“Naïve Thoughts”
The old man stood up behind the podium and
raised his snifter of brandy to the score of gentlemen seated around the
conference table. “As Prime,” he said,
“I welcome you to the 417th Annual Meeting of the Cacumen Society.”
As one, they all took a drink.
The Prime smiled, then stated, “Before we
get down to business, I wish to welcome Jonathon Lowe, son of the late Benjamin
Lowe, to our ranks.”
The men nodded to a young man at the back
of the room who smiled and returned several nods.
“Jonathon,” the Prime asked, “would you
care to make an introductory speech?”
Jonathon stood and, after clearing his
throat, said, “Yes. Thank you,
Prime. I would very much like to make an
introductory speech.”
The Prime stepped aside and waved to the
podium.
Jonathon smiled then holding himself
straight walked up to the podium. He
nodded to the Prime and said, “Thank you, Prime.” Turning to the room he began,
“My fellow members. When my father
explained to me that we were members of this illustrious Society that controls
the majority of world affairs, I frankly thought he was telling a joke. But as I’m sure you all know, my father was
not known for his sense of humor.” Several of the men gave smiling nods to
that.
After a brief smile, Jonathon went
on. “I reviewed the information he gave
me, and I came to the conclusion that there is indeed a secret society that
controls worldly affairs. This
revelation surprised, pleased, disturbed and confused me. The disturbed and confused part comes from
the fact that, okay, we control the world.
But you have to admit, we’re doing a pretty poor job of it.”
There were a few grumbles from the room.
“On one hand,” Jonathon continued, “I
understand how – by fomenting wars, for example – we can ensure a large profit
from our companies manufacturing arms.
But I have to wonder, can’t we make just as much money – if not more –
by selling dishwashers and computers to the Third World instead of guns.
“I brought some of my ideas up to my
father, who explained that by keeping the population worried about war and
crime and such, it keeps them from trying to better their lives, keeping them
better sheep for us to control. But to
me, that seems like it would have the opposite reaction. If we want docile sheep, then we should make
them fat and content. Instead of having
them worried about crime, or losing their job, or where their next meal will
come from, we should stuff them with quintuple cheeseburgers, give them movies
filled with explosions and nudity and video games filled with violence.”
Jonathon looked around the room. “In my opinion, what’s the point of ruling
over a cesspit of a world? Yes, we have
our estates and private islands, but we have to keep bribing politicians and
hiring security to keep them. If
everyone lived like we did, there would be nobody for them to rise up
against. I mean, with every
assassination or rigged election, we run the risk of someone noticing our
actions. If that ever happens, then the
hungry, snarling masses will come after us.
But if we just had them fat, content, and docile, we’d never have to
worry about them again.
“Thank you for hearing me out.” Jonathon
then stepped back from the podium.
The room was silent for a few heartbeats,
then it exploded in laughter.
Wiping his eyes, the Prime stepped back to
the podium. He put a hand on Jonathon’s
shoulder and said, “Ah, the naivety of youth.”
“What?” Jonathon asked.
“Your thoughts are not new,” the Prime
explained. “But in a few years, you’ll
come to understand why we do things the way we do.
“Now, be a good lad and take your seat, so
the meeting can begin.”
***
I first wrote this story in June 2013
under the title “Hmmm.” It began after I saw a comment online about how things
can’t be fixed because “the ones in power” don’t want them to be fixed. I recently came across it and figured I
should repost it. But I wanted to rework
it first and one of the things I wanted to change was the title. It took me some time, but I think “Naïve Thoughts”
works pretty good.
No comments:
Post a Comment