Thrayn - The Jorian Reformist Party
12.11.97

The Jorian Menifesto - by Ann Pong Jory, founder of the Jorian Reformist Party on Earth (written during the fourth decade of The Technocracy)

This is the manifesto of the Jorian Reformist Party. It's born out of a deep concern about the direction - or more specifically, lack of such - mankind is taking. Most will see this statement to be in direct confrontation with the foundation of The Technocracy. This is not the case: the Jorian Reformist Party wishes nothing less than to undermine the core values of our society. We have, however, looked deep into those values, and what they truly mean to the prosper of mankind.

Part One

Liberty

The Technocracy prides itself with the citadel of individual freedom, and rightly so. The right for anyone to live as they please as long as they don't infringe on the freedom and wellbeing of others has been protected exemplarily by the governing system. The right for anyone to take part in any decicion-making that concerns themselves is a clear step forward from the ancient way of representational democracy.

Yet there are still things that deprive us of true liberty, now perhaps more than ever before. These shackes don't only trap each individual - they hamper our growth as a species as well. This time, we're not being limited by an outside force, but from within. Even the best of us are corrupted by petty personal desires of body and mind: social greed, laziness, plain selfishness, and most of all inability to look beyond the scope of our own lives. Many would say these things are a natural part of human existence, but so was warfare less than a century ago.

Wisdom

For more than a century, mankind has taken pride for a sustainable way of life. Underneath the wealthy life style our computers recycle every material, optimize every production chain, and steadfastly contain our consumption to limits that will allow life on Earth to prosper, theoretically, for countless millennia.

There's one resource we squander without a second thought, and it's ourselves. Our potential gets wasted on an endless cycle of sloth and hedonism. Where has humanity come three centuries after colonizing the moon? Mars. Europa. A few science stations and holiday resorts here and there in the solar system. Have we spoken of colonizing other star systems? Yes. Have we written sonatas and told stories about it? For centuries! Are we there?

Open-mindedness

Our society was and still is being born of scientific discovery. Our keen enthusiasm to explore and manipulate the world around us had brought us more and more advanced toys and tools without which there would be no Technocracy. When asked to look deep into ourselves, however, we turn into mental descendants of the pope who by god's command forbade Earth from revolving around the Sun. Making the world a better place is on everyone's todo list, but the idea of bettering humankind themselves is met with fear and condemnation.

Patience

Of the five virtues, patience is arguably the least observed in The Technocracy. Want something? Chances are the nearest sharepoint will have it within hours. Feel like meeting other people? Log into the social network and interact with anyone in real time. It's emblematic that so many can't bear the interplanetary chat lag.

Our political system itself hampers any attempt at patience. Legislation is passed at the whim of the masses, and the chaotic fluctuations in the vote flows makes long-term planning impossible. Look at the farce revolving around the official name of our society and you'll see what I mean.

What every one of us would need is first-hand experience that nothing comes free or cheap. The people who best understand this are those working at the frontier - polar regions of Mars or the few outposts on other planets. Even though it's now mostly automated, our infrastructure is the fruit of millennia of hard work by human hands. Shall we disrespect this legacy by taking it for granted? Or do we continue in the footsteps of our ancestors and elevate our species to an all new level of glory?

Solidarity

It is said that the abolishment of national borders was the final step in humanity's evolution towards a true global community. It was a major step but it was by far not final! It's true we haven't had a real war in decades but those who speak of a global harmony are not seeing clearly. It's true we've found more civilized ways to resolve our conflicts but petty disputes, pointless rivalries, and outright feuds between individuals and subcultures still blemish the idea of true solidarity.

If humanity is ever going to seige its rightful place in the galaxy as the bringers of life to distant worlds, the first step must be to truly unite. Only as one can we cross the vast distances, overcome the enormous challenges presented by interstellar colonization!

Part Two

This file would be yet another pointless piece of philosophy littering the internet by the Millions, if we didn't offer concrete suggestions to tackle the problems outlined in part one. These reforms aren't the most conventional but they're informed and thoroughly considered. When you peruse the paragraphs below, I only ask that you keep an open mind.

1. Personality Improvement Therapy

Personality Improvement Therapy, or PIT, is a collection of psychological, psychopharmaceutical, and surgical methods with the goal of changing a person's personality for the better. Before a vote banned the research, 134 volunteers subjected themselves to the therapy, myself included. The results were astonishing. Not only did the friends and aquintances of the test subjects report less friction in their social interactions with the subject (some responded negatively, describing the changes as abnormal or unnatural). More importantly, the subjects themselves reported content with their new state of being, after the initial period of disorientation. Most volunteers found themselves better able to focus on the things they deemed truly important, as they no longer were distracted by wanton moods, petty social issues, selfishness and jealousy...

The Jorian Reformist Party supports the lifting of the ban on PIT research and implementation. Everyone has the right to choose their personality, as long as it's in keeping with the benefit of th society. There's no good reason to prevent people from making themselves into kinder, wiser, and more hardworking people. In fact, we hold the firm belief that everyone should.

2. Experience Transfer

The internet allows us to transmit words and abstract ideas directly from one brain to another. However, the meaning in those transmissions is shallow, in that to understand the message, the receiver must possess the context for it. If you haven't experienced betrayal, for instance, it's hard to truly relate to someone describing it over the internet. This, we believe, is one of the main obstacles on the path to true solidarity.

We support more resources to improving the transmission protocols so that the transfer of feelings and experiences becomes possible. When this is accomplished, we suggest creating a global database in which we store an encyclopedia of feelings donated by volunteers. Through speedtraining, this will provide a common base of experiences for everyone, elevating our understanding of each other to a whole new level.

3. Long-term Decicions

New rules must be put in place to allow once-made decicions to stick. One such rule would be that no ruling can be undone by a simple majority vote until ten years has passed from the original vote.

4. Frontier Duty

Everyone must be encouraged to contribute to the colonization effort by working on our colonies and outposts. Incentives to this could include increased voting rights for those who've served a specified amount of time.

5. Space Program

Humanity's stepping out of its cradle is long overdue. New colonies and outposts must be established in the solar system. Measures to terraform Venus and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn must be researched. The vast resources of the asteroid belt must be excavated. And finally, the Seed program, aimed at colonizing the stars, must be given top priority.

The Jorian Reformist Party has been formed to push forward the five reforms outlined above. If you agree that humanity needs to rise up from stagnation and take its place in the infinite universe, we'll be please to accept you to our ever-growing ranks.