Notes & Queries response: Will there ever be world government, and would we want it?
This is my response to a question that appeared on the Notes & Queries page of The Guardian website on 27th November, 2022.
The Guardian is apparently no longer happy to host my comments on their site, so it is appearing here instead.This blog is obviously not affiliated with The Guardian. Its reference to a question that appeared in Notes & Queries is presented here under the terms of fair use.
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Will there ever be world government, and would we want it?
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| image generated by Craiyon |
“Me and John Edgeler will be around later to break your heart.”
“Oh, that is splendid news,” he said.
I could hear him attempting to conceal his breathlessness as he spoke the words.
For the second time in less than a year, the artificial organ that pumps blood around James' body had been dialled down to maintenance mode by the manufacturers.
I will name them here because I think they should be called out: Sandry Organs & Prosthetics, or ''SOAP' as they are sometimes referred, though no amount of handwashing will wipe away this blood. I would strongly advise anyone who is thinking of soliciting a replacement, fabricated or refurbished organ in the near future, to take their social credit elsewhere.
In layman's terms, what this means for James is that he has the energy to perform basic human functions, but has very little left in reserve for anything else. His activities are being arbitrarily limited by a private company, while everybody else either turns a blind eye, or expresses words to the effect of 'Good, he deserves it,' though mostly in stronger terms.
I would like to remind this latter group of an adage that history has proven to be true, time and time again: Tomorrow it could be you, or somebody who is close to you. The moment that you cease fighting for the fundamental freedoms of those people within society that you hold in the lowest regard, your own freedom becomes a little less secure. By the time the cracks in that foundation is too big to ignore, it will be too late to do anything about it.
I noted one of Sandry's vile employees gloating about Anton's engineered misfortunes on social media. The post was later deleted, though by that time I had already archived it, as had many others.
The usual suspects – the type who set up war tents behind their computer keyboards all day, are calling for the heart to be turned off entirely, which is absurd. Even if we were at the point where such a horrifically vulgar, murderous abuse of power were permissible, the clear aim here is to inflict suffering on a 'problematic' individual, while also making a public example of them. Censor yourself, or else!
It would be difficult to overstate the pernicious impact of this malevolently-curated state of affairs both on our society and culture, and upon ourselves as free-thinking individuals. What we say, even in casual conversation, is increasingly open to scrutiny and is sifted for wrongthink and thoughtcrime by both human and machine intelligence. At this point it is hard to say which one of these is the dumber of the pair.
The worst thing is that James has no idea from where this most recent attack, or the one before, has originated. He is therefore unable to mount an effective defence that strikes at the source.
“It's not Sandry, or at least not directly,” said his daughter, Janet.
“It's most likely one of the payment processors putting pressure on the company,” said Edgeler. “If one or more of them says: 'We don't want you enabling this individual, and if you continue to do so, then you can look for another payment processer,' then 99.9% of private companies are going to cave-in, along with 100% of publicly owned companies.
“The problem is that the payment processors might be separate on paper, but they all move as one. You want to know who is pulling the strings? It's whoever has control over the flow of money which is sometimes different to whoever is holding the money.”
This past June, a court case that might have thrown some light on what was going on, was called off at the eleventh hour after Sandry backed down and restored James' heart to its previous settings.
“They offered me a year of their Olympian package,” he said. “My other organs wouldn't have been able to cope with such a dramatic increase in heart function. I told them: 'Just put it all back how it was.'
“We thought that was the end of it,” said Janet. “We were so grateful that it was over, we didn't feel the need to push matters any further.”
“It was and remains a nightmare – a living death,” said James. “Nothing I have said is illegal. I have not incited hatred or violence towards any group or individual. I am being targeted purely on the received wisdom that I am somehow a dangerous individual. When you look deeper into these accusations, that are coming from a very vocal and well-organised minority who spend all their time on social media. What they are saying is being cynically exploited by corporations, as precedent for silencing someone who they would rather not have a platform in the public forum.”
The words I have quoted above took James a good five minutes to speak as his balanced his broken sentences with the need to draw oxygen.
“There was no warning this time around,” said Janet. “I got a phone call from him just after 3am one morning, which is when they turned it off.
“When I first contacted Sandry, they told me it was a mistake or a glitch. Then they just stopped answering my emails. That night – it was around 1am – they were waiting until they thought we were in bed - their post went up on social media.”
“That's the one where they described me as a revolting individual and said that they were taking unprecedented steps to minimise their association with me,” said James. “And they said, and I quote: 'James Anton is free to seek a replacement organ from another provider'. They know very well that when you put out a public statement like that, no other company is going to agree to take you on as a patient. It's 50/50 whether I would even survive another transplant.
“On the bright side, I had a few months to promote my book. It's been doing well, despite a certain bookshop in London telling anyone who asks for it that it hasn't been published yet.”
“We are about to put you on a very dangerous road that is paved with piecemeal technology,” said Edgeler. “There are going to be fraught moments ahead where we have to beg, steal, or borrow the parts or the update-code that will keep you going. It may all end in tears.”
“It's got to be better than living under the yoke of this tyranny,” said James.
I hope this is of help.
“Oh, that is splendid news,” he said.
I could hear him attempting to conceal his breathlessness as he spoke the words.
For the second time in less than a year, the artificial organ that pumps blood around James' body had been dialled down to maintenance mode by the manufacturers.
I will name them here because I think they should be called out: Sandry Organs & Prosthetics, or ''SOAP' as they are sometimes referred, though no amount of handwashing will wipe away this blood. I would strongly advise anyone who is thinking of soliciting a replacement, fabricated or refurbished organ in the near future, to take their social credit elsewhere.
In layman's terms, what this means for James is that he has the energy to perform basic human functions, but has very little left in reserve for anything else. His activities are being arbitrarily limited by a private company, while everybody else either turns a blind eye, or expresses words to the effect of 'Good, he deserves it,' though mostly in stronger terms.
I would like to remind this latter group of an adage that history has proven to be true, time and time again: Tomorrow it could be you, or somebody who is close to you. The moment that you cease fighting for the fundamental freedoms of those people within society that you hold in the lowest regard, your own freedom becomes a little less secure. By the time the cracks in that foundation is too big to ignore, it will be too late to do anything about it.
I noted one of Sandry's vile employees gloating about Anton's engineered misfortunes on social media. The post was later deleted, though by that time I had already archived it, as had many others.
The usual suspects – the type who set up war tents behind their computer keyboards all day, are calling for the heart to be turned off entirely, which is absurd. Even if we were at the point where such a horrifically vulgar, murderous abuse of power were permissible, the clear aim here is to inflict suffering on a 'problematic' individual, while also making a public example of them. Censor yourself, or else!
It would be difficult to overstate the pernicious impact of this malevolently-curated state of affairs both on our society and culture, and upon ourselves as free-thinking individuals. What we say, even in casual conversation, is increasingly open to scrutiny and is sifted for wrongthink and thoughtcrime by both human and machine intelligence. At this point it is hard to say which one of these is the dumber of the pair.
The worst thing is that James has no idea from where this most recent attack, or the one before, has originated. He is therefore unable to mount an effective defence that strikes at the source.
“It's not Sandry, or at least not directly,” said his daughter, Janet.
“It's most likely one of the payment processors putting pressure on the company,” said Edgeler. “If one or more of them says: 'We don't want you enabling this individual, and if you continue to do so, then you can look for another payment processer,' then 99.9% of private companies are going to cave-in, along with 100% of publicly owned companies.
“The problem is that the payment processors might be separate on paper, but they all move as one. You want to know who is pulling the strings? It's whoever has control over the flow of money which is sometimes different to whoever is holding the money.”
This past June, a court case that might have thrown some light on what was going on, was called off at the eleventh hour after Sandry backed down and restored James' heart to its previous settings.
“They offered me a year of their Olympian package,” he said. “My other organs wouldn't have been able to cope with such a dramatic increase in heart function. I told them: 'Just put it all back how it was.'
“We thought that was the end of it,” said Janet. “We were so grateful that it was over, we didn't feel the need to push matters any further.”
“It was and remains a nightmare – a living death,” said James. “Nothing I have said is illegal. I have not incited hatred or violence towards any group or individual. I am being targeted purely on the received wisdom that I am somehow a dangerous individual. When you look deeper into these accusations, that are coming from a very vocal and well-organised minority who spend all their time on social media. What they are saying is being cynically exploited by corporations, as precedent for silencing someone who they would rather not have a platform in the public forum.”
The words I have quoted above took James a good five minutes to speak as his balanced his broken sentences with the need to draw oxygen.
“There was no warning this time around,” said Janet. “I got a phone call from him just after 3am one morning, which is when they turned it off.
“When I first contacted Sandry, they told me it was a mistake or a glitch. Then they just stopped answering my emails. That night – it was around 1am – they were waiting until they thought we were in bed - their post went up on social media.”
“That's the one where they described me as a revolting individual and said that they were taking unprecedented steps to minimise their association with me,” said James. “And they said, and I quote: 'James Anton is free to seek a replacement organ from another provider'. They know very well that when you put out a public statement like that, no other company is going to agree to take you on as a patient. It's 50/50 whether I would even survive another transplant.
“On the bright side, I had a few months to promote my book. It's been doing well, despite a certain bookshop in London telling anyone who asks for it that it hasn't been published yet.”
“We are about to put you on a very dangerous road that is paved with piecemeal technology,” said Edgeler. “There are going to be fraught moments ahead where we have to beg, steal, or borrow the parts or the update-code that will keep you going. It may all end in tears.”
“It's got to be better than living under the yoke of this tyranny,” said James.
I hope this is of help.
 |
| image generated by Craiyon |
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