Summer of 2022: Margery, 22, was furious when she learned that the Supreme Court of the United States of America had decided to formally overturn Roe v. Wade (1973), a ruling that had been welcomed by young women everywhere as a declaration that freed them from the constraints of restrictive moral behavior. After centuries and centuries of the Church and the State informing women that ending a pregnancy by chemical, surgical, or violent means was against God’s Law, Roe v. Wade was immediately interpreted to signify that a baby in a woman’s womb was an invasive parasite whose attachment to the mother’s uterus (and subsequent nourishment-sucking activity through the child’s placenta) was a life-threatening inconvenience. Common sense had taught Margery (and many more in her generation) that the sooner such an attachment was terminated, the better for all around.
The only procreative accommodation that made sense to Margery was when one of her friends decided to have a baby with the nearest boyfriend / companion / husband / sperm donor. Then the presence of this parasite was welcomed, and, indeed, feted. The mother enjoyed celebrity status; the baby was prized and generally allowed the dignity of Personhood once it breathed air independent of its mother (sorry! “birthing person”).
No one seemed to notice that the Supreme Court was never empowered to create laws. It was only founded to interpret the laws found in the Constitution of the United States – a fact that was conveniently overlooked when the Court began to strike down state law after state law after state law that truly reflected the freedom-fostering and life-affirming spirit of the Constitution.
No matter, Margery believed; the power belongs to the people – as long as the people see things my way. She and others had been molded and shaped to see the Constitution in light of her own interpretation of this crucial Founding Document. She never questioned how a document that had guided and sustained a very large and very powerful nation could suddenly contain a strange right-to-murder that had been invisible for almost 200 years of its existence.
Wasn’t there some archaic law against murder? Margery thought one day. No matter! We are born to make our own rules!
The only thing that Margery failed to realize was that murder has no future!
Fall 2035: The eighth reincarnation of COVID-19 (renamed the “Fauci Flu” after the Great Leader of the Wuhan Lab experiments in bat DNA and the award-winning Determiner of Beagle Right-to-Bark reviews) necessitated the roll out of the Big Pharma’s attempts to vaccinate all and sundry against catching / spreading / handling / coughing / breathing the mysterious virus once again within an over-vaccinated population.
Dutifully, Margery, 35, reported to her nearby Permanent Drive-Up Clinic, rolled up her sleeve to receive the jab, and then promptly went home with her chocolate reward to suffer in misery for two weeks until the effects of the jab were mitigated enough that she could appear at her job again. Of course, her paid sick leave was chalked up to her Bravery Bonus, which she would receive with the next wave of stimulus checks.
This particular fall, Margery was pleased to realize that her decision to abstain from motherhood had lined up with Societal Norms. She and her companion rewarded themselves with accepting the advertised prize of two same-sex goldfish, swimming dutifully in a silver-tinted bowl that had been fitted with miniature television screens, to make them look like they were swimming in the ocean. (Of course, Margery and her companion were permitted to choose the Ocean of Their Choice. Sources informed this reporter that they chose what was called the Indian Ocean in the early part of the 21st century, but which had been renamed the Soccer Stadium Ocean, in honor of Australia’s new adopted pastime.)
Margery was especially proud that she and her companion had significantly contributed to the Bill Gate’s Depopulation Contest. She was singled out at work as the Depopulator of the Year. She missed her niece’s 5th birthday party in order to receive the award at a Lettuce Bee Glad luncheon, complete with fake lettuce draped everywhere, robotic bees buzzing around every table, and plastic gladioli featured on every plate, but she knew that the niece would have other birthdays (as long as she was judged to be Bright, Smart, and Socially Compliant), so she wasn’t too concerned. She waited until she got home to actually eat, in order to set an example of forbearance to her younger coworkers. Besides, her companion had actually procured a piece of genuine cow meat for them to share for dinner, and she didn’t want the news to get out to all and sundry. At one point that evening, she felt murderous hatred toward her sister, who had blatantly conceived Margery’s niece and apparently felt no guilt about the egregious ego of “having a child” when everyone in Margery’s town was so hungry.
Didn’t a religious leader named Jesus once speak out against murder in one’s heart? Margery suddenly recalled after her meaty meal. Oh – that’s right. The Supreme Court declared that the Bible was an antiquated and morally deficient book, and need not enter into any official deliberation.
Margery came one step closer to realizing that murder has no future.
Winter 2048: Despite the best efforts of the Depopulating Committee (which shed Bill Gate’s name after its founder died and was cryogenically frozen and displayed with honor in the National Cathedral in Wok-ington, D.C.), resources had become scarce. People were finding it harder and harder to keep warm. Layering of clothing was back in fashion, but public transport sometimes had to set limitations on how many coats one could simultaneously wear – there being a general lack of accommodation for people who sported a girth wider than 55 inches. People who had more coats on than allowed were often ordered off trains and buses and made to wait in cold, unheated shelter-stands until either rush hour ended (sometime around noon) or they shed their extraneous coats. (There were special agents assigned to transportation hubs to collect such debris. They, of course, were allowed to retain as many articles of clothing as they could carry to their private vehicles.)
Margery, age 48, hated having to go to work and endure the exposure to the weather that aggravated her bad back and knee. When asked about her condition, however, she always put on a brave face and gleefully described her (totally painful) daily exercise routine ordered by her Managed Care Kommittee as “fun” and “stimulating.” She had heard somewhere that complaining about one’s physical condition could lead to a person being placed on the Early Termination list before one was 60, especially if one was unlucky enough not to have a companion. (Margery’s companion was still around, but this person was not too healthy – and two years older than Margery. If this person were to be chosen for Early Termination, Margery could also be listed as a possible candidate.)
“Early Termination” was a euphemism that had been carefully chosen to shield Society from mounting stresses from aging populations. Of course, if older people had children or other family members to take responsibility for the society-burdening health crises that the elderly (anyone over 60) often faced, the Gentle Termination Kommittee took little notice of them. The ideal “loving family” had been carefully shaped and molded by Big Government (and Big Pharma) to absorb most of the problems that Being over Sixty caused to society. Abortion-on-demand – so craved by Margery back in 2022 – was not the solution she once thought it was. No one wanted to admit that once younger people were in short supply, the support an older generation might need would suddenly become a critical issue.
It was encouraging to the general populace that there were the exceptions, who were the people’s heroes. Politicians (among others, like basketball players) who joined the One Party early enough in life were virtually assured placement on Eternal Islands or in Cities with Grand Walls. These places honored and revered these Servants of Mankind with endless ice cream, cruises to warm places (no need for coats), and other creature comforts. Once these elites had graduated to these special places, the general populace only saw them again when their bodies were paraded out for lavish funerals -- strangely enough, many of them lived well past DART (the Determined Age of Requested Termination, which was established by law to be 60).
Somehow, Margery and her companion had not been able to access the GSLL (Golden Steps to Lavish Living); they had been rejected for entrance by the One Party administrators, but had at least been allowed to serve the Grand Society by working at their assigned jobs and doing exactly what they were told to do when they were told to do it.
Sometime before Margery reached the age of 48, she remembered hearing that the now-discredited Bible taught that elders had “wisdom” that was to be respected (she couldn’t remember when she had last heard the word “respect”). She also vaguely remembered that this “respect” was tied to something called the “Ten Commandments.”
One of those commandments had to do with murder – or “Untimely Termination,” as the Politically Correct Dictionary defined it.
Murder truly has no future, she reflected wryly.
Spring 2059: As Margery approached her 60th birthday, she began to shudder unexpectedly more and more frequently. So many people had accepted their Termination Request gracefully, and had departed earthly life with a grand party and a quiet, private and quick “departure.” Margery’s companion had not yet received this Request. It may have had something to do with a younger brother’s offer to claim responsibility for his sibling through his own children. The brother had stated years ago that he had some sort of faith in Someone he called “his Lord and Savior.” Margery and her companion studiously ignored the issue; Margery herself was deathly afraid to even think of the word “termination.” But she knew the Termination Kommittee would be coming for her soon.
Murder has no future.
A society that murders its babies has no future.
A mother who murders her child murders her future family.
A country that murders its citizens has no future.
When will we realize this?
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