<\/a>“Many people don’t spend a thousand credits.” she said. “If you are working on a project you might, but that’s about it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n“So how do I earn the credits?” I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Earn?” Linda asked back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“No no no…” said Cynthia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Do you give me a job? The reason I am here is because I have no job,” I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“No. You see, it’s all free. By being a shareholder, you already own your share of the resources. The robots make products from the free resources you and everyone else already owns. There is no forced labor like there is in America. You do what you want, and you get 1,000 credits per week. We are all on an endless vacation.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“So why are you here?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“What do you mean?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“How did the robots get you to come here to talk to me?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We choose to do this. This is what we want to do. Just seeing the look on your face now, and seeing all the looks you’ll have as you go through orientation, makes this an incredibly fun thing to do. I mean, we remember exactly what it was like sitting where you are sitting right now. It’s a joyous experience to introduce people to the Australia Project. Cynthia and I have done this once a year for four years now. It’s a different kind of vacation for us.” Linda said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This sounds totally unbelievable. But you said at the beginning that this is all true.” I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It is all true.” Linda said. “I didn’t completely believe it either. But it is all true. And it gets better every day.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“You said that I could leave the terrafoam system today. Did you mean that? Can we leave now?” I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“There are two minor things we have to cover first.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“There’s always a catch.” I said. I had a sinking feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“No. It is not a catch. The first thing is that you have two shares in 4GC, Inc. Your father probably purchased one for you and one for your wife. You can use only one of these shares. Is there someone else you would like to bring with you? Obviously you are not married. But is there a friend or a relative you would like to give your other share to?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Can I bring Burt?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Who is he?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“My roommate. The guy I came in with?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Certainly. You can bring Burt. Can you find him now?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“That’s easy. He is two doors down. What’s the other catch?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“You have to agree to the core principles.” Linda said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She pulled a sheet out of my catalog and handed it to me. It only had about 50 words on it. The title was, “The nine core Principles of 4GC.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“By signing this sheet of LC,” Linda said, “You agree to abide by Eric’s core principles for 4GC. The only way for the Australia Project to work is for everyone to abide by the core principles. They will go over these principles in detail in the orientation, but this is the high level. Within a week you will be able to recite these from memory. Do you agree with these principles?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I read down through the principles. Each one was very short:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everyone is equal<\/li> Everything is reused<\/li> Nothing is anonymous<\/li> Nothing is owned<\/li> Tell the truth<\/li> Do no harm<\/li> Obey the rules<\/li> Live your life<\/li> Better and better<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n“That’s it?” I asked. “You must be kidding.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“That’s it. You will be surprised how all-encompassing those 27 words can be.” Linda said. “That’s what the orientation will help you with.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Can I ask two questions?” I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Surely.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“How can I do anything besides living my life?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Well, you are living your life now…” Linda said, “and personally I have to tell you that it leaves a lot to be desired! Those three words are very important. Live Your Life means that you are able get the most out of your life, as opposed to the least. Instead of dying in Terrafoam, or dying in some job that you hate, you live your life in the Australia Project in freedom and prosperity. Live Your Life means that you are in control — again, the emphasis on freedom of choice. You decide what you want to do, and then you are able to do it. You reach your full potential. Live Your Life is the idea of thinking about your life as a whole, as something that you get to design and control. Does that make sense?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“More sense than you can imagine.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“What is your other question?” she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Better and better?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linda replied, “That is a declaration of innovation. The goal is to make things continuously better and better for everyone in the Australia Project through constant innovation. We are constantly looking for problems, identifying them and solving them. We are constantly looking for and implementing new ideas. Things get better and better every day. Terrafoam is, by contrast, ‘Worse and worse.'”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Sign me up!” I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She handed me a marker from her pocket and I signed the LC. “Now press your thumb on the square to authenticate it,” She said. A black thumbprint appeared in the box when I lifted my finger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Congratulations!” They both said in unison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Can I go get Burt?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Yes. If you don’t mind, you can sit with us as we explain 4GC to him, and then we will leave.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I found Burt in Mike’s room, brought him down, and in 20 minutes he had signed on as well. He was as incredulous as I was. We went down the elevator and as we walked through the first floor of the building, Linda spoke to the robot that approached her. Burt and I put on headsets and signed out of the Terrafoam system with her. We walked about a quarter mile to a waiting bus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we got on, the bus was nearly full. It was easy to tell who was who. Every terrafoam resident was wearing a brown coverall like me, while all the escorts were dressed like rainbows. Everyone was looking through the catalogs and talking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linda and I sat down on one side. Burt and Cynthia sat down on the other, and the bus pulled away. Like everyone else I was looking through the catalog, reading and asking Linda questions during the whole drive. We were on the bus for about three hours, but it seemed to go by in 10 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>This had all seemed something like a dream, but it started to become very real when we arrived at our destination. It was an immense airport, with dozens of jets waiting at the gates. There were dozens of buses dropping off passengers, and hundreds of people moving through the facility. Every jet was painted bright green and marked with a blue 4GC logo on the tail, and all of the buildings were painted the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe got off the bus and it really hit me as we walked into the first part of the building. “This is our first stop,” said Linda. “We’ve got to get you out of those dreadful coveralls.” She and Cynthia guided Burt and me into a room on our right, which opened up into an immense store. It was filled with racks and racks of every conceivable kind of clothing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Once you get to Australia, the way you order clothing will be nothing like this. But this is what you are used to right now, so it is easier. Let’s pick you out some decent clothes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linda and Cynthia picked out clothes for Burt and me. The robot sized us, and we went to the dressing room and changed. Just that one thing — putting on real clothing for the first time in a year — made such an impact on me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was when we walked out of the store and got on the plane, however, that I knew for sure we were not in Kansas any more…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Intro<\/a> | On Kindle<\/a> | Go to Chapter 6 >>><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n