The next five chapters represent about 15 pages in my book and is very close to a third of the way though it. I am very surprised that despite the fact that this was written in the 1920s in Russian and translated into English that it is not more difficult to read. Truth be told as well, it really doesn’t feel that dated either. Sure, there is lack of reference to technology that we would see as ubiquitous but still there are flying cars and telephones.

To some degree, not integrating a lot of technology makes the book more timeless. Can you imagine if they popped in the eight track and then the pager went off? It would immediately date the work and damage the science fiction aspect of futurism. I think about my first house that was built in 1923. It had two electrical circuits, no bathroom or modern kitchen. Things will look very different in 500 years from now.

There is nothing that really blocks these five chapters together necessarily other than they are a convenient grouping for me. There are certainly some universal concepts that are mentioned. Eyes are the windows to the soul, religion (faith) is a fool’s errand compared to the reliability of the state, smoking and drinking are poisonous to the body and guilt will tear you up.

What is clearly brewing is that D-503 knows and believes that the rules of the United State are correct, moral and just. That being said for some reason I-313 has targeted him and is corrupting him by her presence. The juxtaposition of what D-503 knows to be right and what is actually happening is driving extreme guilt. And that guilt is beginning to drive him crazy.

Let us look at the argument of climate change. My new employer has a goal of being carbon neutral by 2030. To do that, they are making policy changes and developing strategies to modify their own business. Then by proxy, the will start using these solutions as business offerings. Part of that strategy is employee awareness. I took some classes i.e. watch some videos on the subject.

I think that the people on the extreme edge of things would call me a climate denier. I like to think of myself as a scientist. A scientist does not ever say that the science is settled. A life’s work is always challenging your hypothesis with new data. A proper scientist says I believe this to be true and the data supports that. But, if there is new data, I will objectively look at it and evaluate it on its merits.

Some of the videos I watched were making wild claims. For instance, climate change was the reason and the cause that there is civil war in Syria. Now, lest we forget people that the Syrian civil was was a result of the Arab Spring revolution. This was a geopolitical proxy war incited by the United States to promote ‘freedom’ in mostly autocratic countries. The drought sure didn’t help but to say that is the cause is beyond stretching.

I use climate change as a reference here because there is a lot of push to make socioeconomic changes on the basis of little data. Many followers of the religion of the state think that we simply need to move from fossil fuel powered lifestyles to battery powered ones. If we simply transfer our individual CO2 generation to some corporate entities, then we can absolve ourselves of our contribution to greenhouse emissions and climate change.

Another suggestion that was made was to eat less meat. The claim is that giant factory farms raising animals adds a significant contribution to greenhouse gases. I am not for factory farming but I am sure not for plant based diets either. Do you know what runs agriculture? Fossil fuels. Fertilizer is made from cracking natural gas. Tractors and trucks run and will continue to run on them no matter how many plug in cars are on the road.

Do you see the connection yet? The religion of the state is pushing problems that benefit the stakeholders in the game. We have to eat less meat, we have to grow crops that are bioengineered to keep up with the demand. Eliminating the end consumer and only piping natural gas to the power producers and chemical companies streamlines logistics. Climate change is causing droughts endangering our ability to grow those crops in the first place. You better get on board.

I want the data. I want to know the guarantees that this is iron clad science (and not the global cooling and ice age that we were headed for in the 1980s). Most of all, where is the money where the mouths are talking? How much extra fuel does a motorcade of armored Escalades take to get to the private helicopter to get to the private airplane to go to Hawaii on a work vacation?

I heard a story from a relative that actually takes their own spoons to Dairy Queen so that they do not use disposable ones. That is how much they care and are sacrificing to do their part. And yet, are the leaders of this movement eating a plant based diet? Dare I say, no.

End Your Programming Routine: I am not against my company setting a target to be carbon neutral. I actually support it and I think it is smart to pick a direction, constrain ourselves and push solutions that work to make money. This is smart and conscious business. I am not for destroying the planet nor am I for being selfish. But let’s get real here. Before you swallow the bait, consider the motivations. Like it or not, humans are part of this world and every activity has an impact. For now, you have to pick what it is, not the religion of the state.