which were at the mercy of others with
more advantages.- Most people avoided discussing these, or
other, issues. It was difficult, if not impos-
sible, to do so without passion, verbal or
physical violence. - Great masses, educated on social net-
works, were unable to renounce or even
criticize the beliefs of their tribe; to engage
in dialogue with them was impossible. - In addition, social credit systems—
through which the various States controlled
their populations—penalized discussions of
issues that were considered “controversial.” - Capable of monitoring the internet, pub-
lic spaces, and nearly all private spaces, these
systems could detect, for example, direct or
hidden references to climate change. - Detecting certain terms in oral dis-
course was more difficult than reading them
in online publications or personal mes-
sages, but it wasn’t impossible. Once the
system found phrases that were considered
inappropriate, whoever said or wrote them
would be penalized. - Everything was part of the Grand
Experiment. - Punishment could range from paying
surcharges on everyday purchases to losing
the right to carry out certain activities, such
as entering a hospital, enrolling children in
a school, or obtaining legal help. - Those who acted or spoke out against
the government or any of the other de facto
powers were also punished. - Those who deviated from thought con-
sidered officially or unofficially “correct” in
any given country, on a myriad of issues,
were also punished. - This is how different religions were
defended, for example, as well as various
sexual, social, and economic restrictions,
especially for women and the poor.- Officially, there was no change in
atmospheric temperature or weather pat-
terns. That was a disinformation campaign
organized by an enemy group or country.
Although the enemy varied, this happened
almost everywhere in the world. - The owners of extraction and manufac-
turing businesses were an important part
of the upper caste everywhere. Had they
been forced to modify ways of releasing less
pollutants into the atmosphere, they would
have earned much less money than they
received each year. - The rise in sea levels and the gradual dis-
appearance of ice sheets at the poles, among
other, sometimes catastrophic changes, were
deemed normal or denied outright. - With the exception of some who were
invariably punished, people—who were edu-
cated to entertain themselves with countless
options always available to them—did not
consider the matter important. - In fact, millions of people lived and died
without ever having heard of it during the
decades of what was later known as the
Advance Party.- Flooding in coastal cities and towns
forced residents to leave their homes. - Those who lived near poisoned lands or
rivers, or those victims whose lands turned
to desert, becoming unproductive and, in
many cases, uninhabitable, also began to
leave. - Internal pressure, compounded by that
of refugees and migrants who (despite
everything) continued to attempt to escape
violence in their places of origin, took
decades to become unsustainable. - But, ultimately, the situation became
untenable. - Together with social control, disinfor-
mation campaigns were effective in divert-
ing attention from the real reasons that
products grew expensive and services dete-
riorated. - Several countries enacted racial, sexual,
or religious segregation laws, and other civil
rights restrictions, based on false stories
about enemies that were no longer external
but rather internal. - On other occasions, highly publicized
trials were carried out against select mem-
bers of the business or political class, who
were returned to their position of privilege
as soon as people lost interest in their cases. - The majority of the world’s leaders,
entertainment figures most of all, became
even more beloved by their supporters and
defenders in the first years after the catastro-
phe became apparent. - Some were united by the same version
of demagoguery perfected from previous
centuries: offering a target, a group to blame
for problems, and punishing it publicly and
cruelly, in order to foster unity in hatred
and fear.
Capable of monitoring
the internet, public
spaces, and nearly all
private spaces, these
systems could detect,
for example, direct or
hidden references to
climate change.COVER FEATURE CLIMATE CHANGE | FICTION
54 W LT SUMMER 2019