Excerpt from "Yesterday Was Theirs"

The following long quote is an excerpt from the sci-fi novel "Yesterday Was Theirs". The book is set in the future, where the government has dissolved into the fascist system simply called The Command. The teenagers of the time devise a plan to get away from this oppressive system and live better lives, but they will have many hurdles to overcome. The excerpt describes how The Command came into power.

It must have started with the government officials themselves. After the population crisis of 2040 they could no longer see their people. They could only see a failed scenario, like too many white lab mice in a small cage. In order to alleviate the problem, the officials had to estrange themselves from the general public and their own families. No longer would they assume that the citizens they hurt were siblings or parents or children.

They saw only numbers.

And those who understood numbers could look at the country as one equation for every difficulty. Over population? Limit the variable. To do this, they passed laws that would’ve been unthinkable in previous years. A woman was allowed only one child. When this law didn’t have the effect needed, women were sterilized after their first—and only—born.

It wasn’t enough. There were too many problems to deal with, and the government craved more control.

Slowly, the adults had to forget what life was like before. “Change is good!” some representative would announce to convince the people. “You don’t know how bad things were before.” Though they alleged that things were better now, they couldn’t help but think, perhaps subconsciously, that something was inexplicably wrong.

By this time, democracy had dissolved into the Command. It was easier this way.

The next part of their ever-modifying and diabolical plan was to control the thinking of the citizens. Yet another way to make things easier.

The mind was a dangerous tool and weapon. If people questioned what the Command decreed, anarchy would reign. For the selfish consideration of their lives, the Command made it more difficult for the people to oppose them. Threats were made. Anyone who contradicted the views of the government was removed from the equation.

At age 25 a person held responsibility over his own existence. They’d already been assigned to a career by taking the Job Aptitude Evaluation. By this time they should have realized that the government was correct in everything. A person who disagreed was wrong. Someone who made it a point to pass on this information was likely to be eliminated.

The Life Equation was so much simpler without these unstable variables.

Someone not threatening enough was controlled. They were put through a series of tests that convinced these people that resisting was not going to achieve anything.

Religion was another unnecessary variable. So many religions and so many choices made problems. The Command believed the smartest tactic was to erase religion and all its forms entirely, but the people’s faith was stronger than expected. So the Command compromised on this one issue. There would be one kind of religion for everyone. End of discussion.

The Life Equation showed not the blood, the tears, and the violence, but what should be.

Incredibly, the worst part about this period of time wasn’t the people’s lack of will or the imperturbable control over these people.

The worst part of all was the Command believed what they were doing was right.

Are you surprised that you have not heard of this book? You shouldn't be. The book technically doesn't yet exist in the published world. It's a project a friend and I are currently working on. I strongly felt that it was appropriate for Progressive U, and that the bloggers here would best understand the purpose of writing a book about a negative future. I'd love to hear your comments.

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