“That’s what I wanted to ask about. If everything is free, then what’s to stop me from demanding a 100,000 foot house on a thousand acres of land and a driveway paved in gold bricks? It makes no sense, because obviously everyone cannot demand that. And how can anything be free? That is hard to believe in the first place.” I said.
“Everything is free AND everyone is equal.” Linda said. “That’s exactly how you phrased it, and you were right. You, Jacob, get equal access to the free resources, and so does everyone else. That’s done through a system of credits. You get a thousand credits every week and you can spend them in any way you like. So does everyone else. This catalog is designed to give you a taste of what you can buy with your credits. This is a small subset of the full catalog you will use once you arrive. You simply ask for something, the robots deliver it, and your account gets debited.”
“Let me show you.” said Cynthia. She opened her catalog to a page, and pointed to one of the pictures. It was clothing. “This is what I am wearing.” she said. “See - it is 6 credits. In a typical week I only spend about 70 or so credits on clothes. That’s why I like to wear something new every day.”
“The robots did manufacture Cynthia’s outfit for free. They took recycled resources, added energy and robotic labor and created what she is wearing. It cost nothing to make it. She paid credits simply to keep track of how many resources she is using.”
“Where did the energy come from?” I asked.
“The sun. The Australia Project is powered mostly by the sun and the wind, and the wind comes from the sun if you think about it.”
“Where did the robots come from?”
“The same place Cynthia’s outfit came from. It’s the same thing. Robots take recycled resources, add energy and robotic labor and make new robots. The robots are free, the energy is free, the resources are all completely recycled and we own them, so they are free. Everything is free.”
“The credits simply make sure that everyone gets equal access to the resources. There is a finite amount of power that can be generated on any given day, for example. Things like that. The credits make sure everyone gets an equal share of the total pool of resources.”
“Holy shit.” I said. I was looking through the catalog again. Page after page after page of products. There were thousands of different types of housing, for example. And they all seemed to fall in the range of 100 to 500 credits per week. Clothing cost nothing. Food cost nothing.
“I’m not getting this.” I said. “I’m not sure I could spend a thousand credits if this catalog is right.”
“Many people don’t spend a thousand credits.” she said. “If you are working on a project you might, but that’s about it.”
“So how do I earn the credits?” I asked.
“Earn?” Linda asked back.
“No no no…” said Cynthia.
“Do you give me a job? The reason I am here is because I have no job,” I said.
“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.”
“So why are you here?”
“What do you mean?”
“How did the robots get you to come here to talk to me?”
“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.
“This sounds totally unbelievable. But you said at the beginning that this is all true.” I said.
“It is all true.” Linda said. “I didn’t completely believe it either. But it is all true. And it gets better every day.”
“You said that I could leave the terrafoam system today. Did you mean that? Can we leave now?” I asked.
“There are two minor things we have to cover first.”
“There’s always a catch.” I said. I had a sinking feeling.
“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?”
“Can I bring Burt?”
“Who is he?”
“My roommate. The guy I came in with?”
“Certainly. You can bring Burt. Can you find him now?”
“That’s easy. He is two doors down. What’s the other catch?”
“You have to agree to the core principles.” Linda said.
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.”
“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?”
I read down through the principles. Each one was very short:
- Everyone is equal
- Everything is reused
- Nothing is anonymous
- Nothing is owned
- Tell the truth
- Do no harm
- Obey the rules
- Live your life
- Better and better
“That’s it?” I asked. “You must be kidding.”
“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.”
“Can I ask two questions?” I asked.
“Surely.”
“How can I do anything besides living my life?”
“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?”
“More sense than you can imagine.”
“What is your other question?” she asked.
“Better and better?”
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.’”
“Sign me up!” I said.
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.
“Congratulations!” They both said in unison.
“Can I go get Burt?”