Death to Freedom: The Beginning

By Keith Hickman

Death to freedomis a short story that starts in the future and ends in the past. This is the first of two novels. This first novel is about the near future, where society has been transformed.A common man writes a compelling article about how to fix society. This article takes notice and a movement that radically takes over all the world's goverments and abolishes religion. The New World Social Society (N.W.S.S.) is a Social/Fasist Regen that takes over the whole world. A persons ability to master skill levels in the educational system determines a persons placement in society.

The story revolves around a group of teenagers and their grandparents. The teens are all in different parts of the educational system; while their grandparents live in a commune outside of the city. The grandparents commune is comprised of retired military and scientist. They are working in a secret underground complex trying to produce a black-hole in order to find another planet to live on. All the while the N.W.S.S. is getting closer to finding them out.

The next novel is about them going back in time to ancient Greece in search of Alantis. If they can't find it, then they are going to make their own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 27, 2008
• ISBN: 9781452061030

Keith Hickman

Story is written by Keith Hickman: Retired Submarine Service, Retired Hospital Engineer, BS Degree Workforce Education/Development, AS Degree Liberal Arts, Certificate in Human Service; Mental Health/Substance Abuse, and over 26 Electronic, Management and Supply Schools from the service. Published seven other books of different genre from AuthorHouse.

Book preview

The Beginning

by

Keith Hickman

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AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2010 Keith Hickman. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 7/15/2010

ISBN: 978-1-4389-0456-6 (sc)

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Dedicated to John Casey

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Preface

Freedom,… It Is not just a word, an impulse nor even purely an idea in and of itself. It is, in fact, a noble exercise in idealism that is gained only through the pain, misery, bloodshed and broken lives of those who chose her, and which can ultimately lead to the greatness of those people for whom it is obtained. In order for this form of life governing system to be destroyed, every aspect of its reality must be transformed. This transformation, however, can only be executed through an allowance made by God, whom alone repays those who try to go beyond that which He has ordained for them to do.

And then, as a matter in the course in time, … that which had gone on before, … only fades into the past, and there, … becomes the prologue for that which shall be to come!

Chapter 1

IN THESE FOLLOWING pages, we wish to tell you of a specific cause and its resulting effect. This cause is nothing more than an action that initiates a reaction, which in its self, whether for good or evil, right or wrong, or for success or failure is of little consequence to us at this point. It is, however, important only in so far as we will here entertain one such action that, as we will witness in our story, sets off a profound and prestigious reaction. We begin with the cause as it was formulated and then acted upon, and we will further expound upon its rippling effect which it had upon the very future of life as we know it. Then, in conclusion, we will note the final results that were afforded to and by a number of persons on whom its effect had held sway, and whom had chosen to deal with it in, shall we say, a most … unique manner.

Our story begins here, as we meet a fellow of little importance to us or who would not even have been recognized by many of his peers during his own life time. As for his name, we will call him … Joe. This name should suit us nicely not only for the sake of argument and for the fact that we wish him no ill will, but also for the reasons that we would wish there be not any jeopardy or harm prospectively aimed toward his person nor to endanger his future actions. The main reason for this is that we believe it to be the very will of God, who intervenes in the affairs of men, who set us up just such scenarios as this, and so, we should leave it in His hands to deal with His actions and there resulting consequences. Thus it is that we should note him only as a non-entity for these sakes, although to be sure, he is an actual character who played a very real role in the scheme of things that we are now about to expose to the world. That is, of course, if we do not find ourselves censored by the powers that be whom would that none see these things, and there by, be able to act upon them themselves as did those we are about to tell you about.

LAYING THE MAGAZINE aside, Joe reflected upon the article still so fresh in his mind, and considered the effects its contents had on society at large. The longer he allowed his thoughts to explore the article’s points, positions and the author’s commentarial views on the subject matter, the stronger he became aware of a growing sense of need. It was a sense of need prodding him to formally act upon his own feelings and beliefs regarding the issues that had been expounded upon in the article he had just finished reading. This awareness began as a small itching at some undetermined recess of his mind, but grew into an irritation in his thoughts, and into a realm of such anxiousness that it became quite apparent to him that he could no longer ignore the nagging it caused his consciousness. Finally, out of a feeling of near desperation and a strong sense of required self-expression, Joe moved from his chair and wandered into the den to prop himself up against his computer’s keyboard. Slowly, at first but building in speed and intent, he tapped at the keys with growing forcefulness, as he spelt out just exactly what his intentions were in relationship to the article’s subject. If you please, therefore, we would now wish to submit here for your inspection, the verbatim contents of his correspondence.

Dear publisher, or to whom this may concern:

I wish to express the interest and enjoyment I had in reading your article on education in this country, which was printed in this month’s addition of your periodical. I strongly agree with your point that there is a need for an educational reform in our country. The MEAN SYSTEM OF GRADING, as you rightly pointed out in your article, has caused an effect on our children, which is most unsatisfactory. This system has forced our children into a common or average mold of accomplishment and recognition. Although it was never intended to be used, in the sense of the word, as a form of cruelty for cruelties sake, it has, nevertheless, committed a great disfavor against our children by making them - as a general rule based upon its very nature - average. By employing a system of multiple choice and compounded by a bell curve form of grading, it has placed children into one of three categories (to which I will refer shortly).

I realize that this form of evaluation and assessment was meant to reflect our society‘s true nature, but it has failed in this cause miserably. It is set upon the premise that ours is a perfect society, but in reality our society is, as I am sure you realize, actually far from perfect; nor might it be so considered as such by any stretch of the imagination. Our educational system deals with kids. Kids (or children should you prefer the term) are, by their very nature, actually extremely complicated and far from perfection. As I see it (and here I shall concede the point rendered by the ideology of the MEAN SYSTEM regarding this one particular point) there most certainly does seem to be three major types of individuals, allowing for a few minor types of lesser importance for the sake of dispute, of whom we collectively refer to as children.

First, I refer to the middle classification of young people; I begin here because these make up the largest group of individuals by this particular form of classification. These persons are usually from middle class families, from which, both parents have had completed the educational goals of high school and who have had some form of degree earned by attending an accredited college, or at least have been able to learn a quantity of skilled labor proficiency which can afford them a comfortable measure of demand within the market place of employment. Thus, they are able to achieve a fairly reasonable income for themselves and their families. These people generally live in a private resident or single family housing unit of some substance. They generally earn enough to provide themselves and their families adequate to abundant nutrition access and can most generally afford reasonably fashionable attire and enjoy many of life‘s luxuries with little stress upon their budgetary allotments. Furthermore, they are generally considered to be well adjusted to societies’ ‘norm’ and have formulated what might be called a cheerful and promising disposition towards life.

Secondly, we have the poverty or lower class children. Children who have come from broken homes, and have experienced trauma of some degree or level; there is frequently substance abuse within their homes, they suffer malnutrition and can afford only inexpensive or second-hand clothing. Many times these kids have a single parent (extremely rare are both genetic parents) at home, and they are such as who have not completed high school, received a G.E.D, or at best are those whom have received very little in the way of formal skilled training of any sort. Their parentage are also frequently illiterate and may have otherwise dysfunctional problems, which may be classified as either developmental or emotional disabilities. Indeed, these children have parents who are frequently as immature or less mature than they themselves, and many times, they find themselves having to care for their parent rather than the parent caring for them. This class of child frequently have to deal with rearing their own siblings while their parents are else wise involved with self-indulgent behaviors. They generally find themselves living in inter-cities, tenement housing and even substandard homes or in run down trailer parks.

Then finally, there are the isolated, most upper crust of society. These children are raised in rural areas and are among the very rich and well to do class of citizens. They attend private schools and receive highly paid tutoring, or are home schooled by well-educated parents. But because of this, they have little to no contact outside of their world, and have not had the opportunity to experience what it is like to have normal social interaction with those of un-like means or with those of other cultures. Some find it difficult to understand life outside of their own circles. Indeed, many have little knowledge of the real world other than what they may have seen on television, in theaters or have read in books. Thus, they are forced into developing a false sense of humanity. Therefore, it is my premise that to have our schools uniform is ludicrous to the point of being on the very verge of madness.

One of the biggest problems, as I see it, is the way in which schools deal with problem children, (a subset of any, and indeed all, of the above classifications of children discussed); those who do not appear to automatically fit into the mold of what we call, ‘average.’ They are seen as hyperactive, slow, or disruptive, and are therefore placed on various drugs, rather than having them properly examined and assessed so as to meet their unique needs. By so doing, we would expedite the employment of their strengths while building on their weaknesses, and there by help them to fit into normality at large. Indeed, I feel it would be far better to assist these children by helping them redirect and re-channel their energies into more productive activities. Activities such as the skills that are taught by many of the Eastern and Asian schools of meditation and thought would be most helpful in this pursuit.

I also strongly feel that children need to feel safe in school and should be taught skills, which will make them cooperatively productive citizens of our society. To secure this for them, schools need to teach them the skills required to assist them in becoming active members of our society. The way to fulfill this, as I see it, can be laid out in a simple plan to which I will now outline.

First, they should quit the practice of having children change classrooms, as they now so often are required to do. This practice causes a huge disruption in the learning process by disrupting their concentration and results in a loss of acquired knowledge due to intervening periods of inactivity, which could otherwise be usefully utilized in the educational process. Rather than this, children should be taught their lessons within the classroom, and then allowed to practice the acquired information in a practical application format while the information is still fresh in their minds.

Homework should not be a part of this format; all work should be done in the classroom since to do otherwise is really to cause a great deal of a burden on these youths. Assigning external work forces children to carry heavy backpacks, this can cause back problems in later life. Furthermore, such assignments can contribute to the loss of millions of dollars worth in textbooks each year. It also relies much too heavily on the parental factor which, in the case of many children, leaves them in a situation where they may be faced with frustration because of many factors. For instance, their parents may have factors within their own lives that make them or cause them to have an inability to assist them. That is to say, as I’ve said before, they themselves may very well be lacking in the basic skills and knowledge with which to properly answer the questions these children are faced with in completing such assignments. If indeed they are to be involved at all, they should first be required to take tests that will reflect their competency. To demonstrate this point, I would wager that given the G.E.D. test, even many members of our governing bodies would fail with flying colors!

Nevertheless, and perhaps even more importantly, the parents are the most influential persons in a child’s life. It therefore follows suit that these children are more likely to believe their parents over that of their teachers and instructors, especially when it comes to certain matters of education, morality and ethical lessons. This in turn can thwart many of the efforts made by our educational systems to give these children a proper, scientifically sound education, and leave them in the quagmires of superstition and bigotry!

However, I digress here, let me return to my main point considering this idea of homework and the problems it can cause; can you imagine the frustrating effects of a child who is given a specific assignment, which is too difficult for them to completely comprehend? They request the assistance of their father, who believing themselves a self made man, in turn refers them to their mother for assistance, by saying something like; "Now honey I ain’t never needed no learnin’ from no books! Ain’t never did see no good in any o’ that waste o’ time n’ all, no how! So be a good girl there n’ go n’ ask your ma,’ she knows all about that there stuff n‘ all anyway. The child then asks her mother for help, who in turn replies, Not now sugar, can’t you see I’m busy fixin’ dinner! You want your daddy gitten’ mad again and fussin’ up the place? It ain’t all that important that you do all that stuff anyhow, ‘cause you’re probably just gonna’ get pregnant before you finish school anyway and go on Social Subsidy like I did. Now, go n’ play, dinner will be ready soon n’ we can talk about it after my game show tonight. Okay? That’s a good girl, now go. The next morning in class, the child nervously raises her hand to request information from her instructor about how to complete the previous night’s assignment. To this, the teacher in return (though not necessarily with maliciousness) expresses displeasure in the child and explains that she was to work with her parents in completing the task. Ridiculed, the child may never ask another question in class again, and grow further incompetent due to such traumatic exposures, especially during those formative years of life. Yes, parental involvement in a child’s learning sounds all warm and fuzzy, but in reality, it is all too often the worse thing we can do for our kids. Such a child, as above discussed, will fall into the cracks of the MEAN system, where only the top ten percent will succeed and further their education into college, seventy percent will be average," and twenty percent will be in prison within a matter of a few years of dropping out of school altogether or become pregnant as the poor girl just described! This form of teaching is dooming the vast majority of our children to failure!

We should teach our children using a system, which requires a mastery in the topic that is taught. This would require a child to complete a test with one hundred percent understanding of a subject before moving on to the next level, or class of lessons. All too often children have been pushed through the levels of schooling without even comprehending the very basics of the subject matters in the most primary levels! Are we keeping kids in schools for the convenience of society? Merely keeping them off the streets, or should we not utilize this time to optimize their obtaining knowledge that will produce well-adjusted, cooperative workers and professionals?

Now, concerning children who are disruptive and those who have need for special assistance, they should be placed into specialized classrooms. These rooms could be designed in such a way as to allow instructors to be better able to handle and teach their students at a greater degree of competency, control and ease. I would create a classroom environment that would be somewhat like a collection of segmented squares or cubicles, set up in a pyramid like structure. Special cubicles should been built that would afford the child all that he or she would require for the day, but in which they could communicate only with the instructor, thus providing each student with a one to one type of interaction with their instructor. Equally important, this would prevent them from interacting with other students and, therefore, prevent them from disrupting other students while schoolwork is being carried out.

For children who are overly active, I would strongly suggest that they be involved in some type of special physical fitness training every morning, followed by some form of martial arts or Asian meditation training. This would in turn, help them to redirect their overly active energies into a more controllable environment, and would also serve to allow them to use their energies more efficiently once they were allowed to return to the more academically inclined aspects of their training.

Now, in discussion of those who have difficulty learning from books and, or other more conventional methods of training. They could be taught using various skills by utilizing a more hands-on approach in their training. This would allow them to experience instructional aids that can provide verbal teaching methods to reinforce what reading they would be required to do. Also, various arts, plays and other demonstrational training aids could and should be employed to convey explanations and demonstrations with relation to mathematical applications, scientific principles, and even historical material. Not only would such instructional methods help the leaning impaired, but it would also make it all the more interesting and alive for such students. Another important tool would be the employment of field trips to various industrial institutions and economic business centers and other hubs of commerce. These too could be used in the facilitation of their learning activities.

At the risk of being too long winded while on my ‘soapbox,’ there is yet one other area in need of reform, and that is the incongruity that exists between the two-year and four-year college systems! Colleges need to all be on the same page. The universities need to accept all credits, which are accrued in junior colleges. There is nothing quite as frustrating as for a student to work hard for two years only to find that many of the classes he had taken are not accepted in the university he needs to attend to complete his studies in a specific field.

There should also be offered special schooling for adults who need preparation that can prepare them to enter college, especially if for some reason they had not been able to do so for a number of years following graduation from high school (if indeed they were able to graduate from high school at all). It is great that children have high school to prepare them to go on to higher education, but all too often, there are those who have had events in their lives which might have prevented them from continuing their education, until many years later. This leaves them in a position in which they find themselves greatly hampered by difficulties and unable to regenerate the skills necessary to be able to take up where they had left off. Nevertheless, these adult targeted learning centers need to be completely separated from those who cater to adolescents and the younger generations, thus preventing embarrassment for the older learner.

Finally (although I dare say that I believe it to be the most paramount of points on this subject) is that we need to aggressively reverse the idealistic esteem for prejudice which has been so prevalently reinforced, or at least inferred to, throughout the years, in our schools. True it is not overtly taught, but it is not strongly enough discouraged, nor has it been successfully and finally brought to an end in this country. Racial, social, and sexually related prejudice must be ended once and for all. No socially under-evolved society can ever rise to true greatness until all people are considered equal! And the core reason that such prejudices continue to be so prevalent, is because of the infectious hatred that is continually infused into our society by religion! That is the one evil most responsible for the wars we have suffered through out the ages, and like a cancer, it must be cut out and extracted from the organism once and for all! We shall never see true peace until there is true equality among all persons!

Most sincerely yours

Joe Average

IT WAS THIS letter, propagated through all of the major media forums, which started the revolution. This was the cause that resulted in the effect which became the most rapidly growing political and social reform ever seen on the face of the planet. A new party rose to power using this forum. The ideas expressed within these few drops of ink on paper, were used as the ammunition that not only defeated the two major parties in America, those which had held power for longer than one hundred years, but it also vanquished all other runner ups for the seats of justice and political sway everywhere - world wide. The new party was called The New World Social Society, and it seemed to rise to power almost over night. Destroying all of the vestiges of the democratic processes, as well as the other governing bodies known to earth, which it was designed to replace, it did so, so rapidly that none could foresee its resulting power. It was a new form of socialism that blossomed and grew from a grass-root stronghold of elitist who came to power with it. And as it grew with astounding speed and power, it did so without any seemingly desire to express any lack of self-restraint, nor would it seem to have any bounds or limitations to the atrocities that followed in its development. Neither did it seem that anyone could wish to resist it, for it seemed the whole world embraced it as a cherished goal. Thus, it took hold, climbing and claiming a worldwide organization that took rule over the whole planet and accomplished this in less than a decade. And as it grew and prospered, it replaced every form of governing body, which up to that time, had held any power anywhere in the world. It eventually became the secondary cause in our equation, which had the effect of performing a slow and deliberate death to freedom.

Chapter 2

BOY, DOES THAT leg itch! Johnny Jones complained while rubbing vigorously at the inner aspect of his right thigh, a painful scowl ruling over his facial features.

Well don’t scratch it you big dummy! You’ll get it all infected! Johnny’s friend, Bob Anderson, scolded him sourly with a stern glare.

Yeah, I know. But this new upgraded implant is just plain driving me crazy! Bob’s friend complained in return for his own defense, his face still expressing the displeasure he felt with a screwed up grimace of pain.

Really? What kind of implant did you get? Bob asked with interest, drawing closer in a conspiratorial move and looking about them to see if anyone else might be listening to their discussion.

Oh man, … this one is really cool! Johnny divulged to him in hushed tones. It has a pulse generator inside, … and its so much better than the larger one they had put in when I was younger, ya’ know?" Johnny explained with increasing eagerness as he warmed to the discussion.

Really, what’s it like? How’s it work?

Well, it uses a new kinda’ micro-technology. Its only, you know, … like about three inches long and … less than a millimeter wide or thick too, … ya’ know? he went on, his excitement still growing with each word, as he relished explaining the new system to his friend. its really, really small, and they injected it right here, … the boy pulled up the right pant leg of the shorts he was wearing and pointed to the small reddish area that dominated a swelling just above the knee, inside of his thigh. They attached it to the wall of the large artery er’ vein right here.

Gee, ya’ know, … it didn’t even leave much of a mark er’ nothin’. Bob noted with a hint of awe in his voice as he inspected the surgical site.

Yeah, and it uses my heart to generate the electrical energy to run it, so I don’t ever have ta’ have any battery changed later on! Its the pumping of my heart that generates the power for it, and it has some kinda’ quartz crystal in it that acts like a … pulse generator. Ya’ know what I mean? It works kinda’ like one a’ those … wave generators. You know, like what they use in the ocean, or in rivers and streams to supply all the energy to the city n’ stuff. Only this one is using a new micro-sized technology. That’s the kind they grow artificially, ya’ know, … they actually got bio-labs that actually grow the quartz crystals. Its all done in them SiFi like lab’s where they work with bio-metals in zero gravity, the boy went on, and then added with equal enthusiasm, Oh yeah, and it can even generate enough electricity that I can connect to the GPS system and even the internet too, … if I wanna.’ Johnny finally smiled with pride at his friend.

Wow man, like, … I’d heard about that system, but I never thought that they’d have it out so soon. Bob paused for a moment and then asked with a pursing of his lips, Say man, … does it really work as good as they say it suppose ta’ n’ all? He asked with genuine wonder, his face alight with marvel over the new piece of equipment his friend had installed.

Yeah, n’ better! Johnny assured him seriously. N’ ya’ wanna’ know what else? It even comes with these lifetime guaranteed ocular lenses they stuck in my eyes … they’re made sos’ that I don’t never have ta’ have ‘em taken out er’ nothin.’ They got ‘em all connected up to my ocular nerve with micro-fibers which is really neat. But, like, ya’ know what else? The best thing is that it has a system that attaches the whole thing to my cochlear nerve too!

The cock-u’lar … what? Bob asked, clearly confused by the statement and odd sounding word.

The cochlear nerve, … you know, the ah … inner ear n’ all that kind of stuff. That means I can watch my favorite music video and hear it in perfect surround sound. But then I can also delete sounds I don’t wanna’ hear too.

You mean kind of like that awful musical your mom’s always watching … what’s it called? ‘The Sound of Music er’ somethin’?

"Yeah that’s right. And I can even delete things like the music or scenes from scary movies … you know … the kind that really scare me at night.

Wow man … that is really Novu’lar! And I mean ultra gigaton man! Bob interjected with a smile of genuine envy as he consider the advantages that such an implant would have over his own implant.

Yeah, but there’s more, it also has a ‘Mecca Nero-processor’ that lets me down load and store billions of bits of information in just seconds, … or, if I want, I can even down load one bit at a time. I can do it anyway I wanna.’ Johnny continued, sounding almost like a sale‘s representative for the manufacture.

Man-o-man, I gotta get me one of those!

And another thing, … Johnny pushed on, my mom likes it ‘cause she can keep in constant contact with me. Using the GPS tracker in it, she knows exactly where I am all the time. She could be on a plane to … you know, Rome er’ something and yet its like she’s right there where I am. It’s set up so she can even see and hear everything I see and hear. That’s the part she likes the best. ‘Course, I can put in it on privacy mode for a short while, like when I use the bathroom … or in the locker room during gym, you know? That kinda’ thing n’ all. But then again,…. Johnny said sounding a bit more remorsefully in his tone as he considered its downside. … She can also put up parental blocks as well, … ya’ know what I mean? The kind a’ controls that blanks out some a’ the things she thinks that I shouldn’t see or hear. Johnny paused for a moment to consider a thought that had just crossed his mind, and then added with excitement; Hey, and ya’ know what else? I can even connect to a self diagnostic medical system that can diagnose and give me a visit with a real live virtual doctor of my own too … anytime, anywhere … and whether er’ not I‘m not sure if I‘m feeling alright or not… ya’ know? Of course, the only real dump about that is, I can’t fake being sick without my parents knowing about it. Johnny paused a moment longer in reflection before finally adding with resignation in his tone, but I guess that that’s alright, ‘cause I like school a lot, … and besides, I never hide anything from my mom or dad anyway. As he finished his tone had taken on a deeper sense of thoughtfulness.

"Gosh Johnny, you must