Idea — Unstoppable Earth

Time – 2110 AD

Place – United States

Setting – The world is rapidly warming.  The ice caps have melted and the sea-level is rising.  Many people are displaced.  even the government has moved further inland–to Topeka, KS.  Society is operating at a lower technological level than the present.

Background – In an answer to global outcry, the United States became the leader in combating climate change.  Emissions standards on vehicles became stringent–so stringent that most people can no longer afford to drive one, which is fine, since the roads are in a state of severe disrepair.  The energy infrastructure of the country has been radically downsized, so now people are forced to use less electricity due to the rolling, regulated blackouts.

Instead of devoting funds to develop new technologies, the government kowtowed to domestic cries for help in response to the ailing economy–slashing taxes and granting major subsidies.

Problem – Despite the intense reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (which are now at their lowest point in the post-Industrial Revolution era), the Earth is still getting warmer at an ever-quickening pace.

Our Hero – An independent thinker (some would say scoff-law) who refuses to helplessly sit by a wait for death to approach.  Despite the fact that he is utterly helpless against the Earth’s whims, he is determined to cling to life for as long as he can.  As the Earth gets hotter and hotter, he watches his friends wither and die.  He manages to survive because he has amassed a vast array of (illicit) resources: a generator, arms, MREs, desalination system, air conditioning, etc.  However, as the world continues to get hotter and people face their imminent death, they begin to break out of their stupor.

Themes -

Man is helpless against his environment: he cannot hope to change it, only to survive it.

The average man is willing to accept his helplessness until his very survival is imminently threatened.

Reducing our GHG emissions is not something we can do at any cost: if we allow it to curtail technological development we will be rejecting the tools that may provide us our best chance of survival.

The Plan

Make our educations serve our passions.

It’s is all coming together in my head.  What can an artist do when he has dressed himself in the robes of a professional?  He is taught many skills–analytical, numerical; all theoretical–and he is expected to expend them in a soul-crushing industry.

There is something that can be done.  An aspiring writer with a legal and business background, if you count four years of theoretical indoctrination as background, can wear all three hats: writer, lawyer, businessman.

Why not?  Sure, it makes failure inevitable, but that’s where lessons are learned.  Failure is a bit disheartening no matter the circumstances.  Failure at something one is deeply invested in is a breeding ground for growth.

I can be all three: writer, lawyer, businessman.  As a writer, I can write.  As a lawyer, I can represent the writer.  As a businessman, I can pitch him.

There is so much to learn.  Persuasion.  Marketing.  Analyzing.  Fixing.  Trying again.

Above all, it gives me a goal.  A reason to write beyond personal edification.  Maybe the literati will say that anybody who needs a reason beyond personal edification is not a writer, nor will that person ever be one.  I disagree.  Many times, writing is the result of inner turmoil.  But why write?  Those of us that are most introverted resolve issues internally, a purely mental process.  So, why write?  Writing is expression.  Where there is expression there must be an expressor and an expressee.  Sometimes the simple release of writing is enough for the author, yet there are times when the point is to affect an audience.

An audience.  What a tool!  To throw a piece of writing to the community and have it read and critiqued and criticized!  What an opportunity to gather perspective about my own skills.

But beyond development as a writer, there is also development as a professional.  There is a chance–there are many chances, actually–to put to use these skills that have been hammered into me for the past few years.  There is finally a purpose–beyond remuneration–for which I can lay myself humbly before.  And grow.

Truthfully.

Who am I kidding?  That’s the question that kept pushing its way to the front of my mind today.  Today was the first day on a new job; I should have been filled with excitement.  Instead, I was filled with the realization that I should have been filled with excitement.

Another job, same as the last.  Different talking heads saying the same things.

“Diversity is a very important part of our culture (you’ll notice that 8% of the people in this room are black!).”

“Giving back to the community is very important to us (that’s why we expect you to spend 50(!) hours a year doing it: we’ll expect you to bill 2000 more making rich people richer!).”

“Work/Life balance is VERY important to us (see 2050 hours above; if you make work your life, then balance is easy!).”

Throughout the propaganda session, I could only think about how poorly this industry suits me.  But somehow I had been deluding myself that I could somehow balance it all.  Today I finally disabused myself of that notion.  I’m not sure how reality finally got in the door.  But now it’s here, it’s taken off it’s shoes, and it wants some goddamn dinner.

Hello world!

I am drifting, eddying through my mid-twenties.  What were once slow lazy circles are now dizzying spirals.  Furiously and aimlessly, I am heading toward something.