Senator Max Diemen was a SOB and he made sure everybody knew it. He was in the Senate for one reason, and that was to make as much money for himself as fast as possible. His votes were always up for sale under the guise of "Campaign Contributions", but he didn't come cheap.
Media USA, was the mega media conglomerate that resulted from the merger of the few remaining broadcast outlets. It was the last man standing in the American broadcasting system. It was loaded with dollars and ready to buy itself some congressmen, and Diemen was ready to be bought. The Diemen, Media USA marriage would turn out to be a match made in hell for most of the people of planet Earth.
The top management of Media USA had two goals, one was to give ALL rights of person hood to corporations, and to take as many of those rights away from real people as possible.
The far right had been packing the supreme court with extremest judges for years, and they had finally had a rock solid majority. So everything was in place for the management of Media USA to make its move through Diemen. A case was brought before the court that said seeing corporations have some person hood rights, then they should be given all rights. Diemen deposited some hefty sums of money into the offshore bank accounts of the right wing judges, and of course the court ruled in favor of Media USA.
Media USA waited a year then the process was repeated. This time it was argued that if corporations are people how can people be people? After all a tree is not a dog, a tomato is not a cat. Of course the argument was ridiculous, but no more ridiculous than the original augment that a corporation is a person, so bribe money in had the Supreme Court ruled in 2020, that people were no longer people.
The night after that ruling there was one hell of a party the secretive Media USA underground compound in downtown Manhattan. The best booze, cocaine, and food available on the planet was on display for all to consume. Diemen being the pig he was indulged in it all. He was pretty drunk and high when the heads of Media USA asked him if he wanted to see something very special. "Surrre" he slurred.
They headed deeper into the compound, and entered a very large but otherwise rather nondescript room. On the other side of the room there were several rather large chambers. "Hey Max", said one of the Media USA execs, "go into that middle room, and have a seat". "What's it... for". Max slurred. "Its the latest home entertainment media room we're working in. Go in and have a seat" the exec said. Max went in and sat down. Soft music and the sound of a babbling brook played in the background. Max quickly fell asleep.
"Turn it on and set it to 2120." The Media USA exec said. "I never want to see that SOB again for as long as I live.
Max woke up very stiff, but surprisingly with absolutely no hangover. He looked around the chamber trying to remember where he was. The door of the chamber he was in was open and a dim light shown through the doorway. The chamber had a fail safe mechanism that woke Max up, safely shut the unit down, and opened the door when a power failure was detected. Emergency lighting in the compound would last about 24 hours. Max stumbled out of the chamber into the dimly lit room. No one was around.
Diemen worked his way up the empty staircases, stopping at every level to yell into each floor to see if he could find someone talk to. As level after level no one answered him, he started to worry. Then he thought maybe its Sunday, yea that's it, its Sunday and all the suckers are at church praying to their sky daddy. He chuckled to himself and continued on up to the ground level.
He opened the hallway door to the Media USA ground floor foyer. It was a dusty dirty mess. No one was at the front desk. Confused and concerned he walked out the front door. It was hot, and quiet. Not a sound, other than an occasional bird call. How can this be in downtown New York. What the hell is going on here he thought.
Max wandered around down town New York for hours. Block after empty block. No one to be found anywhere. Abandoned cars and broken windows were everywhere. Max was now in a panic, he couldn't wrap his mind around what he was seeing.
It was getting dark when he found the "Underground Books" store. The door was unlocked so he went inside. There were candles everywhere, in various stages of having been burned. He lit one, and started exploring the store. He stopped dead in his tracks when he ran across a book titled 'The Real Humans History Guide to the 21st Century'. Why would someone write a history guide to the 21st century when it is only 2020, he thought to himself. He opened the book only to see a copyright date of 2103. What kind of sick joke is this he thought to himself, but he started reading anyway. He never put the book down, lighting candle after candle until he was done. Here is the essence of what he read that night.
All environmental, food safety, drug safety, and product safety regulations were done away with because they infringed on corporate persons rights. As a result large sections of the planet became too polluted to safely live in. Mass food poisonings due to tainted food were rampant, disease pandemics were everywhere because drugs and vaccines were too expensive for many to afford. Profits over people was now the law in every country on the planet.
By 2090, 85% of the population of the US was now dead. The 1% that had caused this pain and their politician enablers, were rounded up put on the part of Manhattan that was still above water, and all the area bridges were blown up, turning it into a prison. Most of these people died fairly quickly because they were ill prepared to take care of themselves. Their skills at high tech crime were useless to them in their new situation.
By 2100 what remained of humanity had retreated to relatively small communities, in isolated areas. It was hoped this way of living would prevent a repeat of the madness they all had lived through. It was estimated that maybe 1,300,000 people were still alive world wide. Also in an attempt to be sure nothing like this ever happened again, corporations were outlawed, and 'The Real Humans History Guide to the 21st Century' was written and copies were air dropped to the former large cities in hopes any survivors would find them and know what really had happened to their world.
As Max put down his book down the reality of his situation hit him. He must have been put into some kind of a suspended animation or time machine, and his best guess was that it was some time in the early 22nd century. He realized he may now be the only person alive on the island he found himself on. He was unsure if he could escape it, and was even less sure he could ever make it to one of the few remaining isolated communities.
But the thing that bothered him the most was all that work at corrupting the system had in the end been wasted. He should be a millionaire now. He should be living in a big fancy house on the ocean surrounded by every luxury one could imagine. He had earned it. He was entitled to it. Scrounging for food, and living in run down dumps were for the lowly 99%, those useless breathers and not for him. The idea how unfair this all had been to him slowly over time, drove him insane.
Media USA, was the mega media conglomerate that resulted from the merger of the few remaining broadcast outlets. It was the last man standing in the American broadcasting system. It was loaded with dollars and ready to buy itself some congressmen, and Diemen was ready to be bought. The Diemen, Media USA marriage would turn out to be a match made in hell for most of the people of planet Earth.
The top management of Media USA had two goals, one was to give ALL rights of person hood to corporations, and to take as many of those rights away from real people as possible.
The far right had been packing the supreme court with extremest judges for years, and they had finally had a rock solid majority. So everything was in place for the management of Media USA to make its move through Diemen. A case was brought before the court that said seeing corporations have some person hood rights, then they should be given all rights. Diemen deposited some hefty sums of money into the offshore bank accounts of the right wing judges, and of course the court ruled in favor of Media USA.
Media USA waited a year then the process was repeated. This time it was argued that if corporations are people how can people be people? After all a tree is not a dog, a tomato is not a cat. Of course the argument was ridiculous, but no more ridiculous than the original augment that a corporation is a person, so bribe money in had the Supreme Court ruled in 2020, that people were no longer people.
The night after that ruling there was one hell of a party the secretive Media USA underground compound in downtown Manhattan. The best booze, cocaine, and food available on the planet was on display for all to consume. Diemen being the pig he was indulged in it all. He was pretty drunk and high when the heads of Media USA asked him if he wanted to see something very special. "Surrre" he slurred.
They headed deeper into the compound, and entered a very large but otherwise rather nondescript room. On the other side of the room there were several rather large chambers. "Hey Max", said one of the Media USA execs, "go into that middle room, and have a seat". "What's it... for". Max slurred. "Its the latest home entertainment media room we're working in. Go in and have a seat" the exec said. Max went in and sat down. Soft music and the sound of a babbling brook played in the background. Max quickly fell asleep.
"Turn it on and set it to 2120." The Media USA exec said. "I never want to see that SOB again for as long as I live.
Max woke up very stiff, but surprisingly with absolutely no hangover. He looked around the chamber trying to remember where he was. The door of the chamber he was in was open and a dim light shown through the doorway. The chamber had a fail safe mechanism that woke Max up, safely shut the unit down, and opened the door when a power failure was detected. Emergency lighting in the compound would last about 24 hours. Max stumbled out of the chamber into the dimly lit room. No one was around.
Diemen worked his way up the empty staircases, stopping at every level to yell into each floor to see if he could find someone talk to. As level after level no one answered him, he started to worry. Then he thought maybe its Sunday, yea that's it, its Sunday and all the suckers are at church praying to their sky daddy. He chuckled to himself and continued on up to the ground level.
He opened the hallway door to the Media USA ground floor foyer. It was a dusty dirty mess. No one was at the front desk. Confused and concerned he walked out the front door. It was hot, and quiet. Not a sound, other than an occasional bird call. How can this be in downtown New York. What the hell is going on here he thought.
Max wandered around down town New York for hours. Block after empty block. No one to be found anywhere. Abandoned cars and broken windows were everywhere. Max was now in a panic, he couldn't wrap his mind around what he was seeing.
It was getting dark when he found the "Underground Books" store. The door was unlocked so he went inside. There were candles everywhere, in various stages of having been burned. He lit one, and started exploring the store. He stopped dead in his tracks when he ran across a book titled 'The Real Humans History Guide to the 21st Century'. Why would someone write a history guide to the 21st century when it is only 2020, he thought to himself. He opened the book only to see a copyright date of 2103. What kind of sick joke is this he thought to himself, but he started reading anyway. He never put the book down, lighting candle after candle until he was done. Here is the essence of what he read that night.
All environmental, food safety, drug safety, and product safety regulations were done away with because they infringed on corporate persons rights. As a result large sections of the planet became too polluted to safely live in. Mass food poisonings due to tainted food were rampant, disease pandemics were everywhere because drugs and vaccines were too expensive for many to afford. Profits over people was now the law in every country on the planet.
By 2090, 85% of the population of the US was now dead. The 1% that had caused this pain and their politician enablers, were rounded up put on the part of Manhattan that was still above water, and all the area bridges were blown up, turning it into a prison. Most of these people died fairly quickly because they were ill prepared to take care of themselves. Their skills at high tech crime were useless to them in their new situation.
By 2100 what remained of humanity had retreated to relatively small communities, in isolated areas. It was hoped this way of living would prevent a repeat of the madness they all had lived through. It was estimated that maybe 1,300,000 people were still alive world wide. Also in an attempt to be sure nothing like this ever happened again, corporations were outlawed, and 'The Real Humans History Guide to the 21st Century' was written and copies were air dropped to the former large cities in hopes any survivors would find them and know what really had happened to their world.
As Max put down his book down the reality of his situation hit him. He must have been put into some kind of a suspended animation or time machine, and his best guess was that it was some time in the early 22nd century. He realized he may now be the only person alive on the island he found himself on. He was unsure if he could escape it, and was even less sure he could ever make it to one of the few remaining isolated communities.
But the thing that bothered him the most was all that work at corrupting the system had in the end been wasted. He should be a millionaire now. He should be living in a big fancy house on the ocean surrounded by every luxury one could imagine. He had earned it. He was entitled to it. Scrounging for food, and living in run down dumps were for the lowly 99%, those useless breathers and not for him. The idea how unfair this all had been to him slowly over time, drove him insane.
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