He summoned his aides to the Situation Room to help prepare a suitable statement. A collective decision was taken that it would be best to acknowledge the fact that the President had gone missing under circumstances that were still being established, and that the Vice President had been sworn into power as Acting President to ensure uninterrupted continuity of leadership. The Acting President would run the country until such time as President Jameson’s location could be established, which they presumed would be very soon.
McKenzie wanted to reassure the American public that there would be no disruption to the governance or security of the country while the matter was being investigated. He would ask for the public to remain calm, and make it clear that the raising of the defence readiness condition was precautionary only, since there was currently no perceived threat to the nation.
11:30 a.m. Observatory: Question session – Q1
Empress Aeryssia opened the question session by stating that only three questions would be allowed. The Principals found that most of their questions had been answered during the presentations leading up to this point, and only a few remained. They were given time among themselves to discuss and agree on their three questions.
A minute later consensus had been reached and the US President asked the first question, “Your Majesty, Chancellors. Please can you outline for us, what you believe to be the most effective and reasonable population management strategy.”
The Empress responded, “President Jameson, an intelligent species’ acceptance of population management is wholly dependent on one thing: the move away from ‘instinctive behaviour’ towards ‘intelligent behaviour’. Unrestricted procreation is an inherited natural instinct in your species that can be traced right back to the very beginnings of your evolutionary chain.
“Thus, understandably, it is not a simple undertaking to inhibit this instinct. But once a species transitions from semi-intelligent to intelligent, there lies an obligation on that species to manage this inherent instinct, to prevent exactly the situation that has unfolded here on planet Earth … unrestricted proliferation of the intelligent species.
“The move away from this ‘instinctive behaviour’ towards ‘intelligent behaviour’ should certainly not be regarded as impossible. Intelligent species have the conscious capacity to manage their potentially detrimental instinctive behaviours in the interest of their own greater good, although some instincts are notably more difficult to manage than others.”
She continued, “Population management is a preordained reality that every intelligent species has to come to terms with at some point during their rise to dominance. Even though there are examples on your planet where this ‘intelligent behaviour’ precedent has been set, your species unfortunately did not adopt it right across your population spectrum.
“Setting the precedent of population management is the only logical solution to the problem of unrestricted population growth. The vast majority of the human population has been avoiding this reality for far too long and it has come at great cost, not only to your planet and all cohabitating life, but also to your own species. It is at this point, however, that I must mention that the most effective and reasonable population management strategy is one that is already in use on your planet.”
Some of the Principals raised their eyebrows in sheer amazement. The others suspected that they already knew the answer.
The Empress spoke, “I am referring to the ‘one-child population management policy’ that currently exists in the People’s Republic of China. If this one-child strategy were to be implemented globally and applied equally across all population groups, then the world will achieve its population management targets exactly as per the Ultimatum. But it would need to be implemented within the next month and be strictly adhered to by everyone. I realise that this strategy is considered to be objectionable by almost every other nation around the world, but it is the only viable option available to you. Implementing this strategy in tandem with your host of modern-day contraceptive techniques and accompanying education programmes, should make it far less objectionable.
“If it were not for China’s population management policy being instituted well over half a century ago, we estimate that your planet’s environment would have breached its tipping point almost a decade ago. Their policy has effectively bought this planet an extra 32 years of environmental grace. The Chinese people should not only be thanked and praised for the extensive sacrifices they have made, but should also be regarded as the world leaders in terms of population management experience and expertise. They are at the forefront of family planning programmes and every other nation should take time to study and adopt their strategy.”
She continued, “Our information shows us that when the policy was rolled out in 1980, the population of China was 1,0 billion. It peaked four decades later at 1,4 billion and has reduced steadily since then. Had the one-child policy, and subsequent two-child policy, not been in place, China’s population today would have been 2,2 billion, inferring an extra 800 million human beings that this planet would have had to support.
“Consider what the environmental impact would have been, to both China and the world, if 800 million extra human beings existed today. Consider the damage to the world’s environment in terms of: the extra 57 000 tons of fish and 182 000 tons of rice that would have been required each day to feed these people; the extra 80 million cubic metres of freshwater that would be required by these people each day – equivalent to 32 times the Hoover Dam’s total volumetric capacity; and the extra 500 000 MW of fossil fuelled power, produced from the combustion of five million tons of coal per day, that would have been needed to provide electricity for these people. Consider what the accumulative environmental impact would have been over the last half century, had the population management policy not been in place.”
She paused briefly and then continued, “While China is viewed by the world as a nation with questionable human rights, their policy has in fact directly benefited environmental rights and indirectly benefited the quality of life for all human beings living in their nation and also the rest of the world. It was without doubt the most forward looking social and environmental strategy to have been implemented by the human species, despite the controversy that surrounds it.
“The sufferings of the Chinese people, particularly during the inception phase of the policy, must be acknowledged by every human being as a planet-saving sacrifice. Had the rest of the world adopted similar policies, the human population would number just six billion today. Human induced extinctions of cohabitating species would have been half of what they are currently, and the planet’s overall environmental health would also have been in a far better state than it is now.”
The Empress paused again and then spoke further, “Your belief that education will solve the population growth rate problem is correct to a degree but there are still numerous educated people across the world who insist on having more than two children. These are people who should know better than anyone that human overpopulation is threatening the world’s environment – yet their personal desire to have more than two children exceeds their responsibility to society, other species and the planet. I would go so far as to say that it not only shows a lack of respect for the planet’s environment, but also for their fellow human beings. In modern day society, the act of educated parents proactively, or even mistakenly, having more than two children should be viewed with contempt.
“Educated people in developed countries are quick to point out that it is uneducated people in developing countries who are the root cause of the overpopulation problem, because they are the ones who have big families. But these educated people are equally quick to forget that an educated person’s environmental impact in a developed nation, is approximately four times more than that of an uneducated person in a developing country – in terms of mineral resource consumption, carbon dioxide emissions production, refuse generation, electricity and water usage, low-yield food consumption
, food wastage, space requirement and so on. Thus, educated parents choosing to have three children should be viewed in the same light as uneducated parents choosing to have 12 children, since their effective environmental impacts are comparative.
“You should also consider the correlation between education level and environmental impact. Educated societies tend to have the highest environmental impacts per capita. If all humans were educated and lived as developed societies do, humanity’s current environmental impact would be immediately quadrupled – since everyone would strive for the same environmentally unsustainable lifestyles that educated societies have adopted and ubiquitously promote. Mass education will only accelerate the rate of environmental destruction.”
The 12 Principals were shocked by the forthright response to the question. It was extraordinary to hear these views being expressed without any of the diplomatic jargon that usually accompanied them. Five of the Principals themselves had three children, while two had four children. None of them had ever really considered the wider impact of their decision. As for education level being directly linked to environmental footprint, this would prove to be a highly contentious issue back on Earth. Withholding education to constrain development – in the interest of preserving the environment – was simply not an option.
11:38 a.m. Observatory: Question session – Q2 and Q3
The Chinese President then asked the second question, “Your Majesty, would it not be possible for you to impart some of your superior technologies to us? This would assist us in our efforts to stop and reverse the environmental destruction. Surely you are in possession of clean power producing technologies that could substitute our current polluting power generation methods?”
The Empress replied, “Humankind seems to have this delusional belief that technology can save it from any difficulty … but this environmental situation is far beyond the capability of technological assistance. I agree that it would be useful, but it will not solve your core problems.
“We also believe that imparting advanced technological information to your species would be far more detrimental than beneficial to you. Superior technology may help you in the short term, but in the medium to long term you may well find yourselves unintentionally getting into even more trouble. It is highly likely that, even with the best intentions, this technology would lull you into a false sense of security, giving you a pretext to delay the implementation of population management, thus allowing for your population to proliferate even further.
“This superior technology could also be maliciously modified for use in weapons, which would be used divisively by certain sections of the human population to persecute others and assume control of the planet. This could easily throw your world into a total state of disarray and destruction. We also have to consider the possibility that you may, at some undetermined point in the future, decide to use our own technology against us, or against some other innocent race that inhabits this galaxy. Your current behaviour would suggest that this is a very real possibility … who knows where your ruthless and unrelenting desire for conquest and expansion will end?
She went on, “The unfortunate truth is, that your species has shown itself to be untrustworthy. Thus, we have taken the decision not to impart any of our superior technological knowledge to you whatsoever.
“But do not despair, because in our opinion, you are already in possession of sufficient technology to steer yourselves through this period. I must emphasise that it is not your technological insufficiencies that have caused your planet’s environmental woes, but rather the scale on which they have been, and continue to be implemented. It would be dishonest for you to use a ‘lack of technology’ as your excuse for all your environmental problems. It is your disproportionately large and ever growing human population, which relies on your polluting technologies, that is predominantly responsible for this planet being taken to the threshold of its existence.
“To verify this case in point, there are numerous other intelligent species inhabiting this galaxy who have far less technology available to them than you do. But their ways of life, which include strict population management guidelines, ensure that their relatively primitive technologies do not negatively impact on their planets’ environmental equilibriums.”
President Zhuge considered this point of view. He knew numerous world leaders who blamed the world’s environmental problems on a lack of technological advancement in terms of power generation, rather than on the size of the human population. They were convinced that with the correct level of technology, Earth could easily support the population as it stood. The truth was that technology would only assist mankind if used to counterbalance a steadily declining workforce.
The Indian Prime Minister asked the third question, “Your Majesty, Chancellors. We would like to humbly invite you and your esteemed Federal Alliance to make a guest appearance on Earth. We could organise a welcome event and celebrate your visit to Earth as a turning point in our world’s history. It would reinforce the authenticity of our story thus negating the possibility of distrust in the information that we present. We would be greatly honoured to have you join us on Earth to present these facts with us.”
The Empress responded, “My Chancellors and I have spoken at length about this exact point and have taken the decision that we will not be making a formal visit to the surface of your planet. We believe that it would be construed as an act of aggression against the human species, and cannot risk the instigation of fear and hostility. Human beings are very sensitive to radical discoveries and change … and none could be more so than the discovery of intelligent extra-terrestrial life and the implementation of the Ultimatum.
“As such, it would be prudent for us to leave the full explanation of this encounter to the 12 of you who sit before us now. We have confidence in your abilities to deliver this message to your world’s people with the level of urgency that is required. This is the specific reason why you were chosen. You are the leaders who, right now, exert the most prevalent influence across your world.”
The Prime Minister replied, “Your Majesty, you have high expectations of our abilities, but must not forget that we too are just simple human beings. Our task will be fraught with difficulty especially considering that our message will most likely be viewed with both suspicion and scepticism by everyone back on Earth.”
The Empress countered, “We realise this, but it is your duty to ensure that your message is powerful enough to convince the world of this encounter’s authenticity. Throughout human history, individuals have made world changing contributions. The stage is now set for you to do the same.”
She then declared the question session to be over. The Principals had taken a long shot with the invitation but were not surprised that it had been turned down.
11:45 a.m. Observatory: Strategy
Empress Aeryssia resumed proceedings after a brief interlude. “We realise that you have been inundated with information and cannot be expected to recount it all by memory. Thus, we will provide you with a data storage device, identical to the models you use on Earth, which contains all the information in a format compatible with your software programmes.”
She held it up for them to see.
“This device contains all the information that we have gathered regarding your planet’s environment and its progressive changes over the last 50 000 years. We have included our future environmental projections, which can be used in tandem with your latest Earth based projection models. This data should strengthen your standpoint, once you are returned to Earth.
The Empress looked at Edward Payton. “Dr Payton, please ensure its safe keeping.”
She placed the device on the table and it drifted over the glide surface to Payton. He picked it up and placed it safely in his trouser pocket.
She spoke further, “The next 10 minutes are yours to devise a plan that can be implemented immediately upon your return to Earth. Structure how best to deliver the information that is in your possessio
n, to compel your world leaders and general population to adopt and comply with the Ultimatum. They must all know that their future depends on it and also be fully aware of the consequences of non-compliance. If the threat of environmental collapse is not enough to motivate moderation, then the threat of remediation surely will.
“We leave you now and shall return only to bid you farewell before your journey home.”
The Empress and Chancellors all rose from their seats, bowed respectfully and left the chamber. The table’s orientation then returned to its original round size, with the orb suspended above its centre, and the 12 Principals spaced equally around its circumference. They looked around at one another in bewilderment … 10 minutes was hardly any time at all.
The US President was the first to speak, “To get things moving, would there be any objections to me chairing the meeting?”
None were expressed, affirming her offer.
She began and showed her adept skills in facilitating a session of this complexity and importance. She was astute in keeping the plan at concept level and did not allow them to become bogged down in detail at any stage. Recommendations were encouraged and noted, with divergence of opinion being carefully managed to minimise disagreement and maintain everyone’s buy-in.
The Principals then selected their top three recommendations, and after some dynamic debate formulated what they believed to be a high-level strategic plan, the details of which, would be finalised after their return to Earth. Their preliminary ‘Ultimatum Plan’, as they referred to it, constituted the following:
Upon their return to Earth, the four heads of state and the three league/union leaders, would deliver similarly structured press releases to their respective nations and the rest of the world. The press releases would serve only to allay fears that might have arisen from their unexplained absences, and would mention nothing of the encounter. They would announce their intention to host a ‘Global Unification Summit’, the undisclosed purpose of which would be to inform the world of both the encounter and Ultimatum and determine a viable way forward.
Wake-up Call: 2035 Page 19