Here Comes Earth: Emergence (12 page)

I
was incredibly intrigued by what she was saying but if this was some elaborate
sales pitch or negotiation I instinctually knew this would be the time to let
her think her fish had slipped the hook… “Jaki, are you trying to tell me that
your society uses some magical form of super currency that we’re going to have
to buy from you to fit into galactic culture? Because I’ve got to tell you I
come from a whole planet of entrepreneurs and they’re not an easy sell.”

Ignoring
me completely she continued, “What earth societies have traditionally used for
money or currency will not fulfill these requirements but, ‘respect’ will.

“Respect
for knowledge, or more specifically, the specialized application of knowledge
is the money of the future.”

Damn,
she had me back on the hook.

“For
example, let us say I want to build a bicycle. I have plenty of raw materials
and energy and I have a 3D Printer that is capable of printing all the parts as
well as access to online databases that can tell me how to assemble it. What I
do not have is someone that can ask me the questions I did not even know to
ask; determine what I want to use the bicycle for and recommend the tire size,
gear ratio, frame composition, size, and style pattern that will best fit my
needs.

“I
could probably look up those entire datum and eventually come up with the right
answers (most of the time) but the specialized expertise of someone that can do
that for me quickly and easily is valuable to me and I pay them with my respect
– a respect that grows every time I ride my bike.

“You
already have something similar happening on your internet. If you read a great
book, see a good movie, or eat at a nice restaurant you can go online and write
a review or indicate that you ‘like’ it. Likewise if your experience was bad
you can leave a bad review.”

“Are
we talking about giving respect to individuals or businesses?” I asked. “Do you
want every person on earth to have a website where people review or rate their
performance?”

“Mark,
it is not so far-fetched. Granted it is very primitive but you already have
what you call social media. Some of those sites specialize in professional profiles
and some are personal profiles. Most businesses on your planet check out a
person’s professional profile before hiring them because they want to see what
kind of references and recommendations they carry. They then check out the
personal profiles to screen out the immoral, unethical, or just plain stupid
candidates.

“Earth
is a long way from having the advanced information systems that we use but you
have already started down that long path of societal evolution.”

This
was a lot to absorb but I felt like I was keeping up.

“So
how would an economy based on respect work?” I asked.

“Let
us say I am a bicycle specialist and I am in demand because I am good at it. I
can only make and/or design so many bicycles at a time and maybe I have decided
that I want to devote three days a week to it. So how do I decide who to help
with bicycles and who to turn down? I would look at their reputations.

“If
one of my requests comes from a highly respected homebuilder for example, I
would probably give him or her priority. Why? Because I might want him or her
to build me a home some day or more likely I would want their recommendation
because it would carry more weight than a lot of others.”

“That
doesn’t sound very fair,” I said.

“In
your existing social media, professional websites are set-up to highlight the
recommendation of the CEO of a well-known company, for example, because it is
more impressive than the recommendation of your brother who is jobless – is
that fair or unfair? If I have earned the respect of a good man is it fair for
you to prevent others from knowing it? Is that not kind of like stealing from
me?

“The
real problem with understanding this concept of respect as money is that your
controllers have indoctrinated your society to think that the word ‘fair’ means
equal. It does not; in all advanced languages it means equitable, which is very
different. Besides, who should decide if something is fair or not? Fairness is
subjective. Do you really want to give that type of power over your lives to a
small group of people again?

“So
let us address your real concern; what happens if my reputation is not good
enough for the bicycle maker I want? Well, first of all this might be great
incentive to improve my work and service to others so I do not run into these
issues in the future, but for now there are four options: 1) I can wait as long
as it takes for the bicycle maker I want to fit me in, 2) I can find a bicycle
maker that is not in such high demand, 3) I can research the issue and do it
myself, or 4) I could decide that I do not really need a bicycle anyway - after
all, there is no sense in wasting resources if I did not really want it that
badly to begin with.

“No
matter how powerful I might be in my society I can never deny anyone anything except
my own personal labor or expertise that I have earned by my own experience or
hard work, and I would suggest that this is the ultimate fairness.”

This
led to an interesting thought. “Jaki, on our world our courts have found it
necessary to require restaurants, for example, to not discriminate in who they
serve. This prevents bigotry and discrimination. I think if we tried to
implement your philosophies our society might tear itself apart.”

“You
mean,” she responded, “that government has forced someone’s idea of fairness on
everyone. Understand this Mark, respect cannot be forced, stolen or forged. In
a society where resources are abundant you typically do not find such silly
cultural disparities. To use your example, if a restaurateur would not serve a
respected person because of the color of their skin
they
would lose a
lot of respect and ultimately it is
they
who would suffer the most.

“In
our experience when societies try to force groups to respect each other it
simply breeds long-term resentment and delays true cultural maturity.

“The
point you may be missing, however, is that your current global culture could
not possibly operate on an equal level as ours because you simply do not have
the technology to make it work or the maturity to go along with it.

“And
that is what we must decide, Mark. Should Noridia embrace earth? We can help
you with advanced technology but who is going to protect you from yourselves?
The Coridians might be the least dangerous of your concerns.”

After
a few moments I said, “You know, you never really told me if you’re in charge
of this mission or how that works.”

“It
is pretty simple, really. When a number of us starting feeling that we should
contact you a consensus developed around who should lead various aspects of the
mission. I am respected enough in these areas that most thought it wise to follow
my lead. I am not however what you would call Captain of the ship. Jebul is
most respected in navigation and others are respected for their expertise in
ship maintenance, etc. We are not a hierarchical society.”

What
followed was a comfortable silence while she let me gather my thoughts. It
sounded like the perfect opportunity for Earth to be gently guided to the next
level. I didn’t really want to admit it but she was right about our culture
being immature compared to theirs. Could we make a transition? Would the
introduction of advanced technology free us or destroy us? Would they be
morally right to refuse us that technology and aid? There’s no way our leaders
wouldn’t accept their technology gifts if they were offered, but would that
really be wise? The only thing I knew for sure was that these questions were
bigger than just me.

Jaki
interrupted my thoughts, “So what do you think Mark? Should Noridia embrace
earth?”

“Right
now, I think the important thing is to get some other people involved with this
conversation. We have Ambassador Rutledge and his people that are trained in
these issues... well, maybe not exactly these issues but still they should be
consulted.”

I
was suddenly feeling very exposed here. Surely my lone opinion wasn’t going to
change the future of our entire planet, was it?

I
forged ahead. “I’m going to inform them that you’re willing to meet with them
and discuss this further.”

Jaki
laughed. She LAUGHED. She said, “Mark, of course I will talk to others in your
group, but remember I am not used to hierarchical structures. I still value
what you think and want to know what that is.”

She
actually ended the sentence with a raised eyebrow – I’d never seen her do that
before.

“I’m
going to need some time to think that through. Right now I’m just not sure,” I
responded as I stood up. I was really ready for the meeting to be over.

“Hmm,
I think perhaps you just do not trust us yet,” she said as she stood herself.

From
way too close a distance she stared deeply into my eyes as she smilingly said,
“Or is it just me you do not trust?”

∆∆∆

Our
‘Gang of Three’ was back in my quarters trying to sort out what I’d learned in
my interview with Jaki. The view screen in the sunken living area was
incredible. Via verbal command we could scroll through portions of the
interview or just tell it to go to a certain point in the conversation.

We
had just finished putting our dinner trays into the recycle, dishwasher,
disappearing trash thingy and Anzio and Julie were at opposite ends of the
couch whereas I had plopped down in a sofa chair. Julie was in her usual
cross-legged, lotus style, Zen something sitting posture, slightly leaning
forward and focusing on the screen. When she did that, her long straight hair
fell forward and she looked like the prettiest 22 year old college girl you
could ever dream up. As a matter of fact if she were barefoot and wearing
threadbare jeans she would…

Just
then my reminiscing was distracted by a subtle chime and Anzio said, “Toni is
at the door.”

I
looked over my shoulder and sure enough my door had gone transparent (at least
from our side) and Dr. Toni Andretti was waiting patiently.

“Come
in,” Anzio shouted.

“Anzio,
you don’t have to yell,” Julie chided. “The apartment can hear you just fine.”

Toni
walked in to a chorus of ‘hellos’ and ‘take a chair Dr. Mom.’

We
explained what we were doing and she confirmed that just about everybody on the
team was doing the same thing right now.

“You’re
a star, Mark,” she told me with a smile.

Julie
mumbled something I didn’t quite catch - why did she always give me a hard
time? Toni went on to explain that regular interviews with a number of Noridians
would start-up again tomorrow.

While
we had been more focused on the implications of Jaki’s revelations, Toni seemed
more immediately interested in the reaction of the rest of the Diplomatic Group
and our Team HQ. So I described for everyone the debriefing I’d had almost
immediately after my session.

“I
was debriefed by Helmer and Ambassador Rutledge with several of the dips mixed
into the fray.”

“What
part of the interview were they most concerned with?” Toni wanted to know.

“Well,
I’m not really sure. Except for the Ambassador telling me I’d done a good job
they didn’t really say or ask me anything.”

“Mark,”
Julie said a little incredulously. “Are you telling us that they didn’t care at
all about your impressions or any insights you might have?”

“In
fairness one of the dips did ask me if I thought Jaki was being sincere.” What
I didn’t mention was that this same dip had really wanted to know if Jaki was
as hot in person as she looked on the screen.

“They
have the video record,” I continued. “And I think they feel that gives them all
the info they really need. I listened to them rehash everything for about an
hour and eventually asked if I could leave. They waived me out without missing
a beat.”