THE COMPLEX
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The complex began amidst scattered charities, private foundations, and government welfare agencies. At that time, it was popular for TV programs to allow viewers to vote on their favorite competitors for a cell fee. And this became feasible enough that government sponsored talent contests could be instituted in lieu of national lotteries.
In line with this new focus, the requirements for government benefits became more and more skill oriented.
Private foundations extended their backing to a greater number of promising individuals. And charities expanded their support of the arts to include more of the skilled crafts. Both were hoping to capitalize on the new competency mandates. Soon, these organizations were awarded oversight of public assistance programs. And this quickly resulted in one centralized network whose main function was to provided funds for anyone of any talent.
Meanwhile, people had also started using their personal devices to vote for each other (for fun). But since these votes could be instantly tallied to determine an individual’s growth and potential, brokers started evaluating people along with other stocks. And because this information was available on the net and could easily be accessed by anyone with a smart card, credit (and eventually cash) was being completely phased out in favor of privilege.
A person’s privileges-earned came to be calculated by a fairly simple formula. The formula took into consideration value, worth, votes cast, votes received, and the weight of each vote (which, in turn, was based on the value or worth of the individual casting the vote).
Value was determined by self-voting (it happened). Or value was determined by the number of times a person voted for someone who voted for him in return (couples played this game). Plus, value increased as votes accumulated interest, over time.
Worth was determined by other’s votes (as people voted… instead of paying for services rendered, for instance). And when a person’s worth was not commensurate to their value, private foundations and public charities kicked in to make up the difference.
Wireless companies grew so huge and were bailed out so many times that they were finally forced to take responsibility for all charitable debt. Conn-Ed became the industry giant. Conn-Ed insured stock that was over valued in comparison to its worth. This led to even more frivolous uses of technology and Conn-Ed’s privileges skyrocketed. Plus, it gave them an interest in the winners.
The prison system and the military came to control all private debt. This firm became known as The Joint. The Joint bet on the stocks which were worth the most. And by having their hands in the pot, they became privy to important information about individual preference from which they created the psychological assessments they used to profile the losers.
Conn-Ed and The Joint merged but maintained their separate identities. This mirrored the two party system most people seemed to prefer. It gave the illusion of choice. It retained separation-of-powers, checks-and-balances and adversarial law. And, most importantly, it kept the economics of competition alive in the absence of a profit motive.
The Complex was formed. The Complex! The title referred to both the new government and also to the giant stadium mall they were building to house the national contest. The Contest determined who was qualified for top positions. And talents of every imaginable kind were verified at all levels by The Review.
A vote for your favorite candidate is a vote for your government!
People bought in. Some sold out. These coupled or joined groups. They became Demos. Demos voted for each other and saved their votes. And they came to understand themselves in terms of how much they were valued. The Demo mindset was most beneficial for anyone wishing to earn the benevolent support of Conn-Ed.
If people were skilled, however, they displayed their talents publicly. Every consecutive vote accrued weight and added to an individual’s self-worth. As such, these individuals (or Reps) were sure to attract The Joint’s attention. And, glory was bound to follow….
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