power. Wars were rampant, yet the population recovered and acted as if nothing had happened, comforted by the empty promise of never again. At the brink of destruction, this new system was constructed and hailed as the savior Christ. How ironic it is that society is being kept alive by a contradiction. History is marked by attempts to conform the world to a single ideal. Explanations were needed to prevent chaos; any contradiction had the potential to trigger a conflict. Now it would be the last resort to save a dying race.
Each year millions filled the grand auditorium with the hope that their breed would be spared the medicine that had kept society alive for the past seven decades. Every year one representative of each ethnicity remaining on earth would be chosen and would travel to the capital to prove that his breed was superior. The concept of a master race was now a reality. The winning breed would be proclaimed the master race and their people would remain unharmed for one year. The inferior breeds must sacrifice, for the sake of humanity, one twentieth of their numbers. It was a generous wager. Most of the indigenous breeds of the lower continents have been completely decimated. . They did not contribute a substantial amount to the society yet they received more than their fair share of recognition and care. I have no doubt that this welfare influenced the decisions of the judges. The enormous task of deciding the fate of entire cultures rested in the hands of a panel of only ten judges. This panel was comprised of members from the winning breed. They held this position for a period of one year.
The residing judges this year were ten male Catalans. They sat on chairs that resembled thrones which were elevated slightly above the massive stage. Each wore a finely pressed tuxedo and sported a platinum time peace, a symbol of their superiority. It would be their duty to choose from amongst the numerous breeds, that which was nearest to perfection. The criteria were quite simple. Select the breed which has the most exquisite faculties. The representatives of each breed were usually from the highest stock of their society. Not necessarily the wealthiest, but the most refined. The lower breeds, the dregs of humanity, had the odds firmly against them. This was what the system was designed to do; to act as a selector and eliminate whatever held humanity in position of vulnerability. Eventually all of the inferior stock that humanity had produced would be extinct and with a single master race, the people would prosper. All of the obstacles would become nonexistent. At least that's what theory concluded to on paper. But dreams of any sort rarely meet their expected ends.
The Master of Ceremonies stood proudly and approached the microphone in the center. Upon reaching it he smiled cooly and said in his native tongue, " Good evening ladies and gentlemen of all breeds. Tonight is a night for all of humanity, for tonight we purify ourselves and usher in a new age of prosperity. The Catalan has earned exemption from this year's show, however I would like to welcome my fellow brothers and sisters who are in the audience. For all Humanity, may the hand of merit guide us. " After that modest speech, the representatives of the breeds walked gracefully onto the stage. Another judge walked forward as the other one sat down. He came to the microphone and began roll call.
The second judge completed his roll call and announced, " Let us begin". The show started.
Three hundred contestants formed a straight line across the cold black floor of the auditorium.The lights were focused on them and every spectator gave shouts of praise to their representatives and openly insulted others. It was typical of these sorts of events. Humanity has that trait. Despite the fact the the stakes were at their highest, people still found occasion to degrade the competitors. Everyone needed to feel superior. The auditorium was lively, which made it seemed rather macabre considering the circumstances. After several minutes passed, the room grew silent. The contestants gave a subtle bow and all but thirteen of them departed for the back stage to prepare for the first round of judging. The first groups to be judged were the Europeans. There were very few Eastern Europeans. After several years of failing to obtain immunity, the whole of Poland, Slovakia, Estonia, and Belarus were now extinct.
Prospects were not looking any more optimistic this year. The vast majority of the judges, indeed the people, wanted to complete the process and rid society of what they viewed as inferior stock. The peoples of old Muscovy were still alive. Through careful breeding, they had managed to escape the fate that their neighbors to the west had suffered. To the victor go the spoils.
The thirteen contestants were all dressed in the same drab uniforms. The traditional clothing of their fathers was superficial and was irrelevant to the awarding of merit. The judges walked casually to the contestants and examined them. None of the thirteen contestants dared to look the judges in the eye out of fear of retribution. They kept their heads cocked slightly upward and hands straight down against their legs. The process lasted a mere fifteen minutes. It's very curious to note how little time was devoted to selecting who remain. The philosophy of the day was efficiency, and the definition they preferred called for quantity, rarely quality. The master of ceremonies took out his watch, looked at it briefly, then sounded a horn. Everyone ceased their movements until the master of ceremonies reached the microphone. He took out a small slip of paper which contained the winner. He carefully opened it, "The best of this breed has been chosen. With the unanimous consent of the panel, the Italians shall move onto the next round of judging."
The Italians in the auditorium sang the praises of their representative. Many of them shouted old Italian phrases that annoyed the neighboring sections. With this announcement, six gunmen marched from the backstage and aimed their pistols at the losing contestants. They were promptly shot and their bodies disposed of. Machine cleaners wiped the stage of the blood and the spectators uttered a solemn, "Amen." Then the attention turned towards the groups of losing breeds in the audience. Each member pulled from their seat a small mask and put it on their face. The mask was attached to a hose. The hoses lead underground to a massive metal building. In it contained large quantities of cyanide gas.The valve was controlled by the judges who then turned on the gas and the losing breeds inhaled it. It must have been at least four million people. Out of that, only one protested. It was an elderly Megleno-Romanian woman. She ran out of her section and made a dash for the exit. All of the while she was shouting, "Monsters! Monsters! You are cowards, you murder children! "
The guards at the doors apprehended her and dragged her back to her section. She was the strapped to a chair and forced to inhale the sweet gas. She endured more insults and offensive gestures in that brief period than she had experienced in any other time in her long life. When the mask was removed from her lifeless body, the people in the other sections stood and gave the guards a standing ovation. They were deeply offended by her refusal to contribute to the preservation of society; this was she was not joined in her defiant gesture. The guards were to be commended. Then as quickly as it had begun, the cheers ceased.
The same process of judging and cleansing was repeated until only a quarter of the audience remained. The panel sat back down and a blonde-haired fellow stepped up to the microphone. He belonged to a group of protestors. They weren't in the same category as the old woman, these people wanted to be represented. They were "Aryans". Their use of the term was pure disregard for history and the reasons for wanting such recognition were purely ideological. He began to sing and each note was near perfection. It was a song from an era that was now known only in the annals of history. It was a Bobby Darin song that was little known and regarded as classical. In other words it was a relic.
Somewhere beyond the sea,
Somewhere, waiting for me,
My lover stands on golden sands
And watches the ships that go sailing;
Somewhere beyond the sea,
She's there watching for me.
If I could fly like birds on high,
Then straight to his her arms I'd go sailing.
It's far beyond a star,
It's near beyond the moon,
I know beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon.
We'll meet beyond the shore,
We'll kiss just as before.
Happy we'll be beyond the sea,
And never again I'll go sailing!
After that soothing note, he was promptly booed off stage. His ideological stance overshadowed his vocal skills. The judging continued. One after another the breeds were disposed of and the winner moved on to the next round. It was the same speedy process. This time there were no protestors. Eventually a winner would be chosen, the best in breed. This title would be only temporary and then the purging would begin again. Society searched desperately for a miracle cure, a master race, but this an exercise in futility.
Meritocracy
There wasn't a vacant seat in the auditorium. It was at full capacity with an crowd of fifteen million anxious spectators. All were waiting for the games to begin. The sections were segregated accordingly and no one was permitted to wander past their respective area. From Arabs, to Tibetans, Gaels, to Gorani, to Kazakhs , and Shangaan, each one was represented in the auditorium. The lighting was fair and it was mostly centered on the enormous stage that was elevated slightly. The auditorium was a half dome and had a superficial classical motif on the outside. This was only a skin to remind the dreary population of more prosperous times. The outside was characterized by elaborate Corinthian columns carefully chiseled from an exquisite Italian marble. The entrance was unlike that of the buildings that occupied the thousands of busy city streets. It kept to the classical feel and the doors were large and wooden and were supported by steel lining and hinges. In front of this mammoth construction stood a monolith made of the same white marble. It had an inscription on the front of it that read, " For All Humanity, May the Hand of Merit Guide Us."
As befuddled as humanity generally is, it required some abstract force for guidance. Passion, equality, faith; all failed to deliver the utopia that their proponents so eagerly promised if their ideal were instituted as the supreme commander of the hearts and minds of the people. Humanity, being imperfect by its very nature, rejected wholeheartedly the proposed changes. In the beginning such desperately needed changes were widely accepted and when the prospects of being enacted were bright, it was hailed as the coming of a new and glorious age. The people would proclaim that it would be a welcome change from the bleak world that the people themselves had engineered. Of course, as often occurs, upon enacting the widely requested change, it was promptly rejected by the usual band of old loyalists, grasping to a golden age in history that never happened, and the young radicals who always wanted more. The latter were the idealists, always wanting to alter the current state of things in order to form a society that followed the aforementioned ideals. What is the difference between these two groups and the sorts of changes mentioned? They differ in only one aspect; the amount of social engineering and illogic that were used in constructing the most wholesome society that the world has ever seen. One group wants represents a child who wants to crawl, the other represents a lame who attempts to run.
The only ideal that held enough popular sway over the world was merit, but not in it's natural form. Pure merit would not be suitable for a strong and blissful society. The majority of the populace was incapable of fully understanding the systems of incentives and rewards that were required to utilize pure merit. Personal preferences prevented this. The republic, being fueled largely by temporary whims, instituted the racism and made them into a tradition. Thus it was necessary to bind merit to another ideal, one that was already deeply imbedded into the minds of society. This was even more influential than merit. This was pride, but to more specific it was ethnic pride. Since time immemorial people have taken tremendous pride in their respective ethnicites. Conquest facilitated the pride and it spread throughout the known world. Together merit and ethnic pride would be fused into one and would save humanity from the new evil of the world. Adaptation. Refusing to change, humanity sought to control natural selection. Centuries passed and the process of taming nature became ever more sophisticated. Eventually this would lead to the current state.
The power to outwit the very hand that rules us is incentive enough to raise an offensive hand against any soul that dares to deny you that coveted power. Wars were rampant, yet the population recovered and acted as if nothing had happened, comforted by the empty promise of never again. At the brink of destruction, this new system was constructed and hailed as the savior Christ. How ironic it is that society is being kept alive by a contradiction. History is marked by attempts to conform the world to a single ideal. Explanations were needed to prevent chaos; any contradiction had the potential to trigger a conflict. Now it would be the last resort to save a dying race.
Each year millions filled the grand auditorium with the hope that their breed would be spared the medicine that had kept society alive for the past seven decades. Every year one representative of each ethnicity remaining on earth would be chosen and would travel to the capital to prove that his breed was superior. The concept of a master race was now a reality. The winning breed would be proclaimed the master race and their people would remain unharmed for one year. The inferior breeds must sacrifice, for the sake of humanity, one twentieth of their numbers. It was a generous wager. Most of the indigenous breeds of the lower continents have been completely decimated. . They did not contribute a substantial amount to the society yet they received more than their fair share of recognition and care. I have no doubt that this welfare influenced the decisions of the judges. The enormous task of deciding the fate of entire cultures rested in the hands of a panel of only ten judges. This panel was comprised of members from the winning breed. They held this position for a period of one year.
The residing judges this year were ten male Catalans. They sat on chairs that resembled thrones which were elevated slightly above the massive stage. Each wore a finely pressed tuxedo and sported a platinum time peace, a symbol of their superiority. It would be their duty to choose from amongst the numerous breeds, that which was nearest to perfection. The criteria were quite simple. Select the breed which has the most exquisite faculties. The representatives of each breed were usually from the highest stock of their society. Not necessarily the wealthiest, but the most refined. The lower breeds, the dregs of humanity, had the odds firmly against them. This was what the system was designed to do; to act as a selector and eliminate whatever held humanity in position of vulnerability. Eventually all of the inferior stock that humanity had produced would be extinct and with a single master race, the people would prosper. All of the obstacles would become nonexistent. At least that's what theory concluded to on paper. But dreams of any sort rarely meet their expected ends.
The Master of Ceremonies stood proudly and approached the microphone in the center. Upon reaching it he smiled cooly and said in his native tongue, " Good evening ladies and gentlemen of all breeds. Tonight is a night for all of humanity, for tonight we purify ourselves and usher in a new age of prosperity. The Catalan has earned exemption from this year's show, however I would like to welcome my fellow brothers and sisters who are in the audience. For all Humanity, may the hand of merit guide us. " After that modest speech, the representatives of the breeds walked gracefully onto the stage. Another judge walked forward as the other one sat down. He came to the microphone and began roll call.
The second judge completed his roll call and announced, " Let us begin". The show started.
Three hundred contestants formed a straight line across the cold black floor of the auditorium.The lights were focused on them and every spectator gave shouts of praise to their representatives and openly insulted others. It was typical of these sorts of events. Humanity has that trait. Despite the fact the the stakes were at their highest, people still found occasion to degrade the competitors. Everyone needed to feel superior. The auditorium was lively, which made it seemed rather macabre considering the circumstances. After several minutes passed, the room grew silent. The contestants gave a subtle bow and all but thirteen of them departed for the back stage to prepare for the first round of judging. The first groups to be judged were the Europeans. There were very few Eastern Europeans. After several years of failing to obtain immunity, the whole of Poland, Slovakia, Estonia, and Belarus were now extinct.
Prospects were not looking any more optimistic this year. The vast majority of the judges, indeed the people, wanted to complete the process and rid society of what they viewed as inferior stock. The peoples of old Muscovy were still alive. Through careful breeding, they had managed to escape the fate that their neighbors to the west had suffered. To the victor go the spoils.
The thirteen contestants were all dressed in the same drab uniforms. The traditional clothing of their fathers was superficial and was irrelevant to the awarding of merit. The judges walked casually to the contestants and examined them. None of the thirteen contestants dared to look the judges in the eye out of fear of retribution. They kept their heads cocked slightly upward and hands straight down against their legs. The process lasted a mere fifteen minutes. It's very curious to note how little time was devoted to selecting who remain. The philosophy of the day was efficiency, and the definition they preferred called for quantity, rarely quality. The master of ceremonies took out his watch, looked at it briefly, then sounded a horn. Everyone ceased their movements until the master of ceremonies reached the microphone. He took out a small slip of paper which contained the winner. He carefully opened it, "The best of this breed has been chosen. With the unanimous consent of the panel, the Italians shall move onto the next round of judging."
The Italians in the auditorium sang the praises of their representative. Many of them shouted old Italian phrases that annoyed the neighboring sections. With this announcement, six gunmen marched from the backstage and aimed their pistols at the losing contestants. They were promptly shot and their bodies disposed of. Machine cleaners wiped the stage of the blood and the spectators uttered a solemn, "Amen." Then the attention turned towards the groups of losing breeds in the audience. Each member pulled from their seat a small mask and put it on their face. The mask was attached to a hose. The hoses lead underground to a massive metal building. In it contained large quantities of cyanide gas.The valve was controlled by the judges who then turned on the gas and the losing breeds inhaled it. It must have been at least four million people. Out of that, only one protested. It was an elderly Megleno-Romanian woman. She ran out of her section and made a dash for the exit. All of the while she was shouting, "Monsters! Monsters! You are cowards, you murder children! "
The guards at the doors apprehended her and dragged her back to her section. She was the strapped to a chair and forced to inhale the sweet gas. She endured more insults and offensive gestures in that brief period than she had experienced in any other time in her long life. When the mask was removed from her lifeless body, the people in the other sections stood and gave the guards a standing ovation. They were deeply offended by her refusal to contribute to the preservation of society; this was she was not joined in her defiant gesture. The guards were to be commended. Then as quickly as it had begun, the cheers ceased.
The same process of judging and cleansing was repeated until only a quarter of the audience remained. The panel sat back down and a blonde-haired fellow stepped up to the microphone. He belonged to a group of protestors. They weren't in the same category as the old woman, these people wanted to be represented. They were "Aryans". Their use of the term was pure disregard for history and the reasons for wanting such recognition were purely ideological. He began to sing and each note was near perfection. It was a song from an era that was now known only in the annals of history. It was a Bobby Darin song that was little known and regarded as classical. In other words it was a relic.
Somewhere beyond the sea,
Somewhere, waiting for me,
My lover stands on golden sands
And watches the ships that go sailing;
Somewhere beyond the sea,
She's there watching for me.
If I could fly like birds on high,
Then straight to his her arms I'd go sailing.
It's far beyond a star,
It's near beyond the moon,
I know beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon.
We'll meet beyond the shore,
We'll kiss just as before.
Happy we'll be beyond the sea,
And never again I'll go sailing!
After that soothing note, he was promptly booed off stage. His ideological stance overshadowed his vocal skills. The judging continued. One after another the breeds were disposed of and the winner moved on to the next round. It was the same speedy process. This time there were no protestors. Eventually a winner would be chosen, the best in breed. This title would be only temporary and then the purging would begin again. Society searched desperately for a miracle cure, a master race, but this an exercise in futility.