The Rangers Are Coming (63 page)

When the United States proposed a Peace Corps to render aid and assistance to poor countries, and asked if they could expect some help from other modern countries in their noble effort, the General Assembly approved the plan on the spot, put the United States in charge of implementing the details and recruiting volunteers.

Susan Moore was pleasantly surprised at the large number of people from other countries who signed up to help.  With the help of a staff of experts, some of which were Arcadia’s, she started mapping out a plan of training, logistics, and decisions on what should be provided to each country, based on their needs.

Arcadia had cautioned restraint, “Be careful what you give these people.  They aren’t ready for computers, cell phones, and video players.  I would send in an advance team with leaders from their country and inventory their needs.  That’s what you provide.  Make sure not to do the work for them.  Work with them.  When some fellow comes up with an idea things would be better if his people had such and such, that’s when you make it available.  Small steps.  Don’t give them a tractor when what they need first is a good shovel,”

The initial advance teams went out to the countries who had asked for assistance.  Arcadia breathed a sigh of relief when China and Japan joined the group.  It was only 1920, plenty of time for everything to go wrong.

There were 50,000 volunteers, willing to donate two years plus of time, from countries outside the U.S.  Arcadia was happy to see a nice contingent of Iranians.  They started shipping them over in converted cargo carriers with 3,000 passengers per ship.

In the United States over 150,000 people had volunteered.  They carved out a space for a big camp in Nevada.  It was pretty barren, but close to water, power, and one of the big underground shuttles.  They threw up clusters of Quonsets’ big and small for quarters and services, and the training began.  Everyday more people arrived and soon the Peace Corps camp was a bustling enterprise.

Within a month, teams were heading out to some of the most remote places on earth.  The Chinese contingent was actually going to be ten teams scattered out over a hundred square miles in the province of Guilin in the south.  Chinese officials had done a good job of clearing away the bureaucratic underbrush, so that the flow of supplies and equipment could flow freely.  The farmers had irrigated their terraces of crops in the same manner for generations.  It was a system that worked.  However, the team set up one of the small, mobile power plants, capable of providing enough power for a village of 300.  They replaced the bicycle type pumping machines run by hand with a rotary wheel, filled with large scoops and running all by themselves, the farmers stopped resenting the encroachment of their time-tested ways and embraced the new technology.  Soon the village was a veritable beehive of industry and innovation.  When the time came for the harvest, the yield was three times the average.  Similar results had been achieved in the adjacent villages.

The Peace Corps movement gained steam.  The Europeans, who once competed for colonies to dominate and exploit, now competed to see how much good they could accomplish in underdeveloped countries.  The explosions were in China, Japan, and Korea.  Peace Corps teams from all over the world flooded those countries.  The practical, pragmatic  Chinese government had never been influenced by Communism and raw socialism, since it had never developed in Russia or other countries.  It was very hard for them to object to clear progress in all areas of their lives, despite the fact it came from foreigners.

They learned fast and among the first things they found out when they stuck their heads out the holes they had hid in for centuries was the fact of the United States of America.  They learned that this country, the biggest in the world, had been neutral for nearly 200 years and had developed a society with wonders beyond the most impressive dreams imaginable.  They learned America freely traded these wonders, fairly, with any country that wanted it.  The prices of these commodities were reasonable to a fault.  They learned America only asked in return the materials, natural resources, and products, which were in abundance within the borders of the trading country.  America never interfered with the internal politics of any country.

One of the most notable characteristics of the Americans was their unshakable faith in God.  Simply by using the examples of Jesus’ life and applying love to all situations, the Americans found themselves planting churches all over the Pacific Rim.

Arcadia could hardly believe the rate at which the Chinese were embracing Christianity.  Once, the movement started, it grew so quickly the Chinese started sending observer delegations to the United Nations.  President Moore made sure that the delegations were quite large and included the most influential people in China.  They got much the same treatment as the Europeans had received 50 years before, and the effect was equally as profound.

When the Chinese experienced the totality of the American society and its endless marvels, they realized how far behind they were.  After an intensive month of observation, travel, mixing with the ordinary people, visiting the centers of research and development and seeing how all of this was applied to a steep curve of progress, the Premier of China asked for a private meeting with the President Moore.

Susan Moore expected this request, and anticipated the nature of the agenda the Premier had in mind.  It amounted to, “How can we acquire all you have, and how much will it cost?”

The Premiere came into the Oval office and bowed low before the President.  She was already around her desk and interrupted the Premier in mid-bow, instead shaking hands with him and smiling, “I realize your bow is a sign of respect and gives me honor, but it is more than I require.  I much prefer we speak with one another as equals.  Please be seated and we shall have some tea.”

The President poured the tea with her own hands, and then sat down.  At 57 years old, she was still a strikingly beautiful woman.  Her lifetime of public service and 25 years as President gave her a gravitas that was palpable.

“Why don’t you just tell me what you want for the Chinese people?”

The Premier was very impressed with the insight and directness of President Moore.  “I believe I should ask, how much of your astonishing world can be acquired by China?”

“An excellent question,” said Moore, “We have many, many years of experience in delivering improvements to the quality of life of the world’s people.  It has been our practice to provide assistance to people only at the rate in which they can understand and apply it to their lives on a daily basis.  We could certainly transform all of China into a duplicate of America, but the shock is simply more than your people can absorb.  We did not achieve all you have seen overnight.  We had to take small steps to allow our own people to grow accustomed to some new innovation.  It will be the same for you.”

“That sounds very wise to me,” said the Premier.  “The question I have is what do you expect from us?”

“What do you expect for yourself,” countered Moore?

“Your counsel, your advice, and your wisdom on how China can assume a place of respect in the world.”

“If that is the case, let me show you the standard which the majority of the world regards as the proper position of their country in the family of nations.”  She pushed a button on a controller.  A Chinese women came on the screen, speaking in Mandarin and using a pointer to highlight the charter of the United Nations.  She explained in detail what each point meant in the daily life of a country.  At the core of the charter was that the Creator had given each person certain inalienable rights, which must be respected by each government.  She talked about a government only having power at the consent of the people.  She explained what this meant in real terms for the citizens of the whole country, including universal suffrage.  She concluded her presentation by enumerating what the people should expect in the Bill of Rights.

“I must admit the Chinese form of government is authoritative in nature.  Moving to a system like this would take a long time, indeed,” said the Premier.

“Are you finding the Peace Corps teams making a material improvement in the morale, productivity, and quality of life of your people,” asked the President?

“There’s no question about it.  The phenomenon has the entire government talking.

“If that is the case,” said Moore, “then may I respectfully suggest your upper class requires an adjustment in their attitudes.  You see, Premier, our trade of advanced products and technology improves the entire country.  It’s like the principle a of rising tide raising all ships.  You’re going to start having real problems with your working class if they are being significantly more productive, but the government still takes the same share as always.  The people will reasonably say, ‘you had no part in our increases, why should we not keep more of what we have earned?”

“We already are,” said the Premier.

“If that is the case and you wish to stop it and go back to the way things were, then we will remove all our Peace Corps volunteers from your country.”

The Premier of China left the Oval office a very confused and frustrated man.  It was much the same for Japan.

Another year went by.  The President let some selected technology and modern products slip into China.  It only made the government’s position more untenable.  A very big shake-up occurred in the upper ranks of the Empire.  The old leaders were replaced by younger, more practical men, who had spent a considerable time in America.  Their attitudes were simply that they actually had nothing to fear from a vibrant and active middle class.  They saw it as a way of increasing revenues without arbitrarily raising taxes.  Meanwhile, the Peace Corps teams were penetrating all the strata’s of life throughout the country.

The great triumph of Susan’s Moore’s presidency, as far as she was concerned was the day that both China and Japan applied for membership in the United Nations.  It had taken a lot of soul searching, and there was bloodshed in some of the top ranks of the most independent provinces, but the reformers prevailed.  Some of them had become Christians, saying that the teachings of Confucius had been leading to that kind of outlook on life all the time.

The enterprising Chinese had spotted, what they thought, was the secret to America’s success…the schools.  They were right.  With 150 years of bringing in students demanding they think for themselves, that knowledge was not an end to itself, without innovation and growth added to the total body of wisdom, the schools thrived.  Students were tested continuously as the educators looked for the areas in which the young people could make a contribution to the total society.  There were now over 2000 universities and all of them had advanced research centers attached to them.  The gifted students went right to the place where they could make the biggest impact.

Arcadia’s goal was always to stay at least 100 years ahead of the rest of the world.  The schools had exceeded that standard in a great number of areas.  Medicine was one of the greatest triumphs.  No longer were the physicians who had come from the future the teachers.  They were now the students.  The DNA genome was manipulated to prevent birth defects, Down’s syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease and a dozen other diseases and conditions.  Transplants of every organ was routine.  The cure for cancer was discovered, and grafting of limbs was a standard.  Moreover, the life expectancy of the normal human shot up to over 100 years old.

The soul of the country was its dedication to seeking to live lives that were as close to the life of Jesus as possible.  Of course, there was still sin and behaviors that could not be honored by God, but the people worked at it.  The Peace Corps teams were always respected in whatever society in which they were placed because of their pure love, patience, and sincere giving hearts.

The result of this was the world’s religions lived in harmony with one another.  Each was tolerant of the differences and every person was free to exercise their expression of faith in whatever fashion was right for them.

Very quietly, the U.S. worked diligently on their space program.  There were now enough communications satellites in orbit to handle whatever load might come in the future.  Every American had an advanced cell phone.  A substantial space station had been constructed and it was used to build a band of solar receivers, which increasingly beamed power to the surface that was connected to the vast electrical grid that had been built over the past 100 years.  The Europeans noticed it first when the amount of natural gas needed to run the power plants dropped to zero.

Computers were now compact tablets, which connected to a number of public websites containing any kind of information anyone could want,  transferred to other computers or printed out through the 3D, super high definition, plasma screens of all sizes in every home.  The keyboards on the tablets appeared whenever they were needed.

The United Nations now contained 105 members.  The trend for countries to decide that their ethnic and cultural differences were not that significant, particularly when a larger country was able to make a better trading relationship with the United States, created fewer states.  The organization was much superior than the one from Arcadia’s time.  It confined its business to resolving conflicts, keeping accurate records on the state of every nation in terms of health, wealth, quality of life, and overall satisfaction of the people.  It had an Executive Council that dealt with bigger issues, but membership was rotated between all the countries and nobody had a blanket veto.

Susan Moore stepped down in 1925, after 30 years of service as President.  Unfortunately, the man who stepped into the Presidency was killed in a freak boating accident just a year later, and the process of selecting a vice president was still incomplete.  Congress approved a compromise candidate named Tom Wilkinson.  Arcadia had her doubts about him from the start.  He lacked the discipline of previous Presidents.  He increased the size of the Federal government and began issuing Executive Orders that ran contrary to the minds of the citizens who were accustomed to the government serving as a partner rather than an organization that complicated people’s lives unnecessarily.  He lasted just one term.  By that time Arcadia had picked five people who she thought were outstanding and started an intensive course in training.  She made her choice of a brilliant, sensitive, thoroughly Christian man whose name was Arthur Curtis.  His tribal name was translated as “Man on the Mountain” and he was a Lakota Sioux.