Bill had always had a strong interest in both health and in education. He had a Masters degree in education and had taught in the high school system. For exercise he was active in the YMCA, and rode a racing bicycle for hours at a time. He was married to a wonderful and supportive woman who shared his concern for a healthy life style.
Retirement had allowed him the time to ponder the social concerns of health and education in today’s confused society. Traditional education had failed in solving or even reducing urgent social problems. His concerns were growing more intensely as the years passed by.
With Bill’s first question the Visitor shifted his gaze from Bill to the distant mountains. “Our present educational programs are so general in direction and content. What should we expect from our school system in the energy society?”
“Formal education will continue to be a sociable relationship among students, teachers and parents. Education is essentially a human experience, combined with the search for wisdom. Technology will always be a support toward educational goals. The educational change will be in content. Science and mathematics will continue to be taught in a chronological order as a study in scientific evolution. The study of history will change completely. At the present time, the study of history is political. The study of history in the future will be the history of the development of technology, humanities, language, sciences and the arts. Wars, politics, religion and economics will be taught as a side interest. These chapters in history had the potential to end civilization. Education in the history of the arts and sciences will be a great motivation and stimulus for achieving success in the study of these subjects.”
The Visitor continued, “ Physical education will be entirely different. Sports will no longer be on the program. The understanding of the five minds will be taught along with physical fitness and healthy life style. Sports and creative arts will be presented and encouraged as an after school program. The study for life time careers will be broader and accommodate a variety of educational interests because wisdom is to be found in all directions.”
Bill next asked about the level of living standard for students. The Visitor answered.”All citizens regardless of their age or responsibilities will enjoy the basic standard of living. As a person’s education and responsibilities increase, then additional energy units will be available for added improvements to their standard of living.”
Bill asked about marriage.” Today, one spouse is often dependent upon a partner for his or her standard of living. Marriage sometimes guarantees economic support, but not always. Too often, women remain in unhappy, perhaps abusive relationships, in order to have economic security.”
The Visitor responded, “Marriage is a religious commitment. Without religion a bonding by faith will no longer exist. Men, women and children will be independent in their standard of living. When men and women choose to live together it will be for personal commitment. Raising their children will be a commitment of love rather than law.”
“How many years will be devoted to education, and when does education stop and career begin?”
“It is best to not separate them. The time taken for both education and career will last approximately fifty years. During that time, as each individual’s social achievements improve, so will the disposable energy units available to him. Energy units can not be saved for the following year. Each year begins with a fresh supply of energy units to draw upon. At the time for retirement, the standard of living levels off. The person is no longer expected to maintain his social position. A retired citizen may choose either to become an advisor or spend the rest of his life pursuing whatever interest is chosen. Travel will be an important part of a student’s educational program; therefore, by the time of retirement a person may wish to be a good will ambassador and volunteer in some capacity in which he has knowledge or ability. Would this not be a wonderful legacy?”
Bill’s next question was about parenting. “It seems to me that a healthy society must begin with healthy families. To day there is no special training required before undertaking either marriage or parenting. To day, raising children is a hit or miss gamble. Adults who may be comfortable and successful with their careers may be totally unsuccessful guiding their children’s development. How will the future be different?”
After a slight smile of approval for the wording of the question, the Visitor answered. “Social responsibility for family relationships is both an art and a science. The most fundamental focus for all citizens is to development positive personal relationships. The study of nurturing positive, loving relationships will be fundamental in the school program. Role-playing will be a successful and enjoyable educational approach to teaching the fundamentals of relationships. There will be no failures allowed in this most important subject. Uncontrollable criminal instincts will be discovered at this time and the student will be helped to overcome negative tendencies. Disagreements are certainly acceptable in relationships but yelling in defiance to defend a disagreement is destructive. It is the thinking mind that will be taught the technique for restricting the unacceptable outbursts from the emotional mind. The soul mind will then gain wisdom from fundamental learning techniques.”
Bill asked how evolution applies to the human condition. The Visitor answered. “Students will also be taught human evolution. Nothing dies, everything recycles. There is only change. Your soul will return! When the soul returns, it will want to return to a better world than it has left.”
Bill then returned to the topic of health. “There are many people who are vegetarian. Their reasons are generally either philosophical or for the attainment of good health. Is vegetarianism wise?”
The Visitor considered this twist of reasoning. “ When students have learned that the purpose of life is to gain wisdom, then they will have an understanding and compassion for all animals. When you kill an animal for food you are depriving this soul of the purpose for being born. Premature death slows down the evolving development.”
. “Then does it not seem cruel and therefore unwise to kill animals for food?”
“Your soul and thinking minds may think that eating dead animals is cruel but the body mind may crave this food. Animals have been eating animals for millions of years. A sudden change for philosophical reasons may be too rapid a change for the body to adjust. Wisdom must sometimes move slowly. The old soul is a vegetarian from birth. One could move slowly away from eating animals, but good health must never be ignored.”
Bill jumped at this idea of moving slowly from being meat eaters to vegetarians, to say that sudden change can also be quite impossible for an entire society after thousands of years of being carnivores. It could be equally difficult to evolve from a money system to suddenly becoming an energy society. Should there not be a transition period?
Without hesitation, as if it was an old subject. the Visitor responded,
“Your society is already in the transition period. Computers withdrawal cards for the purchase of goods and services are processed without money. Money only limits the purchasing power. The computer could just as easily represent energy units rather than money units. You don’t have to know the technical details of how it works but only that it does work. The bookkeeping system behind the energy expenditure for industry and the energy consumption from society is automatic, and controlled by the computerized society. With the energy system in place today money could disappear tomorrow and all money system problems would also disappear. “
Bill was once again taken back by the beauty of his explanation of the simplicity of the Visitor’s suggestions. He asked. ”Is there an example anywhere that demonstrates the circulation of products and services without the use of money?”
“ Yes, your military operates without money. A military person does not exchange money for clothing, food, transportation, recreation, entertainment, education or health. These are all provided without asking a single dollar from the military person. All that is demanded is his obedience, his life or his death.”
The Visitor continued, “The most profound example is found in nature. Nowhere in nature will you find a life cycle that is dependent upon money. Nature manufactures energy from the sun, and all life consumes and thrives on energy. When your society changes to duplicate nature then society will, for the first time, is in harmony with nature.
Bill placed both hands on his forehead, closed his eyes, and shook his head slowly back and forth. So elegant, so simple. Wisdom of the highest form. Where are our so-called great thinkers and planners? Bill next asked about happiness.
“ If the changeover succeeds, and all price system symptoms are gone, such as poverty, crime, wars, depressions, and so on, will people be happy?”
“Yes and no. Remember that the emotional mind will always be active. The happy and unhappy will always is in dynamic balance. They are both motivators. People will be free to make adaptations in their lives. For example, there may be a wish for ethnic separation. If so, then ethnic communities will rise and be separate. Competition in sports, and the arts between different ethnic groups will be great entertainment. Consider the Olympic Games. You will find that ethnic separation but with an equal standard of living potential will end major social conflicts.”
The Visitor answered. “Energy societies will not be legislate; they will be educated. All of the world citizens wish for a high standard of living but they must first computerize the energy distribution system of their respective countries. For the first time in your history, uniform social goals will be acceptable to all leaders. The transition will be a total delight to behold.’
Bill thought out loud. “This world, with all its history of confusion. And if such gigantic transitions succeeds, how will future historians describe this critical time?’
The visitor answered as quickly as if reading from a text. “Historians will first describe in careful detail the world conditions of the time. Freedom and democracy were relative terms. Mind control by special interest groups controlled beliefs, behavior, actions, and attitudes. Confusing issues blamed morality, good and bad, right from wrong, for all conflicts and wars. History will record that there were a few young people in high industrial and financial positions who possessed the wisdom, insight, and technical and economic understanding to successfully influence governments to declare a national emergency. Place every man, woman, and child under a war time umbrella, then quickly make the transition. The wise, insightful people who understood and sacrificed their careers for what the evaluation of the problems demanded, will be the most celebrated and the most influential people in the evolution of human society”
Bill asked for an example of a North American who might satisfy that influential qualifying position. The Visitor suggested Bill Gates or Ted Turner as a type of person who presently commands a high level of respect from both Government and the general population.
With all this description of responsibility for the future, Bill felt vulnerable. “Where do I fit into this gigantic unpredictable evolutionary change?”
.”Whatever you do or say is of no consequence. You will have no influence for or against public policy or decision making. Your questions offered me the opportunity to make a contact without fear of an outside influence interfering with earth’s evolutionary social progress. Incentive for solutions must come from societies’ own analysis of the money system. Your personality is unique in that you have always admitted to not having answers to the most direct questions that have to be solved. My visit has given you some comfort and I have also gained from this experience. One last question please.’
“The soul would like to stay in a healthy body for as long as possible. How many years should we expect our bodies to stay healthy?”
“Age will not be measured in years but in biological health. Ongoing biological measurements will determine conditions and treatments of the body. Education will stress healthy life style. The time will come when the soul will wish to leave. By starting once again with a young vibrant new body, the development of wisdom can progress more rapidly. Also, a greatly improved society will offer a better probability for a healthy progressive nurturing.” The visitor now smiled looked into Bill’s eyes and said, “ It is time to go. It has been remarkable to have found a completely open, inquisitive mind. Thank you.”
Bill’s visitor from the future then rose quickly, turned, and jogged smoothly and speedily toward the direction from which he had arrived.
Bill sat quietly for a long time reflecting each of the questions and answers. Every thought was so clear, convincing, and extraordinarily simple. Evolution would win in the end. It had to be survival of the fittest. But! How fit are our world leaders?