Just a preface on this. Unlike most of my writing on this blog, this is actually a work of fiction rather than a opinion piece. The main narrator of the story is me but in a theoretically future somewhere around 2030. I kept all names out of this story with the exception of a fictional cat. Hope you enjoy it. Leave a comment and let me know if you want to read more of my fiction in the future.
The street lights began to flicker on as I exited the rail station. I lived on Pico & Union but I
work on Sunset & Vine. So I have a short train ride to and from work every day. I’m a producer over at Channel 93. These days producers don’t need to worry about money, instead we’re in charge of babysitting the project from script until broadcast. I was actually really happy to get a channel below 100. I started my television career on Channel 497, one of the porn channels. At least it was less sleazy since they added the pornography regulation and safety laws.
Regardless, I am much happier at Channel 93. We create Sci-Fi and action films. Which is a bit more difficult these days with the strict budgets. Basically it means all of my actors are actually stuntmen, all of my actresses are hired for stunts and tits, and none of them were hired for their acting ability. All of the good actors are on the lower channels, but occasionally we get a good actor who does the movie because they like it.
As I approached my apartment building I reflected upon how much I like this neighborhood. The artistic neighborhoods may be kinda loud, but they are still much better than the technical neighborhoods. I even managed to be in the same building with some of my old friends. My “Life Partner” and I share a double. A nice 10’x15’ space for my spouse and I instead of the standard 10’x10’ single. I always argue that that logically couples should have a 10’x20’ space since singles get 10’x10’ but they never seem to agree with me.
I greeted my wife as I entered our room. She was sitting at her desk writing with our cat on her lap. She leaned back to kiss me and I absently scritched the cat. She asked me about my day while I set my work supplies down on my desk. She’s a novelist so all of her work takes place at home. She likes to hear about my work. The prima-donna actors always make her laugh.
We don’t use money anymore, at least not on a personal scale. Economy is compared by what each state produces and we use that to buy goods and services from each other. My state is comparatively wealthy. We produce a large portion of the technology and entertainment for the rest of the world. we also have the massive solar energy farms out in the desert. So mostly we just buy food and water from the other states. We could use the desalination tech on the ocean, but fresh water is simpler. We turn them on during droughts to provide water for our plants. Helps us keep the price down from Colorado.
We’re not entirely without currency. The government instituted a “Luxury credit” system. Everyone gets a little fun money every year for extra goods or services. Difficult or dangerous jobs get a little more luxury credits than other jobs. It’s the incentive for people to become doctors or lawyers or underwater welders. Of course the luxury system has led to a black market for illegal goods or services. Drugs and prostitution may be illegal, but if you have luxury credits you can still get them.
I relaxed in my chair and clicked on the TV. The world had changed a lot from what I remember. There are 40 million people living in this state, but our way of life is much different. Before the corporate riots of 2017 and the socialist secession of 2023 the country was bloated with middle managers and people whose entire job was just the manipulation of money. After the riots corporations were outlawed. Wall Street was burned to the ground. Those were some dark days. Many people were killed. Drastic economic upheaval. Most of the corporations were absorbed and repurposed by the U.S. government. It was a major injection of wealth for the government, but most citizens survived on welfare.
The Socialist Secession changed all of that. We re-defined ourselves as a country. When we got rid of money a lot of people were suddenly unemployed. We never thought about it before, but half of American workers made their living manipulating money or separating people from their money.
Overnight we got rid of all salesmen, stockbrokers & telemarketers. Drastic changes had to be made to employ all of these people. First the government started the great public works projects. Cities were torn down and rebuilt, the public rail system was installed. Cars still exist but mostly they are used for cargo and emergency services. Everyone else walks and takes the train.
Next there was the suburban withdrawl. All of the pointless suburbs were replaced with solar fields or wind fields. Everyone moved into the much denser cities. It took awhile. First the cities has to be rebuilt before everyone moved. But it’s a much more stable lifestyle now.
Eventually the major public works projects ran down and we were left with another surplus of workers. So we did two things. First we re-established American manufacturing. American goods are built to last and cost a pretty penny on the foreign market. “Made in America” actually means something again.
Secondly we shifted to a 30 hour work week. I work from 10am until 5pm, Monday through Friday with an hour for lunch. So everyone has more free time. Amusingly, resorts like Disneyland are flourishing in the new system. They provide a much desired service. They entertain us. It also led to the explosion of LA media. When I was younger everyone was outsourcing entertainment away from LA because it was cheaper. Now we’re back in LA because cost is no longer a problem and it’s much more efficient to have us all centrally located.
My station for example is producing movies year-round. We film them either in our building or on location nearby. Then it’s sent across town for editing and FX. Then back to our building for broadcast rotation. Every time we make a new movie it’s added to the rotation. Newer films get more frequent placement but all of our movies get seen.
I look over at my wife and smile. I’m discouraged from calling her that. The definitions of marriage were altered drastically with the new system. The government decided that if two consenting adults want to live together, then fine. Whatever. Sign the paper and here are the keys to your joint apartment. There are even some threesome and foursome life partners. The hardcore religious folks weren’t happy about this, but the concession was made that they can still have their religious husband and wife ceremony. It’s just that in the eyes of the law they are just life partners.
I don’t really care either way. I married my wife before all of the social reforms. I can call her what I want. Or at least what she’ll let me.
The country isn’t entirely socialist. Some of the smaller rural communities still use money for trade in their town. And of course there is still Las Vegas. People gamble with their luxury credits out there.
Eventually my wife informed me that she was getting hungry so we went downstairs and walked to one of the neighborhood diners. We decided on Chinese tonight. The diners function basically like always active cafeterias, but since money was taken out of the picture the quality of food has been up across the board.
After dinner we joined our friends in our building’s rec room to chat for a couple hours. My wife brought her computer down for a bit so she could chat with her internet friends while remaining social with our real life friends.
Some people like to bitch about our way of life now. They say it’s too restrictive and they miss the opportunity to be a billionaire. I disagree. The way we used to be, we were miserable. 99% of us never had a chance to be a billionaire. It just wasn’t possible. We worked and slaved all day just to get by. Now we have options. Tomorrow I could decide that what I really want to be is a lawyer. I could quit my job and enroll in law school and my quality of life wouldn’t change. I’d just change my job title from “Producer” to “full-time student”. Or if I wanted to work in two fields, I could split my hours. I could work 20 hours a week at my current job and 10 hours a week writing a book, or teaching, or whatever I want.
Regardless of what I do, my life remains the same. The only people who are screwed are those who refuse to take a job of any kind. Even being the primary caregiver to children is considered a full-time job. As it rightly should. If you are too lazy to do anything, then I have no pity for you. I’ll wish you farewell when the government deports you for being a shithead. Hell, there are plenty of people who are registered permanently disabled/ invalid for work. Usually people with severe mental handicaps. Those people get full government support and are accepted into our society. Yes they are a drain on our resources, but we support them because if we were in their shoes we’d want the same support.
Criminality has also changed drastically. Everyone has to have a job of some kind, but criminals tend to do their illegal activities in addition as a way to increase their luxury without paying luxury credits. Theft is especially common in certain neighborhoods. Some people are too trusting of their neighbors and leave their doors unlocked while they use the restroom or take a shower. My wife and I have a cat, so we’re especially cautious about locking our door. Yes, if the cat goes missing the government will replace it. But it won’t be the same cat.
Specifically irreplaceable items we especially like to keep safely secured. Most of my belongings are easily replaced, but some of my items from before the secession you just can’t find anymore.
Eventually the evening began to wind down. The Mrs. and I made our way back to our room. I changed into PJ’s and she went to go shower.
I will admit, the public restrooms were the biggest change to get used to. The shower and toilet stalls all have real doors and real locks on them. They’re just communal. So you don’t have a bathroom in your own apartment, but there is a bunch of communal toilets just down the hall. Our building has a special courtesy sign on the doors. You flip the sign over to signify that you left some foul odors in that particular stall, or some ridiculous mess. Everyone is suppose to be responsible for their own mess, but sometimes you need to run downstairs for the cleaning supplies.
I will say, the small changes make all the difference. Because the buildings weren’t constructed by the lowest bidding contractor, they were actually built properly. All the walls are properly insulated and have sound dampening. It makes it feel like when you close your door, that you are actually alone, despite sharing the floor with 30 other people. The standardized features also help. All buildings have laundry, air-conditioning, high-speed wifi, Hard line TV, etc. Our building even has a roof garden to cut down on the heat during the summer. And due to the Americans with disabilities act, all buildings have working elevators. Granted, we only live on the third floor so we usually take the stairs, but moving is much easier with elevators.
Although moving is much easier now. Last time we moved we just grabbed a moving cart from the basement of our new apartment, loaded it with our duffle bags, computers, cat carrier and musical instruments. And we were good to go. We pushed the cart two blocks to the rail station, took the train to our stop, then pushed it another block to the apartment. The whole process took less than an hour. Once we got here my wife set up the room and unpacked while I went down to the basement to return the cart and acquire our bedding and towels. By the time I got back Artemis, our cat, was already lounging on the bed, like she was claiming it all for herself and we humans could sleep on the floor.
Artemis was rather put out when we made her move.
Curling up in bed with my wife, I talked with her about how much our lives had changed. We’re old enough to remember the bad times. We remember the riots, we remember the constant poverty. But we were young enough that we could adapt to the change. Much of the older generation retired early or moved to rural communities because they couldn’t handle the new lifestyle.
But we could. We got through it and now we enjoy our lives. My wife is almost finished with the first draft of her new book. Once she finishes we’re going to use our mandatory vacation days and go on an adventure. And our only concern is whether to bring Artemis with us or leave her with one of our friends.
I can live with that.
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