Bold War 2020

by Redemption

  "Envy, suspicion and intolerance. What are you going to do about that trio? And my professional helpers? The Calabrone, Mafia, Cosa Nostra, Yasaki and so on - and on - and on with their mutations and mutilations. Mercenaries in every country - and assorted multiplying terrorists. Experts at graft and corruption, conspiracy, murder and mayhem - they'll pick you off when you least expect it. And the results brought on by my deadly forces? Lovely crime, wars, drugs, poverty, disease - even delicious pestilence.

  "And do you know who else I have on my side? Ha - ha - ha. All of you!! Yes, you're all on my side - by default! You can't help it. You are your own worst enemy and can't even help yourselves. Your mental inertia / death wish works for me!

  "And best of all, what you don't seem to realise, I've been fighting this war, on many fronts, on my terms, for centuries. Unannounced, covertly, a war of attrition - stealthy, invisible, undermining, wearing you all down. I'm now firmly entrenched and you won't be able to dislodge me. You poor, weak, amateur, deluded misfits."

  Mario was clenching his fists and only restrained from leaping to strike her by Trevor and Guy on either side. She slinked closer as the maniacal laughter rang out, clawed the air in front of his nose and hissed behind her mask.

  "No you miserable lot won't be any problem to me……And anyway,…" ripping her mask off and signalling for the lights to be turned up,…"it's time for coffee."

  To a ripple of applause she bowed and they rose for refreshments.

  "Well done," said Ed enthusiastically. "Quite realistic."

  "I'm glad you're on our side, you researched that well," said Yvonne. "You could do this for a living."

  "A brief but good portrayal of the influence of evil," said Raj. "You will also be challenging our subconscious, which is a jolly good thing."

  "There is more if you want," said Xena with barely disguised eagerness as they sipped drinks. Her offer was promptly accepted.

  "You think you know what I'm all about, don't you?" she whispered when behind the mask and under the light again. "Well I haven't finished yet. What you've seen is only part of my armoury.

  She touched a button on her belt and a modulator changed her voice to that of a sharp old hag. "I can just imagine you trying to implement your feeble plans. You'll tell the world and what will be the response? Very, very little. You think they'll become involved just because you tell them it's good for them? (Laughter.) I've already told you - they are their own worst enemy! How are you going to deal with that?"

  Looking at Rose, "You'll go around stirring up apathy and they'll stay away in droves. The procrastinators and the prevaricators, as well as the pontificators and the pusillanimous.

  Why? Because they'll be too busy watching television. That delightful instrument which couldn't do better for me if I'd designed it myself. Full of pap and useless nonsense, violence and titillation. It diverts them from doing anything useful and fills them with unrealistic expectations - and self-recriminations when they inevitably fall short."

  She touched her belt again and they heard the sultry voice of a temptress. "You think it's a case of mind over matter, do you? Well let me tell you…", leaning towards Mario…"I…" unzipping the front of her outfit six inches…"don't…" a further six inches to reveal a thrusting cleavage…"mind…" another six inches with Mario's eyes on stalks…"and-you-all-don't-matter!" abruptly zipping to the neck. Scornful mocking laughter.

  "No, they'll be too lazy to make the effort," she said in harsh metallic tones. "Or too frightened in case they fail. And why should they believe you any more than the shysters under my influence - the tempters, panderers, sensationalisers, advertisers and - need I go on? They'll rationalise it costs too much, even though you and I know that's not the case. Without 'doers' you're done, just like the turkeys you are.

  "Don't forget I have other help. Change is happening ever faster. They can't cope with it now and will fall further behind. They are getting stressed out of their little minds. And information overload - well your petty pronouncements will be lost in the information blizzard. I've got them to the stage where entertainment and instant gratification is their staple diet. Your offerings will be pale and uninteresting.

  "Technology - that's a laugh." (Shrieking laughter.) "Supposed to help humanity but in the hands of cretins it's a loose cannon. Just as often fires into the ship as out of it." (Uncontrollable laughter.)

  "You might be harbouring illusions about help from the government or education authorities. Forget it. Bureaucrats with closed minds won't stir themselves or take risks on anything so radical and unproven. Politicians will run a mile, and only support it in the unlikely event it looks like being successful. Then they'll be in front of the line."

  In loud guttural tones, "Self-made men and women won't be interested. They're too busy making more money, working at ways to keep it all, and exercising their power. You may be the exception Mr Buchanan because of your unusual circumstances. (I nearly had you in hell for keeps, didn't I?) But can your resources stretch to cover the bill? Only half the UK population, at as little as, say, two hundred pounds a course, would set you back a cool five billion pounds. That's your total fortune and it only covers the UK."

  Kent frowned - that wasn't in the script.

  "Why don't you just give up now and spend it on fun things - such as your mistress? And even if you could afford it and tricked people into attending, then you've got to make it stick. Self-development gurus around the world, most of them well-meaning I have to admit, have been trying for years with so little sustained success they don't worry me any more."

  Finally in a voice describable only as blood-curdling: "So, my miserable enemies, your task is enor.r.r.r.mous - and compounding. It's never been done before and I wish you every failure. The great TTragedy continues like a thousand slinking octopuses. You are totally at my mercy and I'll take delight in watching you struggle and sink without trace."

  [TTragedy: Definition deferred.]

  The last peal of laughter became a shriek and then stopped abruptly. As Xena took off her mask there was uncomfortable silence, no applause.

  =

  "Thank you Xena," said Kent stepping forward. "What I had hoped to do was impress on all of you the magnitude of our opposition, the seriousness of our task, and the need for concerted effort. With the help of her drama school Xena seems to have done all that but left you, her audience, a little flat.

  "The enemy is formidable and as yet ill-defined. Sometimes it is even within us, invisible. We know our goals are commendable, but we need to affirm we have the resources, the willpower, the effort and the endurance to pursue our ideas to completion."

  After the briefest of silences Mario leaped to his feet and roughly pushed Xena off her stool, extinguishing her smirk as she bounced backwards. "That's what I think of the Devil and what I want to do to him… or her. It won't be that easy, but come on, let's get on with it."

  Pip stood up. "The worst way to challenge me is to tell me I'm an idiot and incapable of doing something. Earlier I was enthusiastic, just then I was worried for a while, but now I'm totally committed. And deadly serious. The heavy garlic breath of the Calabrone couldn't be worse than the stench of a crocodile's throat."

  Rose: "Most things are OK, and I'm excited, but I am concerned about the reaction of the underworld, and their recent performance has exacerbated that concern."

  Several others concurred.

  Kent: "I understand why many of you are worried. Once again I emphasise they don't know where we are or what we are doing. They believe Mario is dead. They will only be alerted when McTrue comes into operation and hits the headlines. My preliminary thoughts are that we perfect McTrue and have everything ready for instant application before we make a public move with it. There are also other preparatory moves we can make to maximise protection - we'll discuss them in due course.

  "Meanwhile there are indications that McTrue may take more time than expected, but if so there is no need to hold up the rest of the
program. Smiles can, if necessary, be developed to a workable stage with McTrue excised and launched separately. Smiles will have a substantial effect on crime but won't draw the immediate reaction that McTrue will.

  With that qualification to plans all were happy, except Mario. "You will ditch me," he said. "This is a subtle way to put me on the sidetrack."

  "No Mario," said Kent. "McTrue is a big contribution and in its own way I suspect it may be as or more important than anything else we are doing. Please accept my assurance it will share our resources and not be forgotten."

  Mario reluctantly concurred and Kent rose.

  "Team, this is an auspicious moment. We have an outstanding opportunity. The convergence of your seminal ideas with the resources and energy of the group has created a platform from which to launch an historic offensive. Our enemies are implacable, but I offer two quotes. From the greatest-ever general 'There are but two powers in the world, the sword and the mind. In the long run, the sword is always beaten by the mind.'(19) And that was the pre-Smiles PP2. And from Rose this morning 'There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and miseries.'(20) These days in addition to tidal flows we are buffeted by the rapids of change and the torrents of technology. We have an even bigger battle to stay afloat, to voyage to new and better lands.

  "So I now take this opportunity to formally Declare War - on ignorance, apathy, crime, fear, greed and all the enemies of society, including Sed and poverty and negligence. The twentieth century has seen two World Wars and the Cold War - all terrible and devastating. The twenty first century will begin with a contrasting war. A name for it came to me at three o'clock this morning - 'the Bold War'. What do you think?"

  Rose flipped open her lap-top and quoted: "'Bold: 1 confidently assertive; adventurous, brave. 2 impudent. 3 vivid (colours). Also: Interacting with the world with imagination, courage, self-belief, strength and resilience.' Right on," she said.

  Riding the enthusiastic response she offered a pair of quotes. "'Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic and power in it. Begin.'(21) And 'There is no more liberating, no more exhilarating experience than to determine one's position, state it bravely and then act boldly'.(22)

  Pip had been restless, and burst out. "I'm all in favour of 'The War', but do we have to have all these quotations from the past? That's a dozen or more I've counted in the past few days. There's some value from the past, but for heaven's sake, I thought we were trying to free ourselves from the bonds of yesteryear and start a fresh life. Too many quotes can be confusing and smother creative thought; we mustn't be shackled by the past. I might have to start handing out EO Awards again."

  "Quite so," said Rose, 'but to make a point, at the risk of offending your sensibilities, we are reminded 'Those that ignore the lessons of history are destined to repeat them'(23), and 'He who cannot draw on three thousand years (of history) is living from hand to mouth.'"(24)

  Not to be outdone, Pip responded, with only a minor hesitation, as if expecting the reply, "Yesterday you quoted one Huxley, I'll quote another: 'That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.'(25) In other words, the past doesn't always help with the present, and quotations are like statistics in that you can use them to support almost anything you want. And in response to Goethe, with due deference to his undoubted genius, I say 'In life's increasingly complex journey, he who cannot draw on his inner resources, at hand, is a self-imposed anorexic pauper.'"

  Kent intervened. "Now then, let's not start a war within a war between you two - even if it's only a civil war of civil words. I'm sure you're both right."

  "Probably," conceded Pip. "As long as quotations can illuminate, clarify and stimulate rather than dazzle, rarefy or stymie. Above all, words should not be a substitute for action; procrastination is a diversionary tactic."

  "Agreed, and we have to take care they are distilled wisdom rather than witless distillations," conceded Rose.

  Kent: "After that diversion, let me get back to the subject at hand - the Bold War. Just as the Provolution is vastly different from evolution and revolutions, the Bold War will differ remarkably from previous wars in terms of issues, weapons, stakes, strategies and outcomes. We are not fighting people for something they have and we want. We don't want to take power from people, we want to give it to them. In a way we are fighting ourselves, particularly our ignorance and timidity and apathy, for something we already have but don't recognise. This is not a win / lose or zero sum event. Anything we gain does not come at the expense of others. It's like knowledge - our gain can and will help others.

  "It is imperative we win. Defeat would consign the world to the shallows and miseries - chaos. Our enemies in this war are very different in nature and more difficult to fight, but there are far greater rewards to the victors, which will be all people. So, although the challenge is daunting, the opportunities and rewards (the spoils of war, if you like) are immense - far greater than anything before in history."

  They rose as one, shaking hands and hugging.

  "Well, troops, it's been a long day. I suggest we retire for the night to prepare for a fresh start in the morning - the first day of 'the War.'"

  ~

  "Was all that hype necessary?" Andrew queries at a break.

  "Was it not a huge task they were embarking on?" is Christiana's retort. "Something as shocking as war was helpful to mobilise Kent's troops on the one hand, and necessary to activate the public on the other. Significantly, the Bold War is Rung 'D'. How else would you have handled it?"

  Andrew is silent.

  CHAPTER 24 Bold War - in prospect

  Rick Standish was looking haggard. His hair was less kempt than usual, and a small tic drew attention to the shadow under his eyes. Over the weeks he had drawn together his project plan, consulting and working in parallel with the others as they progressed in their individual areas and collectively. He had laboured long into the night to be ready for the day's presentation.

  "This is an outline of my provisional proposal for Stage I of the Bold War. We have this enormous quest. Briefly, and with apologies to Lerner and Loewe, we want to put Smiles on the face of the whole human race. Why? Because, in simple terms, people's abilities will be magnified - to where they should have been all along - and problems will then be soluble, in the ways you have elaborated so well. People will be more fulfilled and happy, and so will society at large - the world 'will be a better place'.

  "A gigantic task, unprecedented. We are a small group. David versus Goliath. Where and how on earth to begin? With apologies to Pip, 'A stand can be made against invasion by an enemy, no stand can be made against invasion by an idea.'(26) We now have the makings of Smiles and it will be our invasion force. We know it will be good for people, that it will improve their lives. We don't want to impose it on them; it must be voluntary, their idea, their choice. But we know we have to compete for their interest and that Sed works against us. Just because a concept is good for folks doesn't mean to say they'll take it up. We agree that, for some obscure reason, people are obtuse in this direction, seemingly paralysed. Perhaps their childhood memories of 'medicine' obscure their view of common sense for the long term in favour of avoiding the bitter taste of the short term. That's childish, but it's what we are up against. We 'Davids' have to use our collective resources to act as a catalyst to Muster the dormant abilities and powers that reside in billions of people so they can be put to good use.

  "How do we get their attention and interest and participation? Can we make it simple enough to get ideas across easily and quickly, and in ways that sufficiently impress people to want to 'give it a go'? Can we rely on the quality of the Smiles concepts and contents to draw out the capabilities we know are lying just below the surface, waiting to be accessed, set free and flourish? What is the best way to deliver Smiles? Should we b
e selective in choosing participants, and how much follow-up will be needed for reinforcement?

  "Drawing on your contributions my suggested plan of approach is framed in four main areas: getting people's interest, selecting participants, running courses, and follow-up.

  V

  Area 1: Getting people's interest.

  "Xena is right, there is a lot of competition for people's time. We have to have something that will stand out, attract their attention, engage their curiosity, entice them to find out more and want to be involved. A tall order. Merely telling them it's good for them is not enough. I see three avenues: opinion leaders, advertising and, believe it or not, a book.

  "First is to have opinion leaders and role models tell the public, with conviction, 'Smiles is GREAT!. I did it, it's the best thing I've ever done, and it's a good thing - for you'. We need to have these people, these 'centres of influence' actually participate in a Smiles program. If it's as good as we believe they'll be totally impressed and convey their approval and enthusiasm to their impressionable followers, leading to willing and motivated participants."

  "Well I can round up a bunch of magnates who exert a lot of influence in the business world," offered Kent. "I can frame the location and content of a seminar to make it irresistible."

  "And I have contacts that could organise, for a healthy cash injection, an assortment of sports stars, show personalities and respected community figures to do the course,' said Yvonne. "I suggest we leave politicians and academics till later."

  "Good," said Rick. "The second activity to attract interest is to enlist the power of advertising. Yvonne."

  "Rick injected some lateral zest into my thinking," responded Yvonne eagerly. "Look, for decades we've been able to influence the public into wanting things they don't need and can't afford. I'm putting together ways to influence them to do things that are good for them and they can afford.