Continuing the serialization of this free book written by John Huckel (@matrix-8).

If you've not already reaf Mary Whitney Must Prevail! - Foreword Click Here.

Mary Whitney Must Prevail!

A Critical Guide to the Challenges of the Woke New Normal

By John Huckel

Part I

1. Headlines

Suez and Panama Canals Fall to Internet Terrorists Terrorists Threaten 15% of International Shipping Terrorists Call for Internet Mob Rule Intl Cyber-Court Gives Peace a Chance Terrorists Press for Peace? Populist Gun Control “These were some of the headlines from the early 21st Century, just before the Great Liberation really took hold and Governments began to fall. That was more than 1500 years ago; and that, dear ones is what we will be investigating during this next section of our look at the Pasts. This period is of particular interest to me; I am currently investigating the lives of three people who were central to the events which brought an end to Civilization.” Sister Inez put up her hand to quell any questions along that line. “We’ll investigate them together later, but for now I want you to put your attention on the sequence of events leading up to the Conspiracy Revelations. And that starts in the Suez. I chose these six headlines to exemplify what the underlying struggle was really all about. “And when I say, what it was really all about, I don’t mean the local politics at the time. That is important, and we will put some attention on that. But I also want you to think about how it could be that it was natural for Man to have arrived at someplace so different from where we are now. International terrorism – what’s that all about? The point I want you to keep in mind is that Mankind did do all the terrible things we will be investigating. And somehow—ourselves members of Mankind—it suggests that it is also within each of us to have participated in those activities. We are not angels, and they were not devils. We are both Man; and if our circumstances were reversed, we would probably—both of us—act as the other acted then, or is acting now. “There are two seemingly conflicting dynamics within each Individual. And each of us manifests that conflict in the personal balance at which each of us has individually arrived. Think of a little child who is just starting to walk. Half the time it wants to stay cuddled in its mother’s arms (the Family is a child’s first Group), and the other half it is struggling to get free as an Individual to go exploring, apart from the Group. This simple example allows that at its core, Human Nature is of two minds regarding the Individual and his or her Group. And there are two extremes of opinion: Some people are sure that, 1- Only by each Individual insisting on the absolute Liberty to reach his or her own Goals, can the Body Politic approach perfection (that’s all of us as a Group); and at the other extreme, people believe that, 2- The Body Politic can be optimized only when the Individuals making it up, subordinate their Selves to the Group and expunge their separate action. “And you guys as children fit within that Gradient Scale. You are all still under the control of your parents – but at the same time you receive more and more Freedoms from them as you grow older and get more experience. Generally between 18 and 21 years of age it is understood that your parents will have set you completely free. But even then there will be a balance of Freedom and Control each of you will seek out in your lives. Some of you will want to be almost completely independent, while others will seek out Groups to which they will cede much of that Independence. As in all things, there are gradients. “During the Age of the Social Contract the latter position was dominant: Individuals were expected to cede their Freedoms to the Group of whichever Tribute Zone they are a part. And Force was universally employed against Individuals to assure the Group’s wellbeing. We will be investigating how the Force-driven Social Contract was unwound when communications technologies permitted Society to flourish without anyone forcing anyone to be a certain way.” Here Sister Inez separated the first three headlines from the second three. “Notice the different tones and connotations of the first three headlines, compared to the second three. The first three focus on Terrorists – one Group using Force on another; and the second three on Peace – no one using Force on anyone. And I’ll put up the Pilot’s Manifesto again so you can see these headlines were referring to.” Up went the manifesto. From the Pilots of the Suez Canal: There is blood on our hands. For generations we have been complicit in the wholesale murder and subjugation of our friends and neighbors by the Colonial Powers. We will be complicit no more. We will not guide any ship through our canal until all warships and cargo ships carrying arms, remove themselves from the waters designated for canal traffic. If there is a delay in the removal of those ships, no ship shall pass. The only exception will be ships carrying cargo urgently needed to support the lives of our brethren of whatever religion, in whatever land. The Middle East has long been termed, the Crossroads of the World. That puts us right at the center of things. But for too long, that center has been crisscrossed for the purposes of War! We don’t pretend to have the answers to World Peace, but we hereby pray that the world at large will help us find them. Whoever you are reading this, please utilize the Internet platform established recently in Tiquicia, to help us come to some accommodation – hopefully forwarding our desires for Peace. Please go to www.TiquiciaTrabaja.com, and click on the Dove/World Peace icon and help us put an end to War. May your God guide you in your actions. Addressing the Class as a whole, Sister Inez asked, “Do any of you know what provoked the Pilots to risk their jobs and make such a public announcement?” A number of hands went up. “Yes, Sidney....” “It was because there were a bunch of warships in the Mediterranean Sea that wanted to go to the Persian Gulf. There was a war starting there, and their captains were told to go there, but the Pilots didn’t want to help them.” Sidney, satisfied that he had adequately answered the question, sat back down with the assurance of someone who has just said everything that needed to be said on the subject. “Very good Sidney – that’s right. There were two fleets of ships separated by the Suez Canal, and the admiral of the 6th Fleet had orders to leave the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, and steam full speed to join the 5th Fleet in the Persian Gulf. “At that time, the Pilots had just about finished juggling a bunch of waiting ships around to allow clear passage for a hospital ship and several cargo ships carrying emergency supplies to the Indus River region between Pakistan and India. Flooding there had already claimed thousands of lives, and thousands more would perish without the quick arrival of the doctors and their emergency supplies. “Nobody really knows if the Pilots had even been considering such a daring move as the Pilot’s Manifesto, until they received orders from their Government ordering them to clear the way for the warships. “What happened is that the Pilots conspired and ignored their orders; they just continued to do what was necessary to get the relief ships through. The Admiral of the 6th Fleet expressed his sympathy for the refugees in India and Pakistan, but demanded that Egypt comply with its treaty obligations to expedite his fleet’s transit of the canal. It may have been his statement, I’m under orders to surge, and every day I’m delayed, American lives will be lost, that tipped the moral balance in the Pilots’ minds. As it turned out, two of the pilots working the Suez Canal had lost family members when a Sudanese aspirin factory had been bombed by American planes years ago as a public relations stunt to divert public attention from the embarrassing sexual peccadilloes of the sitting American president. They were incensed at the admiral’s arrogance. The Pilots’ Manifesto was issued, and the canal was shut down. “Yes Sally...” “But why did Panama get involved?” Sally held up a map showing the distance between the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal. “They were on the other side of the world. They couldn’t help anyone in India.” “Good question. Thank you Sally. “Anyone?” …Sister Inez looked around the class, but there were no takers. “It was because the workers in the Panama Canal felt close to the workers in the Suez Canal, not because they were physically close, but because those were the only two canals in the world that were so important, and they were sympathetic to the problems the workers from the Suez Canal were facing. They too realized that they had always helped warships get to where they could kill people. They felt guilty for not doing anything before, and decided to show their solidarity with the canal workers in Egypt. Their union issued a statement saying that no warships would be allowed to transit their canal either – until a settlement was reached with their fellow workers in Egypt. “This is an excellent example of how the Internet made the world smaller and more unified. Remember that during the approximately 10,000 years of the Age of the Social Contract, Mankind had separated itself with artificial geographical barriers. On one side of a line in the sand you were in one Tribute Zone, and on the other side you were in another Tribute Zone. And more often than not, neighbors on either side of those lines became enemies – because of the criminal greed of one or both of their Rulers. “As Mankind evolved from Hunter Gatherer to City Dweller, people had had to adapt to novel societal structures foreign to their Hunter-Gatherer traditions. Any group numbering in the thousands had to adopt the top-down governmental power structures inherent in the Social Contract. There was just no other way for large groups to defend themselves from other groups that had gone criminal. Initially Individuals freely ceded their Freedoms for Security. The existence of their Group came first, and if they had to put up with Police forcing them to do things—so be it. That was just the way things were at the time. And because of the constant threat that some Criminal would lead his people against your Group – War was the rule for 10,000 years. As we have seen, initially giving up some Freedoms for Security was a win-win situation. The larger part of the Group agreed to support a smaller group of warriors who would defend them in times of need. “The threat of attack from other groups was always present. And not until the advent of the Internet at the turn of the 21st Century, was there a better solution to the problem of Criminal Groups than the Social Contract. At that point in History, technology provided Mankind with a superior way to associate. And from that point on, the criminal Rulers of the warring Tribute Zones had a harder and harder time extracting Tribute from their people to keep fighting their neighbors. With the Internet, Man’s humanity began to express itself across those artificial barriers in spite of the wishes of any Rulers. Ignoring the divisive maneuvers of their Governments, people separated by Geography, Race, and Culture, began to seek each other out according to their common interests. People more and more rejected the notion that War was the only solution to the world's problems. “It wasn’t because the Pilots from Panama and Egypt personally knew each other. And as Sally pointed out, they were on opposite sides of the world. It was because of the instant communications via the Internet that the Pilots in Panama learned of the details facing their counterparts in Egypt. They were unified not by proximity, but by common interests. And of course, it didn’t stop there. Here’s a quote from the union of stevedores in Long Beach, California commenting on the treaty Egypt had signed more than a century before: “There are many things in life that may be legal – but they may still be absolutely and utterly irresponsible.” Soon stevedores in 29 countries were expressing sympathy—if not themselves interfering with arms shipments—they were unequivocal about their support for a popular international settlement.” Noticing a quizzical look on Sally's face, Sister Inez added, “Stevedores are workers who load and unload ships.” With Sally back on board, Sister Inez continued. “One of the first suggestions to be issued from the TiquiciaTrabaja website, or the New Peace Corps, as it came to be known, was the suggestion that an unaligned team of weapons inspectors be assembled to certify that a ship was okay to move through the canal. But another headline soon after that news was from Secretary of State Abel Hastings, “No weapons inspectors will interfere with US shipping!” His refusal was greeted with approval only by the heads of world Governments. “Okay Class, we’re going to take a break for now. When you get back, we’ll discuss how the Central Information Cloud came to be, and how 1500 years ago it affected the people of those times.” Sister Inez was herself excited about what they would be investigating. She had spent the last ten years focusing on just this period. ### 2. Author’s Explanation, Personnel & Definitions Please excuse this precocious interruption and disregard for normal formatting – but there just isn’t time to introduce the following as supplemental information in the Appendix. Honestly – how many of you have ever lasted long enough with a Science Fiction novel to read the Appendix? (Actually, I'm told – this is Science Fantasy.) Well, lots of loose ends ... that’s my point. So allow me to introduce the following in order of importance, rather than textural sequence. First of all, I am channeling Sister Inez who lived, lives, or will live about 1,500 years into the Futures. She is, was, or will be a teacher in an education complex made up of about 2,200 students. Under the educational system of her time, until students reach 14 or 15, the bulk of their studies take place with the same teacher, and with their same classmates. After the initial psychometrics taken in their kindergarten years, the kids are grouped together into discrete units. In tone and efficiency, the resultant classes are very much like the one-room schoolhouses of the 18th and 19th century American Experiment. There are many benefits to this system. Of great importance of course, is that learning is greatly accelerated when older (or more skilled) kids help their classmates. When a kid seeks to instruct another, his or her understanding must reach a higher level. And also integral to this New-Age system is that the 'teacher' is not the source of the data studied; original texts, followed by advancements and permutations of the subjects under investigation are studied directly from those sources. In reality, the 'teacher' becomes more of a supervisor, monitoring and handling any problems the kids may have in making way in their studies. Once difficulties and confusions are straightened out, the kids are again on their own in their investigations. And only when there are specific topics, appropriate only for kids of the same physiological, emotional, and/or academic levels, is the primary 'one-room schoolhouse' structure disturbed. Sister Inez is one of the teachers who instructs a class drawn from the other classes, for investigations in a specialized subject: Returning. When this story first came to me, I thought it was just the normal dribbles from my rather inconsistent imagination. It was interesting, so I scampered along like a happy puppy following the scent of the exciting unknown. And the story flowed so easily for a while – as if it had always been sitting there, just waiting to be reduced to print by my inspired key strokes. That was very gratifying. It was when I had gotten a few thousand words in, and decided to go back and edit and refine the narrative, that I discovered otherwise – it wasn’t my story at all! I had been immediately captivated by the narrative (as I think you may be too) and was distressed when I couldn’t seem to either make the changes I envisioned, or continue on with it as I thought it should go. It just stood there in front of me—an uncompleted monolith—blocking me from doing anything else. When I would approach the computer intending to exert my prerogatives as the Author of the piece, I would get oddly nervous and distracted, and couldn’t make any headway. (Sister Inez was short-circuiting my thought processes.) And I couldn’t sleep! At night I could find no rest. Sister Inez was always there in my dreams—and certainly not as a succubus—but as an impatient schoolmarm, glowering over me, tapping her foot, slapping a ruler into her open palm. Eventually her imposing dream Identity mellowed as I finally got the idea. Dunce cap fully in place I learned that I had been selected by her to act as her personal Scribe. So much for my creative genius.... Although she did praise one of my early short stories, Riding the Time Vault (you just read it in the Foreword). She indicated that that story had reached her time, and had caused her to seek me out. And while all this in itself is a wonderful subject for a story, I am informed that nothing off-subject will be forthcoming until my assigned task is satisfactorily completed. I don’t know how proud to be. Apparently I was chosen not just because I can write, which is good – but probably more importantly, because Sister Inez determined I was weak minded and easily manipulated. (That doesn’t feel so good.) And it also became apparent that I wasn’t suffering from writer’s block, so much as from writer’s disapprobation. But once I assented to the rules and settled into my role as Scribe, my writers 'block' lifted. I could once again approach the computer without fear. I could write again – but it was made very clear that any tinkering I had in mind, would have strictly defined limits. Happily, my penchant for capitalizing texturally important nouns has met with Sister Inez’ approval. (I hope it’s not distracting to you.) And I have been permitted to place in the Appendix, bits and pieces which I might otherwise have pared down and inserted strategically within the story itself. I will indicate to you when you might want to visit the Appendix for clarification or amplification on various points. And among other things, apparently Sister Inez does not deem written profanity socially acceptable. This, although one section of dialogue she downloaded to me is in fact nothing but a stream of the most vicious and scathing (yet erudite) invective I have ever encountered. You, Dear Reader, will have to take that on faith – because I have been limited to the corniest of comic-strip renditions, e.g. #$@*%*!!!. So, when you see such sanitized expressions – know to be repulsed and offended. Slipping and sliding through Time with Sister Inez has become routine for me, but it may be a little startling to the uninitiated. It would seem that the Present really isn’t so firm as we might think; it actually needs a Past and a Future to fully define it. With that in mind, I chose Riding the Time Vault as the Foreword to kick this thing off. It anticipates Returning, which was one of the things that had caught Sister Inez' attention. Furthermore, because of the unusual circumstances of this work, as putative Author, I feel obliged to step outside my normal invisibility to explain how and why t