Polis

By Thierry Bréboin

14 November 2083

Almost 50 years after the collapse of our thermo-industrial civilisation, our world has gone through some immense changes. Financial, economic, political, and societal crises, natural and climate catastrophes, mass human migrations, worldwide pandemics, and the disappearance or increasing scarcity of fossil fuels have taken centre stage over the last five decades. Human civilisation has halved in size and is trying to rebuild a new world.

Grandpa Phil now lives in Polis, where the New Constitution, established in 2035, follows an absolute dogma of reverence towards Nature and Mother Earth. Political organisation and daily life are based on this founding principle.

Jeremy, together with the team from the ground-breaking project Hypo, and Sylvia, the Minister of Mother Earth in Polis, will be forced to deal with an imminent threat.

NEOM, an ultra-futuristic “Smart City” run by quantum computers, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology is based on a philosophy that is diametrically opposed to that which is followed in Polis. Humanoids and cyborgs outnumber human beings here. Human cloning is carried out on an industrial scale. All inhabitants and visitors in NEOM have to be injected with a subcutaneous identity microchip.

Julie, a genius in quantum physics that is responsible for the Artificial Intelligence department, will try to alert the outside world about a terrible threat being planned by the Governor of NEOM. She will have to confront her fate. She will learn about her past and have to make a defining decision for the future.

This social science fiction novel raises philosophical questions about human beings’ place on planet Earth, the limits to growth at all costs, overconsumption and extreme consumerism.

Will human civilisation finally live in harmony with Nature and planet Earth? Will it finally understand that it is only a guest here for an indeterminate amount of time and that it is therefore essential to protect and respect this original Eden that is our Mother Earth? Or will it continue to exploit, pillage, and overconsume, in a spirit of individualism and a headlong rush towards a belief in infinite growth? Is it able to muster some self-control, or does it need to be governed, conditioned, and manipulated?

This is the message of POLIS , the first volume of the trilogy APRES DEMAIN: it is a story about a possible future, which is dramatic, realistic, and so close to now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thierry Bréboin
• Release date: Sep 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781838127015

Book preview

I HAVE A DREAM

"He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 – 1968), an American Baptist Minister

2038. Polis. At the foot of the Giant Kauri Tree, in the Grand Agora.

Phil stood barefoot on the stage. In front of him, more than a million people were spread out around the Grand Agora and its adjacent streets chanting Polis! Polis! Polis!. Placards containing short but hard-hitting slogans were being brandished everywhere. No watchword had been given but people were dressed in green and white, symbolizing nature and purity. Behind him, the Giant Kauri tree seemed to cover him with its eyes as it unfurled its immense branches, like a guardian angel.

After much reflection and widespread support, he had finally given in and decided to run in the 2038 elections. His candidacy for the Ministry of Mother Earth had been formalized a month earlier. Mike had finally convinced him to take over the reins of the country. The movement that had begun when the people of New Zealand seized power in 2035 had been a success. The New Constitution and the rules of the new political institutions had established a solid base and strong foundations. Nonetheless, the zeal from the time of the rebellion had not yet translated into long-awaited radical change. There was still a lot to be done.

The March for Polis would be sure to set him and his followers on the path to lasting change. There was a lot more fervor now than in 2035, and with good reason. Phil, Jackie, Mike, Manutea and everyone in the first circle group had set off from Auckland for Wellington on day one, accompanied by 10,000 others. Two weeks later a procession of two million people converged on the capital. Nearly half of New Zealand’s population had gathered to support what had been accomplished in the past three years, and most importantly, to keep up the necessary and continuing efforts.

His program had been widely distributed throughout the island during the ‘March for Polis’. It addressed some key issues and was easy for everyone to understand.

Firstly, there was a manifesto to accompany his candidacy (attached on the following page) that set out the reasons for the establishment of the Six Ministries: the State Department for Life, affiliated to the Ministry of Happiness and Well-Being, the Ministry of Knowledge and Understanding, the Ministry of Sustainable Goods and Recycling, and the Ministry of Fair Trade.

The most symbolic change was the Ministry of Economy and Finance losing its status in favor of the Ministry of Exchange and Mutual Aid.

Phil had suggested a new name. From now on, New Zealand and its currency would be called Polis. The day after the voting results, a call for submissions would be launched to reimagine and create a new flag for Polis. There would then be a national referendum to decide on the final choice of this new national emblem.

Lots of speaker cabinets had been installed in the Main Square and in the adjacent streets. His most loyal supporters were grouped around Jackie, Mike and Manutea who stood in the background.

Phil walked to the middle of the stage, microphone in hand. The crowd cheered him.

Manifesto for Polis

10 priorities for 2038

Priority no.1 – The creation, within a 3-year period, of 100,000 communities by way of eco-hamlets and eco-villages. Each community will be energy self-sufficient. Aid, support and training will be provided to build eco-housing for the entire population.

Priority no.2 – The total cessation of intensive agriculture within 12 months in favor of permaculture and agro ecology. Access to medicinal plants for all. Assistance, support and training provided during the transition period.

Priority no.3 - Three daily heart coherence sessions to be held in all schools and classes with the addition of a daily Pilates session for all in public spaces.

Priority no.4 – The immediate retraining of primary and secondary teachers in new technologies and areas of knowledge by mentors.

Priority no.5 – To record and archive all knowledge and skills in a large database accessible to all. The project will last for the whole term.

Priority no.6 – Pollution intensive industries to be shut down within 3 months in favor of craft industries.

Priority no.7 – Priority to be given to recycling rather than the production of any new consumer goods with immediate effect.

Priority no.9 – The immediate creation of a new currency called Polis, independent of the global banking system. The immediate closure of all financial institutions on Polis, including the New Zealand Stock Exchange.

Priority no.10 – Priority to be given to trade interaction and mutual assistance. Introduction of the notion of the ‘Permaconomy’.

THE TIME IS NOW! WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!

"My dear Citizens of Polis,

First of all, I’d like to extend my warmest and most sincere thanks to you all for coming here.

Together we’ve crossed bridges and rivers.

Together we’ve felt this Mother Earth who nourishes us beneath our feet.

If you’ve come here today, it’s because you know that we still have a long way to go, and that there will be many obstacles in our path.

It will take a lot of dedication and determination to avoid and overcome these obstacles.

It has been an honor and privilege for me to meet citizens such as yourselves these last two weeks. Good people, who are ready for real, radical and lasting change. Our consciousness has evolved over this past three years and what once appeared to be a utopian ideal is now recognized as a necessity, a commitment even.

I have bumped into many of you along the way who have asked me, why Polis?

Well, Polis means city-state in Greek. This was the civilization who gave us the principle of democracy a little over 2,000 years ago. Democracy in Greek means people power and this democracy of ours has been flouted and abused for centuries.

Three years ago, the People’s Government gave you back your sovereignty as a result of the New Constitution and now it’s you who’ll be the decision makers, and not those few whose personal interests have dictated their policies to the detriment of the many.

That type of government is a thing of the past, it’s gone forever. Our present and future is now. It’s Polis! We’re all in this together!

In order to incorporate the changes we initiated in 2035 into our daily lives we’re renaming our country. From now on we’re Polis and our flag shall be the symbol that connects us to this new identity!"

He paused for a short while, letting the cheers ring out around the main square.

"However, as you know, there’s still much to be done. Throughout this journey I’ve listened attentively to all of your concerns and also to hopes, anxieties and fears.

At every juncture and on countless occasions I have responded to you, and now once more I’m responding to you."

He raised his voice and took a deep breath.

"Twenty years ago, in 2018, I was still a student. I was 21 years old. Yes, now you know how old I am."

He smiled and paused. The audience laughed.

"I was full of hopes and dreams and had an irresistible desire to live life to its fullest. Then I read the Meadows report ‘The Limits to Growth’ and came across the term collapsology and the demise of our thermo-industrial civilization. Climate change and biodiversity were the words on everyone’s lips. I understood that we were living in a finite world. It may seem obvious today, but to put this in context, only about ten thousand of us were really aware of this. So, I decided to engage in non-violent, meaningful activism because whenever the government spoke about ecological transition, they sent everyone to sleep!

Increasingly we would have to educate them about ecology without transition. I was young and full of passion. That was 20 years ago.

The Meadows report was published 66 years ago, and tens of millions of copies were sold. For my part, when I turned over the first page of a book that would change my life, I’d soon come to realize that there were limits to growth and that our system was leading us down a blind alley. I saw that it wasn’t a matter of whether we were heading for disaster or not, we most definitely were, but it was more to do with the speed we were going. Was it 50 kilometers an hour or 5?I

Most governments were well aware of the existence of this report.

Dennis Meadows himself summed up very well the evolution of our leaders’ state of mind over the decades following the publication of his book.

In the 1970s, after a report commissioned by the Club of Rome, critics stated that ‘there are no limits to growth. Anyone who thinks there are simply doesn’t understand anything.’ At the end of the ‘Les Trente Glorieuses’II even two oil crises could not overcome their overall sense of denial.

In the 1980s, the narrative was much more nuanced. Some people were beginning to admit ‘okay, there are limits but they are a long way off, so we don’t have to worry about them.’

Then, in the 1990s, the sacrosanct neoliberal economy was elevated to the status of religion. They’d say: ‘The limits may be getting closer, but we don’t need to worry about them because the markets and technology will solve any problems.’

In short, the experts presumably expected to postpone the inevitable or erase the non-erasable through economic stockpiling.

In the 2000s, the ‘Coué method’III was at its peak. ‘We must continue to support growth, because that is what will provide us with the resources we will need to deal with any problems.²’

In the mid-2010s, Dennis Meadow actually said in an interview, ‘we have simply continued to invent reasons why we haven’t changed our behavior. It is now too late for sustainable development. We must be prepared for a series of crises and as a matter of urgency build smaller, more resilient systems’.

We’ve arrived at this point now!

As a result of major financial, monetary and economic crises, millions of migrants and unprecedented political and societal crises, the world has woken up and is contemplating the damage it’s caused. We’ve been sleepwalking and the awakening has been brutal.

Didn’t Gandhi himself say: ‘the earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed?’

The only notable difference is that we haven’t been able to anticipate this crisis. We’re grappling with this damn thing that has been staring us in the face.

I’ll let the experts argue about the speed of impact.

I’ll also let the critics bicker about who’s to blame.

In my view we’re all responsible - politicians, business leaders and we citizens - and we all have to share the responsibility.

Just between us, how would a presidential candidate have scored 20 years ago who advocated a program based on the reduction of energy and resources? 0.5% maybe or 1%?

Economic man is like that. There’s no point in blaming your neighbor. That’s all in the past.

Let’s move towards the present and the future.

I had a dream last night.

We were all in the same boat, working together and making good headway. Everyone had a job to do. I had the considerable responsibility of setting course, though I was confident of the direction our ship Polis was taking. We weathered storms but we also enjoyed sunny days. ‘If we can’t change the direction of the wind, then we can adjust our sails.’IV

This way we’ll arrive safe and sound at our destination!"

The crowd cheered Phil once more and he continued on.

"This is why we must continue the work that was started in 2035.

I had a dream.

We were all driven by a common goal and I’ve shared this goal with you throughout this journey.

I can sum it up for you like this."

His tone of voice now became more insistent.

"On the one hand, we can make our economy more efficient and reduce the damage it causes.V

From tomorrow, there’ll be a general mobilization to carry out the construction of sturdy, self-sufficient eco hamlets and eco villages. The goal is to build 100,000 eco-hamlets in three years.

Intensive agriculture will be totally eradicated within twelve months to make way for a mix of permaculture, agroecology and agroforestry."

The crowd cheered each time a program was mentioned.

"All polluting industries will disappear within three months in favor of craft industries.

Recycling will become a national priority."

The ovation he received almost drowned out his words. He raised his voice by a few more decibels.

"On the other hand, let us learn the lessons of the past and remember what’s important for our society.

Individualism, selfishness and ignorance have only fueled the fire of a system that has become obsolete. These fires happening all over Mother Earth are testimony to our greed and avarice."

Before going on, he gestured for a moment of silence and looked out at his audience.

"I had a dream that one day mutual cooperation and sharing would be a given for everyone.

I had a dream that one day good will and empathy would become the norm in relationships between individuals.

I had a dream that one day we would all realize that anger, resentment, selfishness and revenge can only lead us down a blind alleyway.

I had a dream that one day we would understand that ‘letting our hearts guide us will always be more important than pursuing external success’VI

I had a dream that one day our daily actions would reflect that ‘we don’t inherit the land from our parents, we borrow it from our children.’VII

I had a dream that one day our children and grandchildren would have faith in the future, that they would no longer have to fear climate change and that violence would only be a distant memory from a forgotten time.

So today, at this time, I am making this wish for us all to come together for the common goal. All for one!

Unity is the key to our success.

The time is not tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

The time is now!"

The shouting from the crowd drowned out his voice.

"Know that none of us are alone here, not me, not you, you or you", he said pointing towards various people in the audience. "Our fate is in our own hands and we face it together.

We’re all of us in this together, and now is the time.

Let’s all make this dream a reality from this day forward.

Thank you so much."

He went quiet and with his arms raised to the sky and head held high, gazed out at the million people cheering him.

Jackie, Mike, Manutea and his inner circle surrounded him and congratulated him.

An historic moment had just taken place that was to change the future of Polis and perhaps the future of Mother Earth forever.

Speech by Philippe Busarello, in Polis,

on March 14, 2038.

IJean-Marc Jancovici

II The name was given by the French demographer Jean Fourastié for the unbroken period of economic prosperity and rising standards of living between 1945 and 1975, or more accurately, between the liberation of France in 1944 to the economic downturn triggered by the oil crisis of 1973.

III A method of self-mastery through positive autosuggestion

IV James Dean

VEdgar Morin

VI Confucius

VII Mahatma Gandhi

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

"A film is the director’s birthday party. He chooses the guests and the music and decides whether we wear hats or not ..."

Jodie Foster - American actress, director and producer.

November 14, 2083, 8:00 a.m. ‘Gaia Farm’.

Out of his circular eco-home, which had been built almost 50 years previously from hemp and lime, came an old, barefoot man.

Wisps of mist rose up over the surrounding fields. Birdsong heralded the dawning of a new day. Nature was releasing her morning scent of soil and dew.

So many roads had been travelled and obstacles overcome since he’d been exiled from Europe to Polis in 2030. During this time there had been his involvement in politics in 2038, the construction of ‘Gaia Farm’ and the collapse of the global thermo-industrial model based on growth and over-consumption.

As he walked alongside some other examples of these circular eco-homes he saw Cynthia working the land and carefully putting into practice the principles of permaculture.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Phil, she shouted to him.

Thanks, Cynthia. Have a good day, he replied with a smile.

Mother Earth is restoring the natural order once more, he thought to himself.

The harvest had been plentiful for almost 15 years. ‘Gaia Farm’, which he had created almost 50 years ago with a few friends, had flourished. A community of 45 people now lived in this eco-village.

The early years had not been easy. It had been necessary to rebuild everything from scratch and to reimagine a new model that favored sustainable resources and energies within a self-sufficient eco-system.

There were many other small communities throughout Polis who supported and networked with each other.

This small-scale communitarian development model was the most widespread and had become the norm since the people had seized power in 2035 and he had been elected Minister of Mother Earth in 2038. The idea was to be as autonomous as possible in terms of resources (water and food) and energy (electricity and heating).

A new system had been redesigned to give prominence to Mother Earth. Capitalism had been banned. A local currency, the Polis, was in use but more often than not you could barter or exchange goods and services. Altruism and mutual aid were an integral part of the values and traditions dear to Polis.

The principles of biodynamic architecture had been rigorously applied to all eco-homes and a drastic reduction in