Imagine: a Short Story

Jason lay on his bed. He tried to sleep, but there was too much on his mind. He began thinking about the events of the past several years. They were events that changed his life, and more than that, the course of the whole nation.
It started with a man. His name was Lucius Sanforton. Exactly where Lucius came from was a bit of a mystery. But wherever he got his start, he appeared on the national scene as a philosopher. His debut on the nation front was book, entitled “Imagine What the World Would Be Like.” It wasn’t a very long book, it wasn’t very deep, and it really didn’t talk about what the world would be like. But it had an appeal. It was an appeal for people to stop imagining. Strange, how the title implied that we should imagine something but the point of the book was to stop imagining.
The book focused on specific topics that Lucius argued needed to be stricken from our imagination. Things that would not exist were it not for our imagination. Things for which there is no proof. Things like religion.
Lucius’ argument was not new. Nor was it particularly strong. But for some reason, his words were appealing. He pointed out that there was no scientific evidence for God. No one could show you on a map where Heaven was. And how could Hell be the underworld if the world rests in space and the direction of “under” depends on which side of the planet you are standing on? Because no one could point to it, or produce it, or even touch it, he claimed that they could not really exist. Not that they don’t, but they couldn’t. How could we know what reality was if we could not verify it ourselves?
Jason read the book when it first came out, but he was unsure about the thoughts that were presented. Then Lucius began to appear on talk shows, promoting his book.
Even though he became a popular figure, Lucius remained mysterious, and there was only one thing that everyone agreed on about him: he had charisma that could stop the tide. Suave described his shadow. Lucius was the real thing.
When Lucius began appearing on the radio and on television, his popularity began to rise, and it carried his philosophy along with it. More and more people bought his book and bought into his ideas. It didn’t take long before he had a large following that continued to grow every day. That was when his second book came out, “I Have Imagined.” This book was more substantive, it described how his philosophy should be implemented. If there is no Heaven and no Hell, there are no rewards or punishments in the hereafter. If there is no God, there is no judge, no standard. What then should our standard be? The same as was used in the first book: what we can feel, touch, and verify. Namely, ourselves. It is our lives, we should live it for us, for humanity. Individualism is dangerous, because it sets one man against another. When that happens, who is right? Who is to judge between them? No, the focus of every person should be everyone. It was wrong, therefore, for some to have more than others. This denied some people the opportunity to live their life to the fullest. Things would be much better if everyone had everything in common. Then mankind could prosper, and not just materially, but developmentally.
It surprised Jason at first, but one by one, people began to renounce their possessions. It seems easy for those that have little to renounce the few things they have, but the rich began renouncing their possessions as well. These possessions were then pooled into large resources that were available to anyone and everyone.
At first, only a few people renounced their possessions. Then more began. Then still more. Soon, it was hard to find a man in the country who was still clinging to things they claimed were their own.
The effects of this transition were phenomenal. Everyone had everything! No one lacked anything. Those who had been poor now had everything and those who had been rich still had all and more. Everyone lived in bliss.
Then some people began to consider, what about other people? Sure, everyone in this country was benefiting, but there were other countries with other people. What about them? They were humanity, they should take part in this grand experiment. So some people volunteered to gather resources and transport then to distant countries, so that this equality may spread. Everyone acted enthusiastically to this plan, even Lucius, who, unexpectedly, seemed surprised, but at the same time, delighted, at the suggestion. So the volunteers set off, even though there were fewer of them than most people expected, given the groundswell of support for the plan.
Things continued in bliss for a time. Then something new occurred. It happened in isolated cities at first, and there were those who thought it was a passing phase of the immature, but this new phenomena began to spread. People would get together for large parties. Perhaps that is not so strange: people did that before all goods became common. The difference with these parties was that they occurred every night. Why not? the partiers asked. All goods are common, and at these parties everyone is welcome. Eat, drink and enjoy yourselves. Live life for today.
This party phenomena spread and grew. It grew in the number of people who attended the parties. It grew in the number of places the parties took place at. It grew in the length of the parties. And it grew in what went on at the parties. Soon, they lasted all day so that life became one giant party. It spread across the country so that everyone was doing it. And besides the food, drink, and music, love was made and given whenever and wherever.
Those who had went to deliver goods to other countries returned to find everyone enjoying themselves. At first, they were shocked. How could they be wasting resources, rather than sharing them with others? They tried to express their concern to the people, but the response of the partiers was simple: we are not preventing anyone from using these goods. If you want to spread them, by all means, do so. So some volunteers set off to distant countries with more goods. But the number of volunteers was much smaller than during the previous journey.
Jason enjoyed these parties. Orgies had never been so enjoyable. There were no responsibilities to wake up to in the morning. For more food and drink, the general pool of resources was visited.
Things changed once again. But this time, the change was different. It was for the worse.
It happened slowly at first, in isolated places. Things began to become scarce. It happened first with the drinks. Beers, wines, and martinis became harder to find. The general pool ran out, so people began searching buildings and houses for any caches that may have been forgotten when everyone was renouncing possessions. Some were found, which eased the strain a little. But it also came with a new problem. Those who found the caches sometimes did not return them to the general pool. Instead, they horded them for themselves. Other things began to become scarce as well. Food. Plates. Cups. Even electricity became scarce. No one was manning the power stations, everyone was at the parties. Partners also became scarce. With a one to one ratio of men and women, you would think that wouldn’t happen. But some people are desirable, and they could only fulfill the pleasures of so many people in one day. It was probably here that the first blows were struck. One man thought another was with a woman too long, so he decided to interrupt them. Then people began to fight over the drinks and food. Those who horded things were attacked. As more and more food and goods became scarce, the parties developed into brawls.
The more fighting went on, the more things were destroyed and the less anyone had. It didn’t take long before everyone was fighting for their life and anything they could get their hands on. Many people were killed in the process. The dead were not attended too. Instead, they were ransacked. Finally, the fighting stopped. There was nothing more to fight over. Everyone stopped fighting and began panicking. There was nothing left. In desperation, they turned to the only man they could think of who could help them: Lucius Sanforton. His wisdom was desperately needed.
Lucius had a plan. He seemed ready to help. The solution was simple: the general resource pool needed to be filled, and since everyone had access to it, everyone needed to contribute to it. So he began assigning tasks to people. Everyone was desperate to do what he told them. They began to work in the duties assigned to them.
At first, everyone worked willfully. But some began slacking. Jason knew they were slacking, because their production dropped. It didn’t take long for it too happen. As soon as the general pool began to get some resources, people stopped panicking, and so they stopped working as hard. Some people may have stopped working altogether if Lucius had not swiftly implemented a solution to this growing problem. He appointed supervisors to oversee production. These overseers made sure people worked.
The appointment of the supervisors only partially took care of the problem. Everyone worked, it was true, but many people did not work hard. Jason saw it happen, and he had to admit, he began to slack as well. There did not seem to be a reason to work once there was enough for everyone to survive. Once no one was starving or thirsty, why exert yourself? The problem was this was extremely shortsighted. What were to happen if a catastrophe occurred? A store of resources was needed to allow for the recovery from disasters. But no one wanted to work longer than enough to get his immediate needs fulfilled. And if someone happened to be one of the few who had foresight, his motivation for work dropped precipitately when those around him lacked foresight and worked as little as possible.
Lucius had a solution for this as well. The supervisors now implemented quotas. The idea seemed good, but it didn’t provide motivation. So the supervisors were given the authority to punish those who failed to meet their quota. The initial punishment, a drop in rations, an increase in work time, and other things, motivated many people, but some still skated by doing as little as possible, even to the point of taking a punishment or two. So the punishments gradually became harsher. Eventually, beatings were given to those who failed. Claiming sickness was called into suspicion. Was it real, or were they faking it to get out of work? Some sick were beaten for desertion of duty, some sick went to work to avoid beatings.
This continued, for what seemed an eternity. It had been a long time since Lucius implemented the supervisors. It was at least twelve years ago. And yet, things did not seem better than they were at the time when the people first came to Lucius begging for help.
All of this went through Jason’s mind as he lay on his cot. He tried to sleep, knowing that his shift began in only three hours, even though he had only got to bed two hours ago. He glanced over at the man in the cot beside him. The man was lying still. Not because he was asleep. Jason knew this because he had seen the man slit his wrists just an hour ago.
Jason turned away from his neighbor and stared at the ceiling. He understood why the man had taken his own life. There seemed to be no end. They were slaves, ironically, to each other, as Lucius still claimed to be working to help everyone. And though he harbored no hope of things getting better, Jason could not bring himself to follow his neighbor’s example. He was afraid. What happened after death? Jason began to imagine again, and it kept him awake at night.