Careful Measurements

by Layne D. Hansen

  “The crap he was talking about. That old jerk really believed in that stuff. I could tell.”

  She gave him a disbelieving look.

  “I’m serious. Most of the time, when you hear people talking about that crap, they’re just trying to sound intellectual. This guy didn’t sound that way to me. He sounded like he really believed it.”

  Jennifer leaned back and smiled at him. Patton hadn’t drunk all that much wine. He had a beer before they left the house but that was hours earlier. He was genuinely upset.

  “I think you need to just relax and have fun,” she said, trying to keep the mood light. “Our movie starts pretty soon. Why don’t we get our check and go?”

  But Patton just sat there with the same tight expression on his face, seeming to ignore her.

  “A man like that in a place like this,” he said, almost to himself, shaking his head in disgust. “That’s not good. There’s a serpent in the garden,” he said.

  Jennifer giggled at what sounded like a bad movie line. Their server walked by and Jennifer asked for their check.

  “If I didn’t know better I’d say you were drunk. Look, he’s probably spouting off to impress that girl. You could tell he was trying to jump her bones. I mean, you pulled that same stuff on me.”

  He jerked at that and she was glad to finally have his attention. When he met her gaze she laughed. Instead of matching her levity, his eyes bored into hers.

  “I’m not kidding. People like him are dangerous. And did you see the shirt she was wearing?”

  Jennifer shook her head. She was already tired of this conversation and was beginning to get tired of Patton’s crabby mood.

  “No, I didn’t notice her shirt, Patton,” she said, not trying to hide her annoyance with him.

  “Well, I’d bet you a hundred dollars you would’ve noticed if she’d been wearing an Adolf Hitler shirt.”

  “Yeah, I guess,” she agreed grudgingly.

  “That’s the thing … Hitler is seen as a bad guy and rightly so. Most people still think that Stalin was bad. But they don’t bat an eye at a Che shirt or a Mao shirt. Hell, Mao killed more people than Hitler and Stalin combined. Liberals love to make folk heroes out of monsters.”

  She folded her arms and shook her head.

  “What?” he asked innocently.

  She reached for her water glass but reconsidered. With him in this mood, she was going to need more alcohol. He could tell she wanted to respond so he said nothing.

  “You. You’re always right aren’t you.”

  He’d been married long enough to know that this type of statement was a trap. He started to answer and then reconsidered. He wasn’t going to win this one.

  “I grew up in California and my parents were liberal,” she continued. “I don’t recall them ever saying anything about Mao or anything like that.”

  Patton nodded. “I’m sure they didn’t,” he replied calmly, “but that was your own, personal experience. If you take the broader view of history you’ll see that American leftists have always defended leftist dictators.”

  Jennifer glared at him and took another drink of wine.

  “My parents just thought the government should help the poor. I don’t think that’s wrong.”

  Patton readjusted himself in his seat and took a long drink from his own wine glass. “Helping the poor isn’t bad,” he said calmly. “I just think that taking money from one person and giving it to another person is wrong. The biggest problem is that our government has decided what they think is a livable salary and then steal everything else.”

  “Steal?”

  “Yeah. Steal. Look,” he said, pointing to a table across the restaurant to where a young couple was sitting. “If I went over to that guy and took a hundred dollars out of that guy’s wallet and gave it to someone else, wouldn’t that be stealing?”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “—But what?” he said, cutting her off. “Is it or isn’t it?”

  She was silent for a moment. Finally she replied, “Yes. I guess technically you’re right. But the government has to have funds to operate.”

  Patton nodded and wiped his mouth with his napkin.

  “Yes, but don’t you think they’ve gone too far?”

  She didn’t respond.

  “The founding fathers wouldn’t even recognize their Constitution anymore,” Patton continued. “It’s been almost completely forgotten.”

  “How would you fix it then? Let those families starve?”

  That offended him and he let it show.

  “Of course not,” he said, trying to retain his calm. “Look at what Ronald Reagan did. He created an economy where everyone can go out and improve their own lives through work.”

  Jennifer’s rolled her eyes—a natural reaction to the name “Reagan.”

  “People had jobs with lower inflation and taxes. They could keep their own money and invest, save, or spend it how they wanted. But liberals will have you believe that making money is evil.”

  Jennifer had to admit he was right about this, but was exaggerating. She had no response.

  “Of course not. I haven’t told you this, but before I came here I was retired.”

  Her eyes went wide with surprise at that.

  “Retired?” she said, “You’re only forty-five.”

  He smiled, pleased with himself.

  “Yeah,” he said casually, “but I made good money. I worked hard. I was good at what I did. I invested that money and made millions.”

  “Millions? And you left all that money behind?”

  He sat back and shrugged and a humble expression.

  “No,” he said, almost whispering. “After my family died, and I was selected for this experiment, I gave it to my family and I gave a bunch to charity.”

  She looked at him, wanting to ask if he was serious, but could tell he was.

  “Wow,” was all she could muster.

  “I spent a lot of money too. I didn’t just save and invest. But what’s wrong with that? I earned it right? We had very low stress lives. We gave lots of money away to charity. We were able to travel and spend money and put a lot back into the economy. Why is that such a bad thing?”

  She shrugged.

  “I mean, when I bought a car, the car dealer had money to pay his employees. I had a big house, but I paid a construction company who paid its employees. Those employees went out into the community and spent money. Liberals know what creates a good economy but they choose not to let it happen. They just want people to be dependent on them and their programs.”

  “Do you honestly believe that they’re out to purposely destroy the economy? Why would they do that?”

  He leaned back to give his full stomach some relief.

  “I know it’s harsh to say, but yes. They want to do things their own way, even if it doesn’t work. Reagan didn’t do anything to raise poverty rates or homelessness. That’s all propaganda. That success continued on through the Bushes and Clinton.”

  “What about Obama?” she asked with a smirk, knowing what his reaction would be.

  Patton sniffed derisively.

  “Don’t get me started.”

  Knowing of only one way to get Patton off of his rant, she scooted close to him and placed her hand high up on his thigh. She leaned into him and whispered, “Oh, I’ll get you started. Let’s get out of here.”

  His face was suddenly red, his breathing suddenly shallow. He cleared his throat and said “Good idea. Let’s go.”

  Michael Varner gazed around in wonder. The streets, the buildings, the sidewalks—they were all here because of him. Everything that all of these people were currently enjoying had come from inside his brain. He looked over at his wife and smiled. Their interlocked hands swung back and forth as they had when they were first dating.

&nbs
p; The one thing that amazed Varner the most was that no one had recognized him. Just the night before his face was plastered on the big screen that over ten thousand people could see. Here on the busy streets, though, not a single person stopped him or even looked at him with familiarity.

  Varner grew up on a corn farm in Iowa. By the time he graduated from high school, he was tired of corn and dirt and tractors. Instead of studying agriculture at college, as his father and brother had, he wanted to become an architect. It was during his second year of school when he started to think bigger. He was accepted into the city planning program and quickly found that planning and logistics were his passion.

  Varner’s first job out of college was with the planning commission in Des Moines. He quickly found there was little room for movement. He started applying for jobs in larger cities and landed a job in Chicago. He enjoyed the challenge, but eventually realized that he was better suited for self employment.

  Varner took a leap of faith, quit his job, and started a planning and logistics firm—a company that eventually grew and morphed into Insight Resource. Landing the government contract for this experiment was a coup, but it wasn’t without its challenges. The biggest of which was dealing with the federal government, especially the smarmy senator who’d sponsored the bill. Luckily his visit had been brief. Better yet, Varner got the sense that the senator was just going through the motions. He would likely never get involved in anything to do with this experiment.

  Despite the palpable excitement of the new town and the experiment, Varner intermittently felt dread. The worst part was his inability to describe the cause. Perhaps it was the fact that there was no governmental structures or institutions to keep the society in order. Perhaps it was the fact that private entities were charged with the public safety—the police, fire, and healthcare. These were things the researchers, particularly the political scientists, insisted on. They wanted to see the fabled “state of nature” in action.

  Most predicted that a government would quickly be established. This was a good thing in Varner’s mind—he’d wanted to set up a government, patterned after the US Constitution. However, someone had made the point, and it was a good one, that the type of government they set up would bias outcomes in the experiment. Varner argued, and vehemently at that, that there had to be some middle ground. Everyone agreed with this in theory, but no one could explain what it should be. The consensus was to err on the side of liberty.

  Varner looked at his wife again. She smiled at him and then barked at their children to stay close to them. He returned the smile and then laughed at his son, who made a wise crack at his wife. He was suddenly glad that he was an outside observer of this experiment. In order to retain a strong presence, he’d rented a house in Ogden, Utah, which was about fifty miles away. The company’s meetings would be held there. The monitoring equipment, including all of the servers, were in Ogden also. If there were any serious problems, Varner could be in the Pocatello Valley in an hour.

  That sense of dread came and went. Right now he was focused on the positive and having fun with his family. However, as he looked around at all the people, he couldn’t help but feel that if something went wrong, it was going to go very wrong.

  CHAPTER

  7

  The weather finally broke for good around the first of May. All through April, Mother Nature was schizophrenic—cold rain and high winds, then snow, then a week of spring-like weather. Farmers couldn’t plant their crops and be confident they would survive. However, there were thundershowers by the second week May, the surest sign that spring had finally arrived.

  With the warmer weather, people began to get out and enjoy their new surroundings. As May turned to June, boats and wave runners filled the lake. Many residents went out camping, fishing, and hiking. For many, this new life was like a permanent vacation, a holiday dream. Most had more money than ever before and they wanted to experience leisure. Many of the spies, including Bao, noticed the people’s loose spending and started making negative predictions in their reports.

  To the office of Dr. Michael Varner/Insight Resource Inc.

  Re: Report for May/Microcosm

  Note: This report is the summary report of field reports.

  Field Agents: All field agents in place and reporting.

  Summary: May has seen mostly normal activity among residents. Weather has been continually warm, which has helped increase economic and social activity. As of yet there has been no date set to give the community an official name, although that movement has gained some momentum. Still no organized political activity. There is too much prosperity for there to be too much dissatisfaction. One watcher has predicted, however, that as the weather turns hot, crime will rise and that there will be enough fires to call for the formation of organized police and fire stations. He predicts that this will eventually germinate into a full-blown movement to form a government. I have attached his full report.

  Criminal: Two men have been arrested and detained by Blue Creek Security Services for domestic violence (assault against their spouses—one was called in by the woman herself; the other was called in by a neighbor). There is no governmental body to adjudicate these matters so it is believed that these men will be released soon. Also, drunken and disorderly conduct continues to disrupt the ‘night life’. One man was badly injured during a fight: he was treated by local doctors but was transported to Ogden, Utah for further treatment.

  Social: The general sense of ‘newness’ has begun to wear and residents have begun to consider this as their home rather than some large social-scientific experiment. Evidence of this can be seen through less ‘hits’ on the microcosm.org website. People are asking less questions and generally visiting the site less.

  Political: There is the mindset among some that formation of a government is an eventuality and the question is what type of government be formed. Some residents are nervous to have so much freedom and lack of structure to their lives. They are used to traditional American life where much of life is centered on governmental activity.

  Economic: Economic activity has continued to be heavy, although there is some worry that people are over-spending and that they will soon have to sell items, or mortgage their homes at some point. As a forerunner of this, two banks have formed and are offering mortgage products. Although no one has, of yet, mortgaged their home, many watchers feel that this is inevitable, considering the sheer amount of money that has been spent by some.

  Psychological: No serious negative psychological behaviors as yet.

  To celebrate their already-succeeding venture, Patton, Frank and Mike chartered a fishing boat and planned a long day fishing, telling stories, and drinking beer. The owner of the fishing shop was a friendly, middle-aged man named Tom Parry. He was a retired oncologist from the Cleveland area. Tom had set himself up for year-round activity. During the warmer part of the year he would charter his boat for fishing and waterskiing. During winter, he was going to rent snowmobiles and cross-country ski equipment. The three partners complimented him, telling him it was bold for him to depart from what he knew.

  Tom enjoyed his work of helping people overcome disease, but was worn out by the whiny, non-paying patients, the governmental regulations, and the constant need to upgrade equipment. They were glad Tom had made the change. He already knew the lake and was a master fisherman. The fish weren’t biting, but the beer was cold and Mike had enough stories, including the one about the Saudi who’d put a hit out on him, to keep them laughing all day.

  During one of these trips they settled on name “West Valley, Inc.” for their corporation. As things progressed they began to acquire more businesses, including a greenhouse, two farmers who grew cash crops, and a water purifying and processing company. They started making contact with farmers outside of the experiment to obtain more hard goods and equipment. Outside money began to flow in and they began to establish a huge market share for thei
r products.

  Of the three, Frank’s canning operation was the first business to take off. Mike’s business started to pick up later in June when he was able to sell some of his cattle to outside ranchers. In turn, he was able to open up to a new market and add to his herd at a much faster pace than he’d originally anticipated. The town’s demand for fresh meat and vegetables exceeded their ability to meet at first, but once they were able to meet the demand, the money started pouring in.

  Patton’s growth wasn’t as vigorous as his partners’, but he knew he had the most growth potential because it wasn’t as specialized. This would eventually allow him to expand if things went right. Patton reached the pinnacle of success in his old life making lethal and non-lethal weapons out of plastics and composites, but he knew that his new business had even more potential than that. No matter whose business became the most successful, they were in it together. Today, the three enjoyed their success and they could only see things getting better.

  The biggest problem they all experienced was the inability to find enough good employees to keep up with their growth and desire to expand. Of the many people who chose to not start a business, they found that a solid work ethic was lacking. Patton assumed this was partially due to modern American society, but he also understood that many of these people now had money—likely for the first time in their lives. They didn’t need to work, at least not yet.

  Patton could foresee the time when people would run out of money and would need to scramble to find work. This was a gamble, because he also understood that you can’t assume that times will always be good. The only saving grace was there was no government, which meant there was no taxation, regulation, or subsidization. Things would be good economically for a time, but when – not if – a government was established, prosperity would be erratic.

  For now, though, Patton and his partners were going to forge ahead and grow and expand their business as much as possible. Then, they all figured, they would be able to ride out the storm when it came.