Welcome To Karl and Adam's Virtual Drawing room.
On this page, Karl and Adam, two virtually revived clones from my novel 'The Reality Of The Virtual', are voicing their opinions on the world two centuries after their physical bodies have disintegrated, proving that their spirits live on... Originating as a media hoax, they try to regained their grip on the world. |
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China's Political Rashomon ReplayedBo Xilai's court hearings if televised can probably beat the ratings of any soap opera anytime. I imagine the whole thing will be less staged if not televised, something like Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, a 1954 film. China's history is like a string of Rashomon-like sagas which have been more melodramatic than Kurosawa's movie bearing in mind the ones they are purging now, had purged their fathers in the past and may be purging them in the future, or their sons for that matter. Never mind the law , China is brushing it under the carpet with phrases like 'crossing the base line of civility', whose civility they're referring to, I haven't figure out yet...
A Spectacular Debacle
“Not a twitch or whimper! My goodness, this is the moment when the detective would squint and a light would go on in the back of his mind.” Adam said scrutinizing the Chinese woman on the witness stand. La crème de la crème, at the top of the world, she had been branded only a year ago. Her short hair had been better coiffed on the array of photos inset in the reportage and her radiant smile had dwindled. Yet in no way did she reveal any discomfort let alone remorse or shock. “This footage of her could have been taken at Starbucks where they are playing a prank on her and accusing her for stealing small change from the donation box .” Karl agreed without looking up. The quill in his hand had been hovering over the parchment for a few minutes already. The two men were in their jammies watching the last news report in the virtual drawing room of The Post. “Totally staged this is. “ Adam agreed for once. “Remember our skit a few months ago? The story was huge. First , her hubby, Bo Xilai’s right hand man tried to defected to the American Consulate, then Bo Xilai got fired and after that the rumor of Gu Kailai having something to do with the murder with Neil Heywood. Allegedly, he was a good family friend of Bo who taught them how to spend their money in style in exchange for a perk here and there.“ “Perk?” Karl asked. “Heywood would keep Bo updated to what are the best wines, the best cigars, or the best way to spend a weekend in exchange for the recommendation here, the odd tip there. I’ve been reading in the gossip columns ” Adam said, his eyes fixated at the handsome woman on the screen, who admittedly looked a grade or two above the average criminal usually standing on that spot. “The Communist Party has fallen in the river of capitalism and got caught in this demeaning current of hedonism. How can they possibly admit that? It’s inconceivable.” Karl sighed, “There is no mention of all that, is there? It’s compartmentalized to just her, Heywood, and Guagua, her son.” “I reckon they settled. Instead of corruption and criminal dealings at the highest level of the Party, this court case is showing the world a mother in despair driven to a corner to save her son from the crazy mind of a devilish foreign business man.“ Adam scuffed, “A little predictable, aren’t they?” “Either way, Gu Kailai is a heroine, the mother who would do anything to save her son or the wife who takes everything on her shoulder to save her hubby from less upstanding felonies and save face for the Communist Party as a whole.” Karl nodded. “Not bad. In China, women really are holding up half the sky,” Adam was now laughing aloud. “Even if it’s just a staged one.” “Now if you excuse me, I have to go find my grave and turn around in it... ” Karl said and left the room. Where e-Karl and e-Adam's Story... Too Many Dogs
“They have to stop the pattern before it gets embedded in the DNA of those bankers.” Said the man with a grey beard wrapped around his skull.
“Huh?” said Adam , who had been sleeping on the sofa in the virtual drawing room of The Post, “What is happening?” It is 2021, an ordinary day in the virtual drawing room of the Post were it not for the rough night before. “It is daylight robbery institutionalized by an oblivious state, either that or it’s turning a blind eye, and—“ Karl rants. “Not so loud, my head aches.” Adam growls as he rubs the sleep out of his eyes, “Why robbery?” Karl put his quill down, “Because they’re motive is making money above all, my dear, ” Throwing both his hands up to punctuate his words in the air like a conductor he continues, “Their job is to find a way to put more money in their pockets.” “It’s preposterous what you are saying. The central bank, and the government are regulating the smaller banks. They are controlling the interest and to keep the inflation rate down. You may say they are not smart enough, but otherwise—“ “They just label what they do with complicated financial terms to smoke screen what they do. ” Karl says, “Take China for instance, Do you know how Zhu Rongji resolved their banking crisis in 2005 ?” “By pumping in 650 million dollars into it, compared with 700 billion in the case of the US in 2008.” Adam says and sits upright. “Yes, but I’m talking about their solution to the fundamental issue of greed whether you call it corruption, fraud or unfair trading , or new designed financial products with little perks and lots of small text or whatever. “ Karl says selfrighteously, “Firstly, they identified that the problem was the top management and although Deng Xiao Peng in his era already stipulated that the ‘Party’ maintains the right to hire and fire the executives who manage them even though they are not party owned but state owned and these executives are monitored by another party committee who have nothing to do with the first committee.” “You mean they have watchdogs to monitor watchdogs to make sure that the dogs eat other dogs , and if they find out anything wrong with you at all, the watchdog will swallow the dogs whole leaving no evidence at all? You think that resolves it?” Adam sneezes and takes out a handkerchief, “Did someone slip me that stuff I read about in Esquire, that rooky stuff that makes you go to sleep?” “What you mean, a roofy? The date drug?” Karl chuckles, “Who were you on a date with?” “Seriously, I have never had such a bad hangover before!” Adam moans and sits up, “And then I heard someone say something about starting work. That was you, wasn’t it?“ “Well, let’s say it could have been me, if you can proof it,” Karl laughs, “Anyway, these committees are so unofficial there are no records or anything, but this huge government that is ‘above it all’ in many ways seems to have gotten it right, if you look at how well China is doing.” “That’s because they and the companies ‘under the wings’ of the state have monopolies in many ways and so much advantage that it’s hard to compete with them.” Adam squints his eyes, “The issue is that the ‘party’ doesn’t need you , but you need them for removing the red tape. Which mainland company dares to compete with the ‘Party’ of China, or any overseas corporation for that matter?” “We all know what happened to Google in china. So? ” Adam shrugs while looking disgusted, “There is such a thing as reputation and honor I believe, what people can’t do anything about now, doesn’t mean they won’t do anything about it ever! A Roofie , huh?” “I’m only kidding, man, “ Karl throws his head back and stares at the ceiling, “lighten up, will you? So what I’m saying is that it took the Communist Party 60 years to find out what their job is and how to do it.” Karl says, “The next step would be how to distribute it such that everyone can enjoy part of the big pie they baked...” “You mean leaving crumbs for those willing to bend over and bow.” Adam shook his head, “Do you realize you are proving me right regarding what I said about human nature no matter if you argue left or right?” “Is it’s a fine balance between regulating or not, and how to do so?” “Not at all. It’s a fine balance between two opposite conditions of the heart.” Adam stomped the left side of his chest and has a cough attack. After he recovers he says, we need a change of mindset, one that will balance the inborn greed in men with the inborn compassion in men by rewarding compassion more than greed. “ “Say what?” Karl asks. “Dogs are like people, they are our best friends if you remember, so this is like training a dog... By reward and punishment.” To read more see ‘Presage’ ... A Skit on Time
Karl throws back his head to empty the scotch in one fast motion, and grabs the bottle to refill the crystal goblets looking anything but cheerful. “But my goodness, I’m glad we insisted on having these printed. Those e-book are like water molecules in a water reservoir, a few ‘zeros and ones’ in a binary ocean, or should I say, a twig in the layer of organic compost covering the roots of a rainforest in this virtual bookstore they so appropriately call Amazon. ”
“I find it delightful,” Adam shushed, “It’s great that it gives everyone a chance to publish their books. We just have to work harder to hack away the clutter and create a clearing so that the sun can shine on it.” “It’s been too easy that’s what it is,“ Karl moaned, “There are certain things I want to brood on and go over with a magnifying glass many times over. I think the festo should be between 350 pages and 3500 pages, not 35 pages” “Life is short,” Adam shrugs, “Your first festo was 28 pages, wasn’t it?” “Strictly speaking, we are immortals,” Karl frowns, “which makes it more depressing, because we have to spend eternity in the apocalyptic world that lurks at the horizon and is blowing this way at the speed of light. Now that I have time on my hand, I can afford to regurgitate every word and make sure it’s evenly baked on all sides.” “The way I look at it, as long as the gist is there the smaller details matter less.” Adam sighs and sips at his glass of sherry, “You may have an eternity, but the world’s fossil fuel is going to run out in 2057, humanity’s time is running out.” “Don’t be silly, we have waited nearly two hundred years, what difference does it make?” Karl grunts and empties his third scotch and grabs the bottle once again. ”With all due respect, may I correct you? Presumably humans have walked the earth for 50,000 years already.” Adam says without noticing that Karl is topping his glass of sherry with scotch, and takes another sip, “From now to 2057, it’s still 26 years. If we assume the time of human species on earth equals the 24 hours of a single day and expires at midnight, it would be now be 62.2 seconds before mid-night.” Karl stares at Adam who takes another sip of the concoction he swirls around in the near full glass, “The more I think about it, the less sense you make.” Karl says, “Anyway, they will wait for the great Karl.“ “Wannabe.” “What?” “Karl Marx Wannabe.” Adam leers through his glass confused by the multiple Karls, who have shrunken to the size of peanuts, “You may think you’re real. You may feel like you’re the real deal, but we are nothing but regenerated fractions of knowledge, memories and electrons streaming back and forth the stratosphere, my man. “ “You must be too tired, having worked so hard for three years.“ Karl says, why propping a few cushions against the armrest of the Victorian sofa, “Why don’t you drink up, and lie down for a bit.” Adam drinks up and shakes his head, but seems to lack the orientation to stay upright , “I must ask Sam HIC… how he programmed us to become intoxicated HIC… “ He leans back and sinks into the cushions, “If that’s a physio.. HIC… logical state we.. HIC… as simulations cannot ex.. HIC… perience.” Adam has passed out before he could close his mouth. ”Finally!” Karl sighs, takes off his jacket and rolls up his sleeve, ”Let’s get to work.” A Skit on Lagarde
“I disagree, the bankers are screwing up once again, it’s almost like they are doing it deliberately like they have a stake in this collective failure” Karl says, “These bail-outs are convenient and big money for them you know. In lack of any real direction to give people, don’t you think this silver-fox should just shut up about it?”
Adam frowns, “Hell no, I don’t think so. I’m all for compassion, but her job is to clear up the mess; she can’t do that by tiptoeing around anybody who acts hurt, can she?” “Well, for somebody whose positions imply that she probably never experienced any suffering full-stop- she has put both her feet in her mouth, ankle deep, once again.” Karl rolled his fiery eyes, and looks at Adam suspiciously. “Why are you defending this Lagarde woman?” Adam blushed and says, “I’m not. I just said I like her wig.” “Short from shutting up, you shouldn’t take any sides;” Karl looks worried, “Sam is already getting enough omments. We don’t want this whirlwind of indignation to blow thousands of hate-mails our way. What ends up on his plate, will be served on ours.” “Lord almighty, don’t be silly now, my dear boy. We are cloned to be objective observers, to give our honest opinions no matter what will be served on whose plates, but trust me, nothing will be served on ours.” Adam says confidently, “Your Manifesto of Compassion couldn’t have been better timed.” “You really think so?” Karl asks, “Don’t you know that optimism is the first mistake of the intellect?” “Why are you so nervous?” Adam turns his entire body to face Karl, “This is so unlike you. Where did your oomph go, your bravado?” “Do you know what it’s like to carry the guilt of a gaffe like the one I made last time? My god, what a gaffe that was.” Karl confesses,“The trauma of my last manifesto is lingering in my mind and I just can’t face another one...“ “Oh poor boy, don’t you worry now,” Adam closes the mirror and put his pale thin hand on Karl’s gigantic knee, “We fixed it and you are now going to prove that both you and I both had a point rather than being totally right.” “Pardon me for being so long-winded and going over it again, but the notion of Compassion has been explored, for better or for worse.” Karl looks tortured as he pulls away slightly and crosses his legs, “Gandhi, Martin L.King, Ayn, and Milton all had their say about compassion and the world is divided by an abyss as far apart as heaven and hell. The most passionate advocates of compassion must have been Gandhi and Martin and famous as they were, you know how miserably Gandhi was towards the end of his life which he considered as a failure and how disillusioned King was about their ‘non-violent’ stance, don’t you? And they were both assassinated.” Adam takes his monocle off, “We’re virtual immortals, young man. Bullets won't hurts us. ” He declares, “And please note that compassion’s most passionate advocate is I, Adam Smith, who wrote ‘The Theory of Moral Sentiments.” “Bottom line is that people are not as kind or good as most of us imagine us to be, I’m sorry to say.” Karl shakes his said, and peered over his bifocals, “I wish it wasn’t true, but most of us can be nasty sons of bitches, who will exploit everything around them for their own gain. That’s how I failed last time and I’m not too comfortable about this notion of‘Compassionism’ you are talking about.” “People have been coaxed to be heartless in the name of Capitalism, even Christine,” Adam sighs, “And she mentioned me by name on her facebook page, but if any of them understood me, they would have tried to be more compassionate, but it’s fine, Karl. We’ll set it right with your new manifesto.“ “What makes you think they will listen this time?” Karl broods while burying his huge head in his large hands. Adam shrugs, “Who else would stick out their necks apart from us two old fools or even talk to them nicely? I shouldn’t think that is, because only the two of us are this way inclined, do you?” More about the Manifesto..
Mediated
“Hang on,” Karl yells while taking his pocket watch out of his vest pocket, “Sam modified my old watch into this excellent device, which he calls ‘gadget’... Just hang in there.”
After Karl’s thick fingers prodded the device for a few seconds, Adam’s moaning image suddenly faded into nothingness. A minute pass as Karl continued working his pocket watch while cursing under his breath before Adam’s old self zapped back into the room with a yelp, this time looking more normal with his bulging fish eyes, and eagle-beak nose back in place. “Good lord, what happened to me?” Adam’s hands fluttered over his powdered face, feverishly inspecting it inch by inch, “I feel so flustered.” “I emailed you from a different server this time, my friend, one with a more stable connection.” Karl explains, “You just traveled through outer-space to a satellite and then, back to earth twice over. That explains why you feel a little unraveled. You look remarkably well after such a trip although your skull was very handsome too.” “That is excellent, well done my friend, and thank you.”Adam bowed, “But do me a favor and spare me your flattery, it really doesn’t suit you or me. Besides, didn’t we already finished your new ‘manifesto’ or is there something else you want from me?” “We did, and it’s ready to go, but we have to keep the momentum going for the Launch on June 8, you know.” Karl says, “There still are a few issues we need to fine-tune if we have a little more time.” “Time is not a issue for us immortals, my friend,” Adam cooed, “But what year is it now, such trip must have taken quite some time?” “It’s still 2018, it only took a minute or two to upload and download.” “So it’s still Thursday afternoon 3.50 pm, 2018? And where are we?” Karl whispered, “I figured if you want to see the media at work , the best place to visit is Fox New’s Studio, simply because of its notoriety, but I thought it better to wait until that beat about US President Frank’s endorsement of the Same Sex Marriage Act is over, and now, it’s been a week and the beat is on the aftermath of Greece’s financial ruin and the political victory of their new Grass Root Party.” A pool of light suddenly shines on the odd couple as cameras swivel around to focus on their frozen faces looking ghostly in the limelight. ”And here we have a couple of Same Sex activists to join us,” the tall anchorman jumps out of nowhere and hones in, “Would you like to share a few words with us about your sentiment towards this historical miles stone, sir, and will you be tying the knot soon?“ “Enchanted, my dear friend,” Adam coos while fixing his wig,“The name is Smith, Adam Smith...” “Nein, nein, nein, nein, mein Herr.” Karl interrupts Adam while waving his hands and shaking his head, “This is a huge misunderstanding. We’re here for the beat on Greece ...” A Deal....
"A mandarin would say that ‘Those able to balance on the tempest, may lose it in a storm, while those who survive the storm may not balance on the tempest." Adam, an elderly gentleman in a blue striped sleeping shirt mumbles to himself while lounging on the antediluvian sofa in the virtual drawing room of 'The Post'. The year is 2018. Karl zaps onto the scene fully dressed in corduroy vest and velvet jacket roaring, "Are you still watching TV?”
“Henry is on in this documentary on ‘The New World Order’.It’sa sequel to his ‘On China’. It’s in honor of his 95th birthday.” Adam grunts, “He is talking about leadership and Bo Xi Lai.” “The princeling, who ousted corrupt cadres and high positioned party member by the truck full and got demoted when his right hand man tried to defect to the West and nearly started another 6-4 until they found out his wife’s family own hundreds of millionswithout embezzling anything?“ Karl asked, “Is there anything you don’t watch?” “Yeah well, that’s what the party likes you to believe...” Adam snatches back, “ you have to admit this TV-invention is handy, but don’t forget what we are here for. We are now part of the ‘Media’ now that Sam revived us to report for ‘The Post’. " “I don’t belong to anybody, man, am nobody’sslave... My forte is to say exactly what I think, whenever I like regardless.” Karl scowls, “I’m seriously pissed they messed up our theories and on top of that these idiots are blaming us for it. They turned my communism in the world’s worst oligarchy for goodness sake and now I need to start all over again.So Sam can stuff it... “ “Not Sam’s fault you know.” Adam yawns stretching his pale arms above his head and put his bonylegs on the table. “He’s letting you have a say about it.” “What crap is that!? We’re thinkers, not reporters, we mold the world through our vision, not because we know what is actually happening, but we know what should be happening...“ Karl pauses and studies Adam through squinted eyes, “ I’ve been working hard here on my new festo, but you would do well taking your own advice and switch off that damn TV and help me out here.” “Manifesto? Like the one that mad Norwegian gunman wrote?” Adam shakes his head, “My best man, we’ve been created to give ideologically colored yet politically unmotivated analysis on current affairs, and now you want to start another revolution?Besides, you forgetwe’re holograms who cannot walk out on the street or into the battleground. How do you purport to do any of this without watching TV?" Karl shakes his head and hiss scornfully, “And depend on the mis-formation that the Media feeds us?” He moved his face closer to Adam’s and whispers in a conspiratory voice,” Don’t you know we can disappear in the system , scavenge through the network, hack into accounts. Remember we’re nothing more and nothing less than constellations of loose electrons that can go wherever currents go...” “Really? We can do that?” Adam turns his head abruptly his eyes bulging so far out they nearly fell out of their sockets.“You reckon you can take me where I want to goin the year 2012, I like to understand what the heck that was with the defection and princeling issue. I need to understand themindset of this millennium, you know. It’s all psychology, you know, like Keynes said.” “Of course it is, but I can tell you right now what the ‘human psyche’ is about in one sentence: It’s either greed and power, or power and greed. The only difference between the farce that capitalism and communism have become these days is the sequence these two things occur..” “Well, it’s not that simple, but if you take me on a little tour, I’ll help you, we’ll knock out our combined ‘festo’ in one month tops, you and I... On the condition there’s no shooting and no revolution though. Deal?” Adam stretches out his hand. “Deal!” Karl grabs it trying to pull him up but their hands lapse and glide through each other reminding them they are indeed only pixels hanging in the air, “Oh crap! Get dressed, you old slug. We don’t want to look like crazy idiots in sleep shirts and nutty wigs...” |
A Skit On Private Jets And Politics
."No respect, no benefit of the doubt, no manners, no chivalry, nothing..."
It's 2018. In the Virtual drawing room of ‘The Post’ two pixillated gentlemen sit on a sofa. The one to the far right - the one who just spoke - is Adam , a stately gentleman with a huge powdered nose looking agitated and gazing at the hologram of the lady politician on the media wall who is directing a mouthfull of abuses and rebukes to the Chief Executive of our beloved city in front a dozen microphones"Typical of a public position in Hong Kong or anywhere: no gratitude... I feel sorry for Tsang, he's a good bloke... " He grunts. The gentleman on the far left is Karl, a coarsely built old man with a unruly beard wrapped around this skull wearing longjohns smeared with ink blots who replies listlessly: "Politics mostly involves media games to manipulate public perception.. You should know that by now..." |
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Adam: "What I don't get is why the public is taking the bait? It's not like Tsang has embezzled millions? He just spent time relaxing with his friends, who have that kind of life style... You can't expect the chief executive to hang out in the park and play chess, would you?"
Karl: "Calm down... The question is why is he entitled to that kind of lifestyle? It's the tax payer's money he's spending..."
Adam: "Why are there no smearing compaigns like that in the US or UK when Cameron spend time with Obama on board of 'Airforce One' ?"
"Because everyone including the media has serious problems and bigger fish to skin?" Karl chuckles...
"Exactly... The fact they could find anything more serious is telltale proof the guy is clean...You end up moving at a certain level when you're the chief executive. Come up with real proof and hard evidence of actual benifit given to his friends, or give the man a break."
"You are pissed, aren't you?"
"You bet... It's infuriating to see that ..." He paused to point at the scrowling image of the woman still ranting away, "Talking about wasting the tax-payer's money ! Just look: all they do is elevate themselves by stepping on someone else. "
Karl laughs out loud, "You rightist get just as vicious when your buddies are incriminated..."
"I don't blame you for thinking we are supernatural human beings, but we are cracked vessels just like you are.."
"Well, Thanks I guess... So when are you gonna switch off the media wall and help me with this?" Karl is pointing at the messy pile of parchment rolls on the floor."
"why, what's the hurry?" Adam asks nonchalantly.
"Well, there used to be a balance, but after all the political cross-overs, the scale is tipping over so much it's at breaking point..." Karl says apologetically.
"I'll get to it soon, allright?.. Give me a break, I need to get in the right karma and watching all this just kills my mood... " Adam shrugs and mumbles , "Just ridiculous, who do they think they are...?"
Karl: "Calm down... The question is why is he entitled to that kind of lifestyle? It's the tax payer's money he's spending..."
Adam: "Why are there no smearing compaigns like that in the US or UK when Cameron spend time with Obama on board of 'Airforce One' ?"
"Because everyone including the media has serious problems and bigger fish to skin?" Karl chuckles...
"Exactly... The fact they could find anything more serious is telltale proof the guy is clean...You end up moving at a certain level when you're the chief executive. Come up with real proof and hard evidence of actual benifit given to his friends, or give the man a break."
"You are pissed, aren't you?"
"You bet... It's infuriating to see that ..." He paused to point at the scrowling image of the woman still ranting away, "Talking about wasting the tax-payer's money ! Just look: all they do is elevate themselves by stepping on someone else. "
Karl laughs out loud, "You rightist get just as vicious when your buddies are incriminated..."
"I don't blame you for thinking we are supernatural human beings, but we are cracked vessels just like you are.."
"Well, Thanks I guess... So when are you gonna switch off the media wall and help me with this?" Karl is pointing at the messy pile of parchment rolls on the floor."
"why, what's the hurry?" Adam asks nonchalantly.
"Well, there used to be a balance, but after all the political cross-overs, the scale is tipping over so much it's at breaking point..." Karl says apologetically.
"I'll get to it soon, allright?.. Give me a break, I need to get in the right karma and watching all this just kills my mood... " Adam shrugs and mumbles , "Just ridiculous, who do they think they are...?"
A Skit On Occupy Wall Street
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It's 2018. The newly installed media wall is injecting gruesome fractions of the world into the virtual drawing room of 'The Post' - a space otherwise frozen and preserved from an Era long past.Two pixillated gentlemen 'sit' on a shapely antique settee covered in a French silk moiré.
The one to the far left holding the remote control, is Karl, a coarsely built old man wearing long johns. He is stroking his pepper and salt beard that wraps all the way around his large lumpish head like a long gray scarf in a 'Kelly'-style albeit without sex appeal. "Blimme," He says. Pointing the remote at different screens, he summons the spectacles from the screen into the room. Masked guerrilla fighters are interviewed in one corner, while in another, a politician lifts his arms in victory under the cheer of a crowd going wild, and in others yet, civilians are looting shops and occupying financial precincts the world over. "A hard pill to swallow, what the miracle of technology is presenting us with... Now the world can see what I saw, what always has been... " |
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"I wouldn't say this has always been, my friend, " Mumbles Adam, the gentleman to the far right with a huge powdered nose and short cropped hair, looking disturbed. His silver-white wig is resting next to him like a listless pet on top of his drab-colored coat that he has also taken off. He kicks off his buckle shoes and continues to read through the pile of parchments on the coffee table, while casting periodic glances at the drama in front of the media wall, "I think the world has come a long way... this is a continuous process of striking an equilibrium. Balance is not a static state, it's the result of immense struggles. The only thing in my opinion that is going in the wrong direction is the violence that is getting worse with the mind-blowing advances in arms.... Fight all you want, but boy-cot these mad weapons for crying out loud. You would think they should have gained some degree of civility by now..."
Karl: "Oh Bullocks, you missing the whole point, some people are getting very rich from this. Besides, no-one can impose any rules when everyone has switched to their individual survival mode. Your model is just a gilded version of anarchy and this is what you get...But enough of that," Karl puts down the remote and picks up the parchment on the coffee table that Adam already looked at, "What do you think of my ideas so far?"
Adam: "Well, I know you mean well, my dear fellow, but you are just flipping from one side of the coin to the other. Your notion of the collective doesn't get the individual off his backside and want to do something... Also, you're still making the same mistake about how power works... "
"How about resolving this conundrum and redirecting us from this dead-end-path along which we're speeding towards ... That doesn't count as a reason to get off your butt?" Karl thunders.
Adam lifts his hands up in the air, and drops the parchment, "No need to get upset, my friend. Let me put it this way..." He pauses for a second, "The way most people perceive this world is polarized from day one onwards. From the age of three or four onwards , children begin to form a concept of who they are and divide their world in the 'I' and the 'Other'... My Free market theory works, because it rewards the 'I', yours doesn't because it ask people to sacrifice the I for the Other. "
"Wait a minute, your theory rewards 1% leaving 99% out in the cold, how does it reward the I?" Karl shouts.
Adam: "I must admit, the 1% has distorted my theory for their benefit, but that's being amended with the increasing connectivity of social networks. Ultimately, if you read my books, both the I and the Other will be vindicated. Likewise, ideologies which are preliminary focused on the 'Other' or what you call the collective have a hard time to convince people to sacrifice the 'I' unless subliminal conditioning is involved with a prophesy of a reward awaiting in heaven versus doom in hell in the life here after... I wouldn't go so far to say they are scams, but believe this doesn't work because our life on earth should not be sacrificed."
"What the hell does that mean? And what the heck are you saying?" Karl says while throwing the pile of parchments off the coffee table with a single sweep of his arm and buries his face in his hands...
Karl: "Oh Bullocks, you missing the whole point, some people are getting very rich from this. Besides, no-one can impose any rules when everyone has switched to their individual survival mode. Your model is just a gilded version of anarchy and this is what you get...But enough of that," Karl puts down the remote and picks up the parchment on the coffee table that Adam already looked at, "What do you think of my ideas so far?"
Adam: "Well, I know you mean well, my dear fellow, but you are just flipping from one side of the coin to the other. Your notion of the collective doesn't get the individual off his backside and want to do something... Also, you're still making the same mistake about how power works... "
"How about resolving this conundrum and redirecting us from this dead-end-path along which we're speeding towards ... That doesn't count as a reason to get off your butt?" Karl thunders.
Adam lifts his hands up in the air, and drops the parchment, "No need to get upset, my friend. Let me put it this way..." He pauses for a second, "The way most people perceive this world is polarized from day one onwards. From the age of three or four onwards , children begin to form a concept of who they are and divide their world in the 'I' and the 'Other'... My Free market theory works, because it rewards the 'I', yours doesn't because it ask people to sacrifice the I for the Other. "
"Wait a minute, your theory rewards 1% leaving 99% out in the cold, how does it reward the I?" Karl shouts.
Adam: "I must admit, the 1% has distorted my theory for their benefit, but that's being amended with the increasing connectivity of social networks. Ultimately, if you read my books, both the I and the Other will be vindicated. Likewise, ideologies which are preliminary focused on the 'Other' or what you call the collective have a hard time to convince people to sacrifice the 'I' unless subliminal conditioning is involved with a prophesy of a reward awaiting in heaven versus doom in hell in the life here after... I wouldn't go so far to say they are scams, but believe this doesn't work because our life on earth should not be sacrificed."
"What the hell does that mean? And what the heck are you saying?" Karl says while throwing the pile of parchments off the coffee table with a single sweep of his arm and buries his face in his hands...
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"Calm down, my friend. We're past that mortal stage ourselves. We have all the time in the world." Adam says while picking up the remote to switch Bloomberg to 3D mode, "Let's brood on this one for a while..."
Karl lifts his head and says calmly, " I think you have are bluffing, I think you have nothing... " "To be honest, if you have read both my books, all the solutions are there. It's just that some people had an interest in highlighting the aspects beneficial to them..Let's set this misnomer right once and for all" Adam says with a smile, and picks up Karl's feathered quill to write... |
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A Skit On Super Pacs And Mega Pacs
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"When Alderson endorsed Gingrich first with the idea of moving on to endorse Romney, he was essentially making a 'Place' bet, and his bet would have paid up if either of them wins... " mumbled Adam, a stately gentleman with a huge powdered nose in a gold threat waistcoat that he wears over white wooly leggings.It's 2018. Seated on the edge of the Sofa in the virtual drawing room of 'The Post', Adam is hovering over the coffee table, the top of which appears to be a touch screen showing the media's report of the 2018 election campaigns.
"What in hell are you on about?" says Karl, a coarsely built old man still wearing long underwear underneath a Russian military coat which has seen better days. He too is hovered over the coffee table , writing something on a parchment with a feathered pen. |
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Adam : "Just studying this Super-Pac and campaign money business over the last two elections . There surely must be a better way to guarantee a return on investing in these campaigns... I mean if you apply the concepts of hedge funds and the bet-types used for horse racing to it, there must be a way these corporations can divide and place their investments such there's a guaranteed return..."
Karl : "Why, have you gone senile and moved from economic scams to investing and betting or are you just bored?"
Adam : "Just looking for a way to entertain myself since you're too busy writing your crazy manifesto to get dressed my dear friend, never mind talking to me..."
Karl: "Well I reckon something needs to change , so excuse me.."
Adam: "Well, let's make a bet that my little idea here will have a much larger impact than yours... "
Karl: "You're going down, my man."
Adam: "I don't see how. You're just one man engineering utopias which don't work simply because you don't have a grip on basic human traits, my dear,... Mine is about empowering others how to go get what they want, not what I want or society want. "
Karl: "Which paradoxically is turning the 99% into puppets who are now cutting loose their strings and 'barricading' the 1%. I wouldn't be so proud if I were you. But I'm taken your point about human traits, that's why I'm modifying my stuff, okay?"
"Whatever you like, my friend, but listen to my Mega Pac idea: it's great. " Adam's hand moves over the touch screen table top, "You make a 'place'-bet which means that instead of just funding a winner, you can pick two candidates and whoever wins the campaign, you'll get a return... This would be two candidates from the same party." 5 holograms of running candidates appear with figures hovering over their heads.
Karl: "What are figures?"
"These are the odds based on popularity polls." Adam explains while pointing to the holograms with his little finger in the air... " Like wise you can plan your money on a 'Trio', which means you pick three candidates in any winning sequence, or a 'Tierce', which means you pick three and they have to win in a particular order. Alternatively, you can hedge your bet, which means that you make place your money on an 'Encirclement' which means your campaign money is spread to all candidates of both parties, that way you always win, but the odds are much less needless to say."
Karl: "Encirclement? That is complete nonsense, who will look after their interest if they support everyone?"
Adam: "That's for people who want to support the Electoral campaign system in general, and those grass root candidate in particular who doesn't have support from the big boys, but don't want to throw their money in the open sea, because the odds that these candidates win is so slim..."
Karl: " My dear old man, if you have time to spare, can you please help me with my plan, because what you have there is utter nonsense..." Karl picks up one of the rolled up parchments from the table and throws it over to Adam.
Adam's arms mills through the air in an awkward attempt to catch the parchment or protect himself. Picking it up from the floor, he put it back on the table and says: "I wouldn't be so sure about that. Once my idea is out there, who knows it will inspire somebody to turn it into something grand... That's all I have ever done, my friend..."
Karl: "Whatever... Can you delete the guy with the bulldog face though, his mere presence irritates me... "
"Bulldog? Isn't that you? ... " Seeing Karl's face turn crimson-red and crazy black eyes, Adam's hand quickly moves over the coffee table again and says, " Oh... the other one! I got it."And the sturdiest of the 5 holograms disappears...
Karl : "Why, have you gone senile and moved from economic scams to investing and betting or are you just bored?"
Adam : "Just looking for a way to entertain myself since you're too busy writing your crazy manifesto to get dressed my dear friend, never mind talking to me..."
Karl: "Well I reckon something needs to change , so excuse me.."
Adam: "Well, let's make a bet that my little idea here will have a much larger impact than yours... "
Karl: "You're going down, my man."
Adam: "I don't see how. You're just one man engineering utopias which don't work simply because you don't have a grip on basic human traits, my dear,... Mine is about empowering others how to go get what they want, not what I want or society want. "
Karl: "Which paradoxically is turning the 99% into puppets who are now cutting loose their strings and 'barricading' the 1%. I wouldn't be so proud if I were you. But I'm taken your point about human traits, that's why I'm modifying my stuff, okay?"
"Whatever you like, my friend, but listen to my Mega Pac idea: it's great. " Adam's hand moves over the touch screen table top, "You make a 'place'-bet which means that instead of just funding a winner, you can pick two candidates and whoever wins the campaign, you'll get a return... This would be two candidates from the same party." 5 holograms of running candidates appear with figures hovering over their heads.
Karl: "What are figures?"
"These are the odds based on popularity polls." Adam explains while pointing to the holograms with his little finger in the air... " Like wise you can plan your money on a 'Trio', which means you pick three candidates in any winning sequence, or a 'Tierce', which means you pick three and they have to win in a particular order. Alternatively, you can hedge your bet, which means that you make place your money on an 'Encirclement' which means your campaign money is spread to all candidates of both parties, that way you always win, but the odds are much less needless to say."
Karl: "Encirclement? That is complete nonsense, who will look after their interest if they support everyone?"
Adam: "That's for people who want to support the Electoral campaign system in general, and those grass root candidate in particular who doesn't have support from the big boys, but don't want to throw their money in the open sea, because the odds that these candidates win is so slim..."
Karl: " My dear old man, if you have time to spare, can you please help me with my plan, because what you have there is utter nonsense..." Karl picks up one of the rolled up parchments from the table and throws it over to Adam.
Adam's arms mills through the air in an awkward attempt to catch the parchment or protect himself. Picking it up from the floor, he put it back on the table and says: "I wouldn't be so sure about that. Once my idea is out there, who knows it will inspire somebody to turn it into something grand... That's all I have ever done, my friend..."
Karl: "Whatever... Can you delete the guy with the bulldog face though, his mere presence irritates me... "
"Bulldog? Isn't that you? ... " Seeing Karl's face turn crimson-red and crazy black eyes, Adam's hand quickly moves over the coffee table again and says, " Oh... the other one! I got it."And the sturdiest of the 5 holograms disappears...
Skit On Elections
The scene switches to the studio, where Andy says, “Thank you, Ellen,With us we have Mr Lee’s i-sistant, Henry.” Turning to the hologram, he asks, “Henry, what does Mr Lee have to say about the suggestive video released last night?”
“These footage have been examined by independent experts turned out to be computer generated and altered, which makes all this one big hoax… I assure you that Mr. Lee’s vision is unblemished and the pace at which his mission is being carried out is neither hindered nor stoppable.” Two gentlemen are pixilated on a sofa, watching . The one to the far right is Adam , a stately gentleman with a huge powdered nose in a delicate house coat that he wears over a striped sleep shirt and silk slippers with turned up toes. Stroking a cat on his lap, he says, “This guy managed to hijack all air-time again, masterful. The media loves it too.” “Why are we watching this ?” says Karl, Said Karl, a coarsely built old man wearing long underwear underneath a Russian military coat which has seen better days. He is combing his pepper and salt beard with a wooden comb, “Like you said, it’s all show.” Adam : “For once, I agree with you, my dear friend, but it’s interesting to see how the power game is played. “ Karl : “How is it interesting if both these guys are part of the 1% and Status Quo will persists… These campaigns cost millions and millions of dollars just to highlight the imperfections of the opposition when we all know that we are all cracked vessels…” Adam : “Power corrupts and elections are like insecticides , it makes sure we get rid of bad apples.” Karl : “But where are their manifestos for god sake? What action will they take in these dire strait times, when the Status Quo is just not good enough?” He puts the comb aside, “Who cares who he does where and when , whether those footage are real or not? Millions of faithful men out there, I wouldn’t vote for, but which ever bastard can crack this nut, and resolve the economical problems, I will carry him on my hands all the way to the Govenor’s house, the parliament, the congress or wherever he needs to be to do his job. “ Adam: “I tend to think that the creativity and opportunity come from the people than the government … You know I don’t believe in centralized power , don’t you? “ Karl : "You seem to have a point. White cow with the black spots or and the black cow with the white spots, what does it matter, but some how we still hope that the chosen one can resolve the problems." He lifted his foot on the sofa and started cutting his toenails, "You know what catastrophes and upheavals my followers caused do to keep power, don't you ? Adam: "Oh you're talking about the Mao guy, the poet who burned all poems... Glad you recognize it... This continuous revolution of the grass root, all the killing and purging... Equally disastrous... Now power is changed periodically...Democracy or not..." Karl : “Well my man, I’m glad we finally agree on something. ” Adam gets up, picks up the cat and says, “My mistake. Oh well, I’m turning in. You’re not sleeping yet? Karl : “You gave me an idea or two.. so I’m going to stay up and jot down a thing or two.” Adam : “Not planning to write another one of those scary manifestos, are you?” Karl : “I just might… Someone has to do it…” “You’re as crazy as they come.... God help us.” Adam bent down to the remote control on the coffee table to press a button and vanishes... Karl : "Not so bad yourself... " |
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A Skit On 'Change'
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It’s 2018 – In the Virtual drawing room of ‘The Post’ two pixillated gentlemen sit on a sofa. The one to the far right is Adam , a stately gentleman with a huge powdered nose looking absentminded. He adjusts his finely embroidered coat that he wears over tweedy leggings and peers through the pince-nez on his nose…
Adam: "2012 was the year of the dragon - supposedly the year of upheavals." "How so ?" Said Karl, a coarsely built old man wearing a black velor jacket which has seen better days. He is stroking his pepper and salt beard that wraps all the way around his large lumpish head like a long gray scarf, while the other hand is playing with a heavy pocket watch resting on his potbelly. Adam: "Both the US and China changed leadership in the same year." Karl throws his arms up in the air: "Change? My arse! Both you and I know this so-called-'change' is a joke, right?" |
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Adam( looking shocked): "No need to be rude. I'm just trying to make conversation. You mean the point your dear friend Noamy makes about the sameness between these parties and that it is really just a farce, a popularity pageant more than anything?""
Karl (yawns): "Yeah, Except that I call him Dopey, all grown up now, isn't he..."
Adam frowns : "Are you sure you didn't mixed them up, my dear ? In any case, he has a point, but it's not just the States. Did you noticed governments the world over are copying tricks from one another? Now China's got this 'One Party Two Fraction' thing which is kind of a knock off from the US bi-partisan thing... It's all part of this world order slowly emerging... Fairly grand actually." He takes a tiny silver container, opens it and put a black leafy substance in his nose and sniffs loudly.
Karl is waving his arms in the air: "Grand? More like Bullocks I'd say. Basically all leaders are from the same club. Only difference is the label and the way they present themselves. They are pretending to be different and competing by being each other's watch dogs. There really is no choice, whether it's US or China. They are copycatting each other's scams."
"I'm sorry," Adam says while adjusting his carefully coiffed curls back in his silver blond wig : "In US people get to chose who they think will do the job the best... That's makes all the difference in the world, my dear man. "
Karl get up and take one step in the direction of Adam: "Sure, with the biased media, capitalist funded slander campaigns, and Tea-party nonsense, we all know what the odds are that the US public will make a good choice between a black cow with large white spots or a white cow with large black spots ... "
Adam leans back, shaking his head. Oddly a fraction of the last nod repeated several times like a recording replayed: "Good lord, what's the matter with you, leftists, that you can't see what difference that makes. Have they soaked your brain in brine for the whole of the two centuries since you died, my poor man? Oh, I'm sorry, you were like this to begin with... I guess I shouldn't hold your poor genes against you then, my mistake... "
Karl put his hands on his hips, leans forward and with his nose almost touching Adams screams: "Leave the sarcasm out, Eve, that's my territory. The point is that it is much more likely that the few best informed, best trained and no doubt 'brightest' will concoct a much better and more effective government ? At least, No money is wasted on all that pretense."
Adam extends his hands to the sky and yells: "Don't you see that you are the hypocrite, pretending you represent the grass root, what you have is the most elite-ish system ever dreamed up... It's the most ingenious scam... God help us..."
Karl's grabs Adam's powdered neck with both hands, his bright red face is on the verge of exploding while Adam shrieks, "help..." his eyes are nearly popping out of its sockets,
Sam, a computer scientist, enters the room and chuckles, "You two do realize that you're just a bunch of pixels projected into space and that you can't hurt each other physically, right?"
Both gentlemen let go, point at Sam and scream in chorus, "Why, Sam?
Click here to read Sam's story
A Skit On SOPA
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It’s 2018 – In the Virtual drawing room of ‘The Post’ two pixillated gentlemen sit on a sofa. The one to the far left is Karl, a coarsely built old man wearing a black velour jacket which has seen better days. He is stroking his pepper and salt beard that wraps all the way around the large lumpish head like a long gray scarf, while the other hand is playing with a heavy pocket watch resting on his potbelly.
Karl : “They are doing society a huge favor with this global network and database, so what’s wrong, what’s the fuss about? What we really should do is protect this fabulous collective intelligence that internet has become, stop the rich and powerful from turning it into another instrument for their self-serving agenda… “
“I haven’t tried the internet myself. I’m sure it’s great, but it has to be fair, there should be royalties paid when royalties are due instead of it all being taken freely.. That’s only fair, isn’t it?” Said a stately gentleman on the far right of the sofa with a huge powdered nose looking absentminded. He adjusted his finely embroidered coat and peered through the pince-nez on his nose… “You call it ‘collective’ intelligence but it happens to generate huge amounts of money for the one who invents the portal, the software. What about the poor artists, the writers, the designers who are robbed of the fruits of their labor…“
Karl: “I wouldn’t call it robbing, we all have responsibility to contribute to society, to the collective. Besides knowledge is like the oxygen in the air, nobody really owns it.”
Adam: “If you make intellectual property ‘collective’, few people can afford to write, paint or produce music anymore. Culture and entertainment would cease to exist.”
Karl: “Never mind culture, first we have to put in place the system that eliminate oppression and contribute to an equitable society.”
Adam, looking worried : “That is the whole problem, the reason why it took them six years to come up with internet regulations. They don’t even differentiate between the two issues. Collective intelligence and social network are very different animals from culture and entertainment. We have to find a finer, better designed solution to two different problems.”
Karl : “What you mean we have to? We don’t have to do anything. Why fix it If it’s not broken? The internet belongs to the grass roots. It is the platform for the people to stand up against the exploitation of the bourgeoisie, the instrumental oppression of the oligarchy. It is the grass roots’ answer to a biased media.” Karl says indignantly. “Just let it be and it will regulate itself like how you propose the economy to regulate it-self in a ‘free market’.”
Adam : “Was it not you who said that the fruit of the labor should go to the workers?”
Karl gets up and says indignantly: “I did, but that doesn’t mean my maxim should be used as an excuse by those rogue regulators and dictators.”
Adam : “What rogue regulators? What is most valuable here is the ideas, the visions and inventions which are created by the bright, the talented, and artistic, but it is no longer owned by them. The ones who appropriate the fruit of their labor are the ones who create the portals which organize this intelligence and make it accessible in a user-friendly way, the Huffingtons, Googles and Wikipedias. And becoming the internet police is the last responsibility they want because it’s in conflict with their interest.”
Karl starts pacing up and down the room : “What these companies do is to make all the ideas and visions ‘collective’, a paradigm shift from the individual to the collective in a matter of minutes which simply multiplies their value a million times. Information is the currency we are talking about here, not money. And you know what? Anybody with the skills and smarts can do that too. We should allow people to do more of that instead of building hurdles and shifting the responsibility of regulating and policing – which is the responsibility from the state, who can’t handle it themselves- onto these mavericks.”
Adam : “Let me ask you one thing, as clones of certain personae, do we owe them royalties if they were still alive,?”
Karl: “I say no, because we exist by virtue of the technology that our creators brought in. We are not the product of these personae, we are the product of the technology and our creators!”
Adam : “But surely what we say, what we think are based on their original mind and visions!?”
Karl : “Sure, they inspired us and some credit goes to them, but still the intelligence is largely our own and that of our creators. How do you dissect the credit when so many things contributed to the birth of an idea. Why can’t we just create in the spirit of contributing to the collective intelligence?
Adam : “Because it is not sustainable, good lord, when are you ever going to learn?! But luckily, I have thought out a solution of how to ‘regulate’ if we must and it …”
Somewhere in a distant part of the country, a ‘send’ button is clicked to file a complaint for infringement of copyright and the pixels of both gentlemen vanish. A flaming skull appears on the screen who says: ‘Saving knowledge and intelligence from piracy…’
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