Poem: "The Omega Meme"
This poem was inspired by a prompt from siege and is posted here as today's second freebie poem thanks to new prompter rhodielady_47. I've always been fascinated by lost civilizations and what it was that caused people to buck off the "Civilization must be continued at all costs" meme. So here's a look at what could light that fuse in the future...
The Omega Meme
When the telemobile was invented,
at first everyone loved it.
You could go anywhere in an instant.
No more commutes.
No more spending days in the car
for hours of vacation at your destination.
No more waiting in line to fill up the car.
But then the problems crept in.
Crime rates spiked
as people realized that
they could pop into each other's houses
and grab what they wanted.
And sometimes people
popped over and took their stuff back
or just plain popped each other.
Then people realized
that privacy was dead
and they had killed it.
Want to know what your boss thinks of you?
Listen at the door. You'll never get caught.
Want to know what your teenager
is really doing?
Go have a look.
The murder rate spiked even higher.
Eventually people had had enough.
They smashed their telemobiles
and everyone else's telemobiles
and while they were at it
they broke the ID readers
and the metal detectors
and the virus-laden computers
and a whole lot more of each others.
The survivors looked around
at the grim wreck of civilization
which would soon become just another
pile of ruins that no one remembered,
then walked away into the remaining jungles
by firelight.
The Omega Meme
When the telemobile was invented,
at first everyone loved it.
You could go anywhere in an instant.
No more commutes.
No more spending days in the car
for hours of vacation at your destination.
No more waiting in line to fill up the car.
But then the problems crept in.
Crime rates spiked
as people realized that
they could pop into each other's houses
and grab what they wanted.
And sometimes people
popped over and took their stuff back
or just plain popped each other.
Then people realized
that privacy was dead
and they had killed it.
Want to know what your boss thinks of you?
Listen at the door. You'll never get caught.
Want to know what your teenager
is really doing?
Go have a look.
The murder rate spiked even higher.
Eventually people had had enough.
They smashed their telemobiles
and everyone else's telemobiles
and while they were at it
they broke the ID readers
and the metal detectors
and the virus-laden computers
and a whole lot more of each others.
The survivors looked around
at the grim wreck of civilization
which would soon become just another
pile of ruins that no one remembered,
then walked away into the remaining jungles
by firelight.