2058 - Explained

Below is a piece of creative writing that I did for my Political Communication Assignment.

The assignment brief was based on how society and individuals relate to each other and in turn relate to Political communication. The essay was supposed to hint to what the future could be for political communication and I thought the best way for me was to write a a piece of creative writing that conceptualises the theory behind it.

In preparation for this I read a lot of Japanese theory of society and individualism. I based a lot of the theory on Takeo Doi's Book The Anatomy of Self and I also read most of Norbert Elias's book, Society of Individuals. To help with the creative writing side, I managed to read Aldus Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell - 1984.

These are all really awesome books that helped me write this piece. And if you are wondering, I got the grade back was graded a 2:1 which isn't bad for something that was supposed to be an academic essay.



This Piece of creative writing is written as a memoir post, written in 2058 about 2054 by me, an 80 something politician from The Old Times (today). The basics of the story follows the demise of British society leading to the fall of the British Government because of one woman's (Nancy Cameron) fight to avenge her Father's inability to get into office due to on-line anti campaigning and spiteful politics. Britain as we know it is in a mess - Scotland has split from what is now the New UK, and the NUK is at war with Norway over remaining oil reserves. It is the fault of Nancy, the PM, and the society of individuals want change - leading to the up-rise of the Disgruntled Rebels! A letter from this group is intercepted by the Government and is sent to me.



Read the blog post below for the whole story to find out what Happens . . . . . .


I hope you read it and Enjoy. Please let me know what you think.


Cheers, Scottie

2058

20^th April 2058

It was the letter in this entry that first made me want to write a personal diary however it is only until now I have felt safe to do so.

It was four years ago, in 2054, when the New United Kingdom was on the verge of war with Norway over the limited oil supplies. William V was still King of England and Nancy Cameron, leader of the Honne Party, was Prime Minister of NUK. The NUK government had a contract that agree after the year 2054 we had right to the remaining 75% oil in Norway; however Norwegian leader Åsmund Reinholdt Håndstad interpreted the contract differently which led to the conflict.

What was once a close relationship with Independent Scotland was in jeopardy as Norway assumed IS’s alliance with NUK on the War for Oil. They commenced in capturing the Scottish North Sea Oilrig. How did things get like this I ask myself now? The situation I grew up in was not the best, with the wars in the Middle East however in 2054 war had been brought closer to home; our lands were at the greatest risk since the 1940’s. The biggest problem and cause for this was the Government, and more specifically, Nancy Cameron.

Nancy used to say “there is no society” mirroring the words of the original Iron Lady, her predecessor of the Leading Lady. She used to have this note pinned above her desk:

“There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first. It's our duty to look after ourselves …”

A jaded magazine cut out from 1987 given to her by her father ex-MP David Cameron. That is what she was doing; looking after herself. The NUK was looking after itself. Gained acceptance for the War by showing how the people would be looking after themselves: “You can commence with work, you can commence with leisure, you can commence with life, Love thy Self” she would say via the Personal Media Devices.

Her obsession with Thatcher and individualism is replicated in the re-branding of the Party name. Honne in Japanese means “the real truth”. The inspiration for the name came after a foreign policy trip to Japan in 2040, having met the Son of Dr Takeo Doi. On further explanation, honne is the true motivations for action, always based on personal gain. She wanted the party to embody this ‘motto’, for it to become policy. She told me she was forced into this thinking by her experiences growing up. So there will be no more lies, no more deception, and no more confusion. Everyone will be happy. This was her idea.

She was born in 2004, before the days of PMD’s, when broadcasting via the old fashioned television and radios was a common feature and source of information and entertainment; A time when newspapers were really made from paper and there were relaxed laws on something called ‘freedom of speech’. It was a time of change which her father contributed greatly to. He was however subject to a lot of criticism. He defined the meaning of one-to-one communication between politicians and their constituents/supporters. He gave these people what they wanted, that mass media couldn’t give them – personal accounts between one person, to another. The Americanization of political communication that was making celebrities out of politicians, getting non-political constituents involved by splashing gossip and personal details in newspapers and on TV chat-shows, were disengaging audiences. Trust was an issue, because politic was playing up to the commercially minded mass media corporations. He believed in trying to, or at least it was perceived that he was, change the way politics was conducted, for the benefit of the audiences. So he gave them Web Cameron, personal emails, everything personalised.

He was highly criticised by fellow politicians and journalists and after meeting with him, he said “they just cannot see!” With the propaganda based campaigns against him and his ideas via these mass media channels, and the exploitation of networking internet communities, he was unsuccessful in getting into 10 Downing Street – this is what Nancy believed stopped him. He lost the election in 2010, and again in 2014.

These criticisms and consequences hurt Nancy so much. Not only because she was included within the personal attacks against her father, but she was close to him and loved him dearly. This love was reciprocated, and was strengthened after the death of his first son, Ivan. And from that point on, she became politically sighted, to continue on what his father could not complete and to get vengeance on the cruelty of society and of the media. Having known her from a young age, as David’s junior speech writer in 2014, she was determined to combine the attitude of her idol (Thatcher), with the vision of her father.

Because of this, she despised the concept of tatemae. The meaning of which is the principles or rules of something. It is not the true meaning of something, but conforming to the conventions of a group, and therefore has hidden motivations within it. It is the opposite of honne. It was her enemy

She was aided by the direction society was going. Mass media was slowly becoming an old fashioned medium, with television no longer broadcasting live (apart from sports), but issuing programmes on the internet. Radio was in decline and by 2024 all media consumption was on the PMD, or the iMac Life. Mass media and the institutions that implemented it, as we knew it, ceased to exist. Communication to the masses was possible to an extent on the internet, as there were communities online.

Her first mark on the political scene was as a junior member of parliament, orchestrating a campaign to gain support for the release of Scotland as a part of the United Kingdom and afterwards, of England from the EU (creating the NUK and IS). As a senior MP in the Conservative party, at 32, said good-bye to then use of mass media in politics. This followed the case of McKnight V.S. England. (Crispin McKnight, leader of the Opposition orchestrated a treacherous smear campaign using online media and internet communities to manipulate and gain support against James England, PM of the time)

As this was going on, society became naturally more dependent on these PMD’s to a point where by around 2036 life was lived via the PMD’s. No one need leave the house. All entertainment and work is based on these machines. The whole nation is digitised, human interaction ceased to exist. All interactions were done on the internet with networking banned. Nancy believed that for most people it is a perfect world because it means everyone can concentrate on themselves without the worries of others. Personal achievements and wants were the chief motivator. And of course for politics, engaging personally with the public direct from the source without the threat of mass attacks (it isn’t physically possible – web 3.0 does not facilitate such communication) allowing the receiver to be engaged, with a personal message containing specific political messages to that person.

It was perfect for Nancy. She had actualised her dreams and the revenge she sought so much had been completed. She could do anything she wanted. As constituents, or the public, could not be influenced by the lies, or mistruths of the mass media that no longer exists, all they got was the truth – and only heard the things that affected them. The media gatekeepers could not twist the words of politicians anymore. No one was required to think about politics anymore. It was all positive. Well, for most.

Not everyone is happy though; there was an internal conflict; caused by the Disgruntled Rebels, that consisted of people mainly from the pre ’24 era. As bulk communication no longer exists and talking about politics online is banned if any such conversation was to be engaged in, it would have to be done in person. You are allowed to go outside and socialise of course, but it is highly frowned upon, and raises suspicions among the Police Force. “Why would one want to go outside, everything one needs is on the PMD” is the thought going on in the mind of the Police. It is therefore highly advised not to engage in such acts. The consequences for anyone who is detected are usually gone unnoticed by ones online peers. 3.0 is not strong yet, so hackers can, if they want to, communicate to many. If such activities were uncovered whilst online, the electricity system is cut off – a power cut – work, food, leisure. Life is cut off forcing the individual outside to be re-connected, to see the awaiting Police Force. The Government is devious in ridding of the Disgruntled Rebels.

The Disgruntled Rebels online activity seemed to increase in desperation to communicate their fear and loathing for the Honne Government. With paper only available on the Black Market as print media has been phantomised, to be replaced by the digiphorum (the complete digitalization of a world), getting it is a difficult task.

However, one member of the Defenders of Faith group, whom to the Honne Government are Disgruntled Rebels managed to gather some papers to write a letter of contempt for the government and advice for its downfall. I read it and it intrigued me. The letter is as follows;

December 12, 2052, The Paper Factory.

Dear Friend, Elwen

I have managed to savour some papers from an old paper factory. These are my last pages but it is now a critical point in this countries life, and we now have to act. I managed to find a pen on the Market as well. Extreme times call for extreme measures.

It is now that something has to be done. I know it is desperate times for this nation, but we have to do something against the Master of Puppets – Nancy Cameron. She has been controlling and manipulating every individual in NUK for too long. She has done everything she can to gain vengeance for her father’s inability to get into government – not for the benefit of us. No one is benefiting from this but it is only us, the Defenders of Faith who can see through this. It is now that there needs to be collective action against the government.

The British people are demising as group. We are individuals only; No longer a society. Bricks to houses are what individuals were to a society. For Britain the cement that holds those bricks together no long exists, making the house weak. The roof of the house is government, protencting the content. However there are gaping holes in this roof and the walls are weak. Soon Britain will fall.

The cement that binds the house is the interaction and relationships people build with each other in a society. It is the tatemae. Before, in the old times the individual in principle sits within the shelter of the group, however that group no longer exists. What The Master of Puppets did not understand is that no matter how much one centres on honne, one cannot protect the all-important ‘self’

The way, in which the country is run now, it stands to collapse. We the Defenders of Faith need to create tatemae and integrate it into the lives of the people in this country. We are denied this by the government because we are not allowed to communicate to more than the one person. And that person is usually our local politician and/or the Master of Puppets. This prevents us from coming together in protest to anything the government does, and therefore can do what she wants. For those that have heard about us and what we have done, they did not react because they did not understand. Because, as my uncle Norbert once said, the actions of the individual are determined by the group.

We need to construct a belief system which more than the Defenders of Faith believe in, to overthrow the government. To do this we need to build real relationships and interact with as many people as possible. People shape themselves around those they are surrounded by so by building relationships and interacting with the others outside our group, they will hopefully characterise themselves around us.

It will be this that is most important to us. It is this that will help us gain support and power against the government because with every person we gain, it adds power to the greater unit. That is why our individual efforts have not been successful. And we cannot wait any longer. There are not many of ‘us’ left anymore, who knew what life was like ‘before’. They need us to teach them and help them move on and develop. With us gone soon, I do not know how this country can change. It is "the struggle of memory against forgetting" which my friend Milan Kundera suggested to me.

But it is not just for the country but for the happiness of the person as well. As a species, we desire to be loved, and to have the feeling of being something. Even the punks in the 1980’s were bound together by their want to be individual. They belonged to the group. This does not exist anymore. All of what is wrong with the Honne Government needs to be changed, and we can change it by doing the opposite.

To do this, myself and two others, Peter Espersen and Edward Hunter, have developed a super virus that will disable Web 3.0 and enable networking and broad communication between individuals again. It will also block government tracking systems allowing anyone who wishes, to speak freely and contribute to a group voice. The government will be unaware of what is going on meaning no one’s electricity will be shut off.

It means we can communicate to everyone in Britain, with advertisements and other messages showing our opposition to the government. This will be only the beginning. We will need to be support the initial advertisement or viral attack with also personal messages. And with the ability to network and communication between each other, we can be winners. It will just take a bit time to gain acceptance and support for.

For now I must go. We look forward to hearing from you.

Loyal supporter, adviser and friend.

[SIGN HERE]

Takeo Ichiro

We are the Defenders of Faith

(In case you do not have the means to reply, I have included the pen in which I wrote this letter with)

This letter had been intercepted by the Police Force and after the content been brought to my attention, I was unsure what to do with it. I read it, more than once, and thought out the consequences of the actions I could have taken. I am sure, as you are aware now by reading this, that I did not pass it on to my superior, Nancy Cameron. I started to think and my conscious came into play. I could see the Government’s concentration on honne, does not lead to personal satisfaction, but has the opposite effect – as can be seen by the war with Norway and bad relations with IS – path to unsatisfactory life.

I ignored the letter, and forwarded it onto the intended receiver. The rest they say is history.

Introduction to me and the power of predicting

Hello All.

My name is Scottie Brown and I grew up in the lifeless town of Alton in Hampshire, England. After School and College I moved onto a slightly more lively and interesting town where its fame isn't for the death of Sweet Fanny Adams . . . but Old people and a beach. Yes I currently reside in the OC of England, hell, the OC of BRITAIN. What I do here is something completely oblivious to my parents - not, not granny bashing, or stealing sand for a personal beach in my back garden, but I study. . . That’s what I tell people anyway.

I am currently studying towards a degree in Advertising and Marketing Communications at Bournemouth University. I am in my final year so my sand stealing days are over, and find myself in the library writing my dissertation on video games - giving myself a well deserved break after each well thought word has been written. Procrastination.

The description page isn't long enough so I thought I would let you know what these posts are about in a little more detail and why I want to do this. This should hopefully give some of you some motivation to comment on them as well. I have always been interested in the future, as it is the place where we are all heading and everything we do will affect that place. I am also have a fluid imagination when it comes to 'what if?' situations, whether it was "What if I wasn't dragged away from that ice hockey match - would I have scored more than one own goal?" or "If I did kiss that girl, would I be here writing a blog post" or "what if the Germans had successfully invaded?". I find some of these things highly fascinating and I want to look at the future in the context of politics, society, business and advertising - thinking about the 'What if's' before they happen. The basis of these blogs will be sometimes serious theory or contemporary issues that really matter but applied in a manageable and maybe slightly over exaggerated context.


I hope you all enjoy the future posts and I look forward to all of your comments. Any Questions? Please ask

Cheers, Scottie