Common Sense

A man has a blog. The blog gets popular. It's a generic blog that seems to appeal to pretty much everyone. That's because this man wrote articles that appealed to everyone. He had balanced blog content. Don't like today's article? You'll probably like tomorrow's.

As the blog gained an almost cult-like appeal, with nearly 8 million visitors each month, the man announces his plan to run for office. He wants to be a governor of a state, but which one? He chooses the state with the most fanatical fan support, which is pretty easy to tell based on user profiles and IP addresses.

He finds a woman in that state and marries her. It wasn't hard to do once women knew what website he created. The man picks a bride and moves in with her and now, a legal resident of the state (marriages get you everything it seems) he announces his plan to run for state governor.

His website traffic nearly triples over the next few months, and each day has more users than the day before, with no signs of stopping. This man has not only gained the support of an entire nation, but international support as well.

In the landslide victory, he springs into action. He helps pass a series of radical new bills, each more radical than the one before it. First, he legalizes marijuana. The State's economy blooms slightly. After that, he legalizes prostitution. Domestic violence is reduced 63%. Then he legalizes hallucinogens, but requires an educational course to get licensed for purchase and use of them. This includes LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, DMT, etc, but exludes MDMA because it is mostly considered an (methylenedioxymeth-)amphetamine. Amphetamines and heroin remained illegal due to their very addictive nature, which made cigarettes illegal also.

Violent crime in the state is down 9% in 4 months. The man is such a success as governor, he is practically forced into running for congress, which was also a landslide victory.

The other politicians felt threatened, but they all wanted to be his go-to guy. A presidential nomination was inevitable at this point. He was just so popular with the public.

No one knew just how popular he was though. In the presidential primaries, both parties elected him as their running mate. Others thought this shouldn't happen, as it would mean he could run for president virtually uncontested, but at this point it was clear that the nation wanted this man to be the President.

Once in office, his charisma helped him pass many more radical bills. He used his past success as governor to help convince congress these bills were a good idea. One of the first to pass was a bill declaring that, save the constitution and its amendments, every law shall expire in 2 years. Once expired, there will be a 90 day renewal window, during which is must be passed again (or ammended if necessary). This caused many archaic laws to disappear. A laissez faire economy began to emerge.

Most people predicted that he would try to legalize all drugs in accordance with earning your license to purchase, which he did, and he was successful. Shortly thereafter, addiction was cured.

He passed another set of laws that were his most controversial. This time the President tried to get rid of warning labels, telling the public that by relying on common sense, people would be forced to sharpen their wit, thereby will no longer needing the warning labels, saving money everywhere.

The bill passed by 1 vote. Speed limit signs were considered a warning label by the bill, as were illegal left turn signs. Millions died as a direct result of the passing of this bill, yet there seemed to be a lack of public outcry to have this reversed. Many believe it was because the vast majority of people felt that if the warning signs were the only thing keeping you alive, you shouldn't be in the gene pool anyway.

Eventually laws were passed that made you get a permit to do practically everything. The only difference was that to get the permit, you had to demonstrate above average proficiency in the subject at hand. To purchase a weapon, you had to demonstrate above average safety and firing proficiency. To drive a car, you had to be able to survive a simulated driving situation that was potentially life or death. You almost needed to be a race car driver to get a license. This spurred public transit and, after a while, helped to kill the fossil fuels industry.

This wasn't as restrictive as it sounds though. It turns out that people that were below average in a licensed skill tended to either not want the license or would work hard enough to get the license.

The last law he passed, which, it is argued, brought peace between the public and the government was The Open Information Act of 2012. It stated that any information was to be presented to anyone that wanted it within 30 days. It was a felony of the highest degree to disobey this law.

People were outraged, but the law had to finish its 2 year trial period before it could expire. By the end of the 2 years, people loved it. People loved shedding their social identities and becoming just another face in the sea, a face which they knew to be unique.

The President got rid of the military and recalled every troop we had at a foreign base. The military became the people's militia, distributing their weapons to those that were qualified to use them. He used the money they saved to fund scientific research all over the world.

He passed a bill that called for a parenting license. Birth rates plummeted, but it was hailed as an environmentally wise decision.

But alas, a day came that changed mankind forever. Now in his third term, and 89% of the world's countries having voluntarily joined the United Alliance, this man practically ruled the world. He never wanted the power though. He only wanted what was best for his species, and now it was time to do something drastic.

On this day, the President of the Alliance passed his final bill. Since licenses were required for nearly everything, it was time to create one last qualification. With the passing of this bill, you now had to demonstrate skill in being a citizen. Living was no longer a natural born right. You had to earn it. After a year, a billion people were executed. The next year, two billion. The only people that argued were the ones that knew they couldn't make the cut. Deep down they knew they were sacrificing themselves for something greater than themselves, which was awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor. The population of the planet was reduced to one billion humans. A law was created to keep the population steady.

Hundreds of years later, the United Alliance had become an elite group of human beings, wielding intellectual and cultural capacities ten-thousand percent higher than the Citizens that existed when the President took office. He is still the President, as he was chosen to be the first human to become immortal.

People of today would call this genocide that would have made Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Khmer Rouge develop an inferiority complex. Citizens of the United Alliance called it Common Sense.

01.15.2010. 11:00

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