To the junior

Russian original text "Юноше, обдумывающему житьё"

To the young man contemplating the existence

I bought it for myself on eBay

a slightly used black box

and there's no paranoia at all

just in case I might be lost

(Dimus 2014, On the disappearance of flight MH370)

***

To the young man,

contemplating

existence,

deciding

to make a life with someone,

I'll say

without hesitation:

"Do it

with comrade

Dzerzhinsky."

(V.V. Mayakovsky, "Good" 1927)

I was watching an exciting program about the global robotics competition among schoolchildren in Thailand. Children aged 8 to 19 competed in several categories: whose robot plays football better, stacks boxes on shelves, or picks strawberries. The Russian team received the main prize for the strawberries—well done. But my attention was drawn to a very brief interview with a 13-year-old boy, I don't know from which country:

- How did your team perform?

- Well, we are in the top ten.

- How long did you prepare for these competitions, and what were the difficulties?

- We prepared the whole year, and the difficulties... well, my dad disapproves of my interest in robots.

- Why not?

- He says that if everything is automated, many people will lose their jobs… But it's inevitable, and the unemployed will receive a reasonable allowance for life.

The boy knows the answer to his father's concerns, which seems sufficient and humane to him. However, parental approval is still necessary because he loves his father. In a few years, the boy will enter adulthood with a fully formed global progressive worldview and try to join some elite group, most likely highly qualified technocrats, tasked with serving the true Masters of the Brave New World. Regarding his father, who will be unemployed, it seems probable that he will be handed off to some social institution, with the specific location being less important than ensuring he is settled somewhere."

But perhaps the boy’s interest will not be limited to the construction of robots or driverless cars. He may desire real power, unrestricted by anything or anyone, to become the one who appoints and removes freely and democratically elected presidents. In this case, the future ruler will have to deal with various issues, or rather technologies, without which power can only be maintained through undemocratic methods that our prodigy has found disgusting since childhood.

Let's consider these technologies in arbitrary order, considering that a comprehensive approach is essential, even though avoiding some duplication of goals and means may not be possible or necessary: "You can't make a good thing better!" But before moving on to recommendations, it's worth mentioning that we won't be building on an empty slate, and much has already been achieved. The most important thing is that by the end of the second decade of the 21st century, globalization had triumphed entirely in the countries of the Western world. This means elites no longer need their [own] people as a productive force. Everything material is produced abroad, mainly in Third World countries, and residents, if needed at all, are only employed as servants.

However, although globalization has triumphed and might finally be sufficient time to address “global warming, " some aspects still need refinement. Firstly, globalization's victory must be made irreversible, and secondly, what to do with the unnecessary population? As our young man was told, they would be paid an allowance, but that's much money, and the principle of "he who does not work shall not eat!" somehow seems a pity to discard into the landfill of history. And now, let's get down to business!

The key is complete control over the masses; once this is understood, a plan can be devised for achieving it. Much has already been accomplished today: it was the absolutely right thing to take control of the media, with Lenin’s motto "Cinema being the most important for us!" – aka television – the most easily accessible resource for people: you can wash dishes and watch the news with one eye. The chances of tuning into a less controlled channel like Fox are meager, and there's also moderation there that gradually builds up.

However, there are a few stubborn individuals who, in addition to television, try to find alternative sources of information on the internet: various blogs, podcasts, forums, and the like. Work is undoubtedly needed here: these sites can be simply disconnected, but that's too rough. You can make it difficult to access them, introduce technical interference, and infiltrate provocateur trolls who send garbage or prohibited content in their comments, leading to the blogger's site being banned or closed. You can create a new site, but that takes time, money, and, again, time for promotion. From the perspective of a young and capable technocrat who has decided to work for the system, the possibilities for creativity are unlimited. Seeking dissent and combating it can and should be automated; there's no need to ban it: people should visit their favorite sites and consume commercials while "smart" algorithms gather the necessary information, identify the most persistent opponents, and block "incorrect" content. And this is doubly convenient – there's no one to blame. In the most odious cases, one can always refer to the imperfection of artificial intelligence: "Your site has been disabled for two weeks due to formal red flag: the word 'disproportionately' was used too infrequently, which could negatively impact certain user groups on your site. You can complain if you want."

A slightly larger problem is posed by social networks, which theoretically may be in private hands and maliciously fail to comply with universally accepted moderation and filtration norms. Well, in that case, sadly, "we'll turn off your [natural] gas line," that is, internet hosting (from the word Host – owner).

- Datamining is different from your passion? Right, son, there are more exciting things, like “life as a form of existence for protein bodies.”

- Who said that, Dad, Engels?

– It doesn't matter. It's like this: someone (the Creator) wrote a program in the form of DNA, pressed the start button, and it went off. The proteins began to synthesize, capable of doing everything, like identifying and destroying foreign viruses—the immune system. And that's what we don't like!

- How so, does the immune system interfere with the elites ruling?

– Of course, it does. It turns out that humans are protecting themselves uncontrollably and for free. Boy, you must address this issue! If you don't know where to start, ask Dr. Ralph Baric; he'll help, as he helped our Chinese comrades in Wuhan and taught them everything he did throughout his life: synthesized coronaviruses that can infect human cells and cause severe lung diseases. He laughed when he heard the children's tale about bats from the Wuhan market.

They made the virus, indeed! Although not as powerful as desired, in 99.9% of cases, our immune system "tears it apart like a terrier with a rag," and you, young man, will have something to do. But the current strain is still dangerous for many, so a vaccine is needed.

– Hey, epidemiologists, microbiologists, biochemists, genetic engineers, where are you? Save us!

– We're here, and we accidentally have such a vaccine ready. We can test it on people right now, and it can be released en masse.

– It can't be true. The pandemic is only in its third month, and you already have a remedy? Did someone warn you?

– Why are you offending, boss? Everything's been ready for a long time; research has been conducted... look, it's like in regular software programming: today, a computer virus shows up, and tomorrow, Kaspersky is already sending antivirus updates to subscribers for a small fee.

- Is everyone ready?

– Of course, Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Sinopharm, CanSino, and...

- Did they manage in Russia?

– Betah, they might have launched their Sputnik earlier than others.

– Enough, enough. What's the principle of action of these vaccines?

– Nothing special: make a piece of DNA or RNA and inject it into a person. This RNA fragment is the code for synthesizing a protein, like the one located on the surface of the COVID-19 virus. Your (human) cells will synthesize this protein, and the immune system recognizes it in advance. When the virus comes, an army of antibodies is waiting for it.

– Was it the same practice used before?

– No, introducing foreign DNA into sapience wasn't allowed in the past, even though there's nothing wrong with it. But they(?) were afraid. Now the door, or rather the Pandora's box, has opened wide, and there's so much encouraging stuff we can do—cure diseases, rejuvenate the VIP people...

- What about population control?

– Well, there are various ideas. You can introduce something to reduce fertility, some protein, but that's crude and criminal…and illegal. Alternatively, you can program a biomarker, for instance, to synthesize a specific protein that reacts with a substance released when a person lies, like helping an interrogation.

– Sounds great, but how do we transmit this information from the biomarker?

Good question, but that's a slightly different field, albeit related. Here, we can't move forward without the foreign abbreviation RFID – Radio Frequency Identification, representing a miniature system consisting of a radio signal receiver, transmitter, and processor. Miniature, as in really small, ranging from the size of a grain of rice to a poppy seed, and some are a hundred times smaller, making them not so easy to notice. By attaching such a device to any object, living or non-living, externally or internally, you can gain control over that object: where it is located and how it functions, and you can even send it some commands.

The development and application of such microchips are fascinating and creative activities, accompanied by the feeling that you're not only doing something exciting but rather beneficial for humanity, opening entirely unprecedented perspectives. It's a feeling comparable to the pleasure of creating a robot or writing a program. By introducing such a chip into a person, you free them from a multitude of exhausting duties related to self-identification: proving that you are who you are, remembering and storing countless passwords, and carrying dozens of credit cards, passports, IDs, and keys. Already, tens of thousands have willingly agreed to implant such chips under their skin and successfully use them to pay for coffee and open locked doors. For some reason, the most significant enthusiasm is observed in Sweden. The pioneer in the practical application of RFID is Amal Graafstra, who implanted such a chip into himself back in 2006. Now, for $40, his company sends a special kit containing such a chip and a syringe for its subcutaneous injection to anyone interested. It's worth noting that the FDA approved RFID for human implantation back in 2004—everything is utterly legal.

Amal actively patents implants with ever-new features, including chips equipped with biosensors generating a "bio-signature" specific to the biological environment surrounding the implant. For instance, it can measure blood sugar levels and inform the owner when to inject insulin. This is great and useful, but even more mind-blowing possibilities leave you breathless. This chip can transmit the same information to an insurance company or measure your blood alcohol level, and you might receive a fine for "driving under the influence" from the traffic police. You might think it's trivial, and you shouldn't drive drunk. But what about in situ COVID analysis or sending your genetic information?

"Who and why would I send it to?" you might ask. It's probably beyond the little chip's capabilities to compute the entire human genome – after all, there are millions of genes and billions of amino acids.

I am still determining what the biosensor measures or records in its surrounding bio-environment, but it's clear that the possibilities are continually growing. You can imagine that it would be sufficient to transmit information about the presence of just one specific gene, interesting, for example, to a dating bureau subscriber.

As for reading the entire genome, you don't need to – you'll send it yourself, and you'll even pay $100-200 to some company like MyHumanAncestry, FamilyTreeOrg, or FindMyPastFree. At first, you'll want to create your genealogical tree on their platform application (for free), then search for relatives in the databases (for a small monthly fee). Still, the fundamental discoveries will come when you send them your DNA sample (saliva) for whole-genome analysis. It will go into a particular database and always be ready to confirm your identity upon a "Big Brother request," as you've seen in movies about Forensic Science. And MyGlobalPoorRelativeOrg will inform you that you have 2% Indian blood (free education, bingo), only 25% Caucasian genes (you can't claim white privilege, sorry), and 168 direct relatives in Zhytomyr who will be happy to get to know you.

This information might be useless to you, but it will be helpful to the Lords of the World. Working in bioinformatics and programming such hereditary sites is very attractive; the creative boundaries are vast, and they pay well.

Microchip identifiers will be implanted in everyone who wants them, even if they don't understand their benefits. Not forcibly, of course, but assuming such a thing is embarrassing, you'll ask for it as needed. It's like back in the day when you were driving on the highway and needed to pay a toll: you would approach the booth, give a dollar, and the sweet girl would hand you 85 cents, but you would pull her hand away, saying, "No need for change!" Then transponders appeared: you don’t have one and could give the girl some change or drive through the electronic gates without stopping. And then the girls disappeared altogether, and there was no one to give money to – you buy a transponder like a sweetie.

Concerns about chips seem to be shared not only by me: recently, the Indiana State Senate unanimously approved a law prohibiting employers from requiring their workers to have an implanted device as a condition for obtaining or retaining employment. So what? There were probably laws against transponders to keep cashier jobs on the roads.

However, complete chipization is a matter of the future, though not a distant one. For now, it is necessary to consider all aspects of information transfer logistics and develop corresponding means. What if the chip is implanted, and the carrier object goes somewhere in Nevada or the Sahara Desert, where there is no stable connection, and even turns off their mobile phone? That's right, it will go incommunicado! One or two individuals may not matter, but what if many choose to go "back to nature"?

This is where Elon Musk decided to come to the rescue with his Starlink project, the development of which began in 2015, and the first phase is almost finished. Starlink does not imply people tracking; it is designed to implement the noble, universal idea of the “Internet for everyone, everywhere!" From 12 to 64 thousand satellites will be launched into geostationary orbits, providing reliable internet communication anywhere on Earth. Whether they can directly read data from RFID chips, I don't know (a good task for a young robotics enthusiast), although an active chip with a battery has a transmission range of about 100 meters. But if you haven't turned off your mobile phone, contact is guaranteed because your phone always has an app loaded that supports communication with the implant.

The matter of global internet is essential and understandable for the entire elite, so there's even some competition: Bezos' Amazon is creating a similar satellite system called Kuiper, and Bill Gates' Microsoft is funding the company Kymeta with a similar program. It will soon be impossible to navigate around the satellites in low Earth orbit, and big brothers are actively fighting for a share of this "pie," which promises colossal profits. Still, we shouldn't worry about it: "Lovers' quarrels are soon mended."

Since we're talking about power and control, which means big money, and money is stored in banks or in a bank? How do I say it correctly? The correct way is in the plural – there are many banks. But it's just for now, and for an MIT graduate who has decided to put his outstanding mathematical abilities at the "feet of Mammon," it's precisely the task to make it singular "in the bank," in one, in the global or world bank. How else? Money is the most crucial means of control. In a fully integrated world, banks must also be connected, not necessarily entirely, so a client cannot flutter from one bank to another and transfer money from one account to another with impunity. Of course, you must earn money, but to spend it, it might be good to get permission, not for everyone, but only for individuals with a "low degree of reliability." This is a euphemism meaning untrustworthy, and apparently, it's a loan translation from Chinese, where speaking directly or calling things by their names has not been accepted for a long time, unlike in America.

For those who are unaware, in China, since January 1, 2021, the Social Credit system has been state-wide implemented after being tested on a smaller scale over the past seven to eight years. Under this system, all citizens initially receive 1000 points, and this rating can then increase for good deeds, such as paying rent on time, having children engaged in sports, writing a poem expressing love for the Communist Party, and so on. Conversely, it can drop down for actions like getting drunk, cheating on a spouse, improperly sorting garbage, or attending a rally in support of Alexei Navalny. If the rating falls below a certain level, you can be denied buying plane and train tickets, booking hotels, enrolling your children in good schools, and even losing your job. China's banking system is entirely centralized; there is almost no cash in circulation, and if you have a low credit score, access to your own money may be restricted on humanitarian backgrounds—let that person understand and correct himself.

You might say this can't happen in a democratic society! Why not if it is necessary, convenient, and profitable for the elite? Oh, the woes of democracy! In many authoritarian systems or regimes, there are several political parties, but only one is the main one and serves the people the most: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others!" It's just necessary for all branches of power to be controlled by this party for a while—long enough to "adjust the laws," hollow out the First and Second Amendments, and make the party’s leading role permanent for all eternity. As was the case in Orwell's "Animal Farm": commandments (laws) were displayed on the walls, for example, "No animal shall sleep in a bed!" After the revolution, those who could read noticed that the commandment had been changed to "No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets!" And that was it, and some animals permanently moved from the barn to the beds.

Then, all that remains is to maintain the existing order, and here comes the need for control over information, fear of epidemics, individual identification with the Central Genome Database, Global Internet, One World Bank, and let's not forget what had contributed to the success already achieved: absolute control over education, i.e., the minds of the youth, media outlets, and the electoral mechanism. What we absolutely don't need is to compare facts and draw conclusions. That's what President Obama repeatedly referred to as "connecting the dots"—no theories, ignore conspiracy theorists, ridicule, mock, and ban them. And if things get really sour, well, then do, as Comrade Lenin recommended and Comrade Dzerzhinsky implemented...

So, young man, if you don't have a particular inclination for robotics, delve into politics or jurisprudence—that's the shortest path to the elite and a free, creative life. Otherwise, you might end up, just like your dad, relying on social assistance welfare.

© Dimus, January 2021

ChatGPT 3.5 English translation 2023 November