Page 69 - Tales Apocalyptic and Dystopian

Minutes of the Posterity Planning Commission

yourselves as victims or unwitting participants in the impending
collapse of an exhausted and corrupt civilization—it makes no
difference. Punishment will be collective. I can predict with a high
degree of certainty that the tourist trade and agricultural exports upon
which you depend will soon decline, and may do so abruptly. The
rulers of the major powers publicly deny the likelihood of
catastrophe, all the while unable to control the rapacity bringing it
ever closer. We may reckon the window of opportunity in which to
take some meaningful action to be no more than a few decades.”

Dr. Hagalian was interrupted at this point by several objections. Mr.
Tualayu accused Mr. Lederer of contributing to the degeneration of
Kalamoku culture by recreating indigenous culture in cheapened
forms for sale to visitors and implicated Mr. Frederick in the
destruction of wildlife habitat through zoning waivers granted to his
cronies. Mr. Lederer responded that Mr. Tualayu, as Manapua, should
be exercising greater discipline over the youth for whom he received
ample tax funds to educate preferentially over those who could not
demonstrate even one-eighth original Kalamoki ancestry, and that the
municipal government, as represented by Mr. Frederick, needed to
provide better policing of the nightclub district. Mr. Frederick, for his
part, attempted to explain that he could not possibly satisfy all his
constituents if they had conflicting interests.

Mr. Norse called the meeting back to order, warning all present that
they had come to hear Dr. Hagalian, not to air old grievances. The
professor then continued.

“The internal strains on your society, as just demonstrated, will
become both exacerbated and irrelevant in the coming years. The
upheavals, natural and man-made, will not leave Kalamoku
unscathed. By the time everyone understands what is happening, and
that everyone is in the same boat on this island, it will be too late to
do what I am going to suggest in a few minutes. It is my considered
opinion that most, if not all, of the human beings living one hundred
years from now will have been forced back into a rather primitive
mode of living. All the familiar institutions will break down under the
stress of impossible physical demands for food, clothing and shelter.
The most complex societies, being the most dependent on systems

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