by Shawn Davis
Ironically, medical Marijuana was discovered to have many beneficial effects for those people suffering from various ailments ranging from seizures to many forms of cancer. Cannibus Oil was found to be crucial in shrinking the tumors of millions of cancer patients worldwide.
As drug possession was legalized and decriminalized, new federal and state programs were introduced, which sent drug addicts, who commited non-violent crime, to detoxification centers rather than prison (depending on the severity of the crime). The cost of detox programs is less than one-one hundredth of the cost required to send the addicts to prison with a 24-hour security watch, saving taxpayers millions of dollars. The new programs keep the prisons from becoming overcrowded and significantly reduce the number of addicts in the country.
However, there are limitations to the new system. A drug addict, who commits a non-violent crime, is only given one chance to detoxify at one of the new centers. If the individual commits another crime after detoxifying, prison is unfortunately the only remaining option.
If organized crime tries to compete with legitimate drug manufacturers and distributors (who pay taxes and are subject to regulatory legislation) in the underground economy, the illegal drug distributors are sent to prison rather than their so-called “mules,” who are only paid small amounts of money to transport hefty amounts of drugs. In 2042 there were more than fifteen million people incarcerated in the nation’s prisons, including six million drug “mules” serving mandatory minimum sentences of ten years or more – imposed for being caught with large drug shipments.
The flaw in the old system was that the “mules” were technically in possession of the drugs and took all the risks, but only the wealthy drug lords received profits from the distribution of the drugs. The wealthy drug lords escaped Scot-free because they could rarely be connected with the drugs – although occasional exceptions resulted from complex and expensive investigations.
The overcrowding in the nation’s prisons led to the infamous Justice Reform Act of 2047 where many public prisons were “cleaned out” by sending inmates to the Body Bank or the sewers. Private, for-profit prisons put millions of prisoners to work for no pay, which damaged the economy by reducing the wages of workers nationwide, who couldn’t compete with “free” prison labor. The destructive correctional policies of the Frump Administration were universally condemned by the world community.
Former President Frump was privileged to experience the newly reformed Criminal Justice System firsthand. He went on trial in January, 2060. I was the special assistant to the prosecutor. The case lasted for several months. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity. He was lucky the prison system had been reformed since he was in office. Otherwise, he might have taken a trip to the Body Bank or the sewers.
You may also be wondering what happened to Virtual-world. In 2060, two years after the start of the Second American Revolution, Virtual-world was dismantled. The robotic technology was studied extensively and applied to medical technology.
A new national hospital and medical research center was founded and built on the site where the Powerdrome once stood. Today, people visit the hospital from all over the world. Robotic technology is used to replace lost limbs and organs in the human body. Campion’s robotic arm is an early example of this technology.
You also may be wondering about international policy. How did the new reforms in our country affect other countries overseas?
The infamous “War on Terror,” which inspired countless non-defensive wars overseas, was determined to be an immense profit-making scheme. The scheme relied on the indirect cooperation of U.S. military industries and top politicians. The industries contributed incredible amounts of money to politicians’ campaigns and in response, the politicians gave the industries all the wars and profits they desired. Of course, the politicians always sold the non-defensive wars as being indispensable to “National Security.” Ironically, the U.S. media was found to be in collusion with the federal government by selling these wars to the American Public by exaggerating the terrorist threat to American citizens and by outright lying.
To counteract the unholy alliance between the federal government and the mainstream media, President Prince’s administration broke up the five major U.S. media companies, which dominated the nationwide news industries, into thousands of smaller competing companies, which could be more objective and be less susceptible to coercion and influence by high-level officials in the federal government.
President Prince and her administration orchestrated many of the economic reforms, which improved the economies in previously Third-World countries. For the first time in human history, Third-World countries became First-World countries. The economic reforms introduced by the U.S. had a domino effect by reducing poverty on a massive, worldwide scale.
The Overseas Corporate Reform Act of 2060 made it illegal for U.S. companies to go overseas and exploit people as cheap labor. The new law required that all U.S. companies pay their overseas workers at least 50% of the wages paid to American workers. The wages of the average American had become so high in 2064, that 50% of this wage was still an excellent living wage in most countries around the world.
This new law helped to increase the wage levels of third-world countries and contributed to the unprecedented worldwide economic growth. Americans benefited in the long run because more foreign workers could afford to buy American products.
Higher wages for ordinary people in Third-World countries helped to push many toward true democracies. When the formerly oppressed people in these countries obtained more economic power, they were able to organize into activist groups and petition the government for important democratic reforms. The vast majority of countries in the world are now democracies.
The bottom line is that things are a lot better for everyone. I never thought I would see such vast socioeconomic changes happen in my lifetime. I thank God every day that I was there to see the positive changes in our society, which eventually transformed the world.
I hope that human beings stay on the right track and continue to move forward with this new unprecedented balance of competition and community responsibility. Competition and community are equally important for any society. If one of these factors decline, society declines.
I believe the main challenge for the twenty-second century will be to continue to balance the rights of elite entrepreneurs with the rights of ordinary citizens. If the balance of power sways too far either way, it could negatively affect free societies across the globe. Good luck and God bless you all.
Sincerely,
Secretary of State
Peter Rayne
May 7, 2068
Author Bios
Shawn Davis wanted to be an adventure writer since he first read Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings when he was in fifth grade. Shawn and his co-author, Robert Moore, grew up in Holliston, Massachusetts and can trace their history back to when they were acquaintances in their third grade class. Shawn earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from Salem State University and he works as a police officer in a small New England town. He is the co-author of the non-fiction WW II drama, Never Surrender, with his great uncle and protagonist of the story, Earl Anderson. He is also the author of the popular Serial Killer Series, which includes Book I, Diary of a Serial Killer, and Book II, Diary of a Serial Killer: Ice Man.
Robert Moore graduated with his co-author, Shawn Davis, from Holliston High School in 1985. He went on to obtain his Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Roger Williams College in 1989. In 1991, Robert graduated with a Master’s of Criminal Justice from Boston University. Robert returned to Roger Williams College to attend law school and graduated with a Juris Doctorate in 2001. Robert currently practices law in Connecticut. He designed the cover art for his co-author’s non-fiction drama, Never Surrender, in 2006.
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