8 minute read
The Day After the Lie
by Filippo Massariol
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Fran’s not an ordinary rich guy. He hates the fact that he’s got everything while many people are starving. Besides, he cares about poor people and social rights, most of the time going against his class. Every night Fran has very vivid dreams about a utopian future where all people are equal and humanity, for the first time since globalization, tries to go back to its roots, respecting nature and other living beings. Through his tales and his trips worldwide, Fran will discover himself and fight for what he dreams at night, hoping that one-day dreams will become true.
“ Yo, Fran, get up, we need to go! The guys are coming down, move your lazy a** now bro!” I like the way my new housemate, Brad, wakes me up… At least better than that frigging Greg, that lunatic-Uncle-Sam groupie that tried to spill a cup of Heineken on my jacket. “ Make an effort and be nice next time, homie!” I yelled at him. “ I’ll be nice when you get the last shared-car on time with me to go to work, dear lazy boy! Your juice is on the table. Dress up and go! Don’t even wash your body or your teeth even if you stink like a sloth.” Replied Brad with courtesy. “ Thanks, man, don’t you still got some coffee’s leftovers from Kenia?” I kindly asked him. “ Yo, that stuff’s expensive, bro! You still owe me some bucks and a full day at work if you don’t hurry!” I’ve been craving coffee so much since its price got doubled four times after the “CoorporationAid Law” and the AAIP (African Agriculture International Protection)*. But yes, man, I suppose this is the price for Fair Trade every Western business person needs to pay. “ Ohhhhh!” I said, yawning and stretching as fast as I could. I put on the shirt I had bought last week at the Shelter, and I was ready to jump! Once I walked out the door, I saw the police once again: they were checking on a car, probably a non-hybrid vehicle, one of those that still tried to go around with a covered-up muffler bought from the illegal oil market. “God knows why these frigging thugs still try to waste money not reducing CO2!” said Brad In fact, today’s CR (Carbon Radar)* was orange, meaning that probably other scammers were still around with their noisy cars trying to go further south where carbon regulation isn’t so restricted. “ Man, check number 38668991. That’s the license plate we’ve gotta look for and watch out!” Said Brad.
1 *AAIP (African Agriculture International Protection): Law passed in 2023 to higher all the prices regarding Africa’s Raw Materials
2 *CR (Carbon Radar): it is a big screen installed in most cities to monitor CO2 emissions to respect 2050’s climate targets. The first city was New York on Times Square.
“ Why do I gotta watch out for a damn car if I see only buses around, man? We’re the only freaks that are going to Denver by Green Car* and spending a whole lot of bucks just because you decided to work in Bennet to get Shanina’s number. That girl’s not even caring for you, man, wake up!” “ It seems to me that envy is your sin!” Said Brad trying to provoke me with that twisted grin. “ She’s got a mustache, man; I think you must love her a lot for not admitting this.” “ Yo, shut that mouth, man!” He firmly replied. “ As a generous rich man helping homeless people like you way before WWRR (World Wide Revenue Reform)*, I don’t know if I would have invited you
in my big house or left you stranded straight up in the street back at the Crazy Time!” I said, remembering when Capitalism and social Pyramid were still part of our lives. “ Things have changed, man! And since we’re equal, your money doesn’t make any difference and doesn’t mean anything to anyone!” Said Brad showing all his passion to me. “ Yes, but being equal is not equal to being an a**hole like you!” “ Give it a rest, man; 38668991, that’s the vehicle! Pull it over!” Said Brad noticing the car.
3 *Green car: it is a sustainable and free car-sharing system born in 2024 when oil and personal vehicles were banned to protect the environment.
4 *WWRR (World Wide Revenue Reform): In 2036, all the people with annual revenue of over 200.000 dollars have to invest 30 % (or more) of their incomes in social issues or help people with a lower revenue under 20 thousand.
Once we got in and sat, we felt uncomfortable inside that vehicle. “ Looks like these eco-seats came from some very low-quality garbage, man!” Said Brad, not remembering that I work for a Re-Up company* . “ Huh, these are from M and M’s and Diet Coke’s packages found in the Artic, most of the seats are usually made of brand new plastic from old deposits, these were probably flowing ‘round the sea, way before Martin Luther King got killed! By the way, my name’s Jordan. Nice to meet you!” “ And my name’s Eriksen”, – Said the other guy sitting next to Jordan. “ YO WE’RE BRAD AND FRAN WE GO BEYOND… SO MUCH LIKE CHEECH AND CHONG GRAB A PEN DON’T USE A BAG MILEY THEY CALL ME MAD BUT I’M A MAN, HUH…. HONEY THEY CALL ME BRAD BUT I DON’T BRAG FOR MONEY !” Said Brad trying to rap.
5 *Re-up Companies: In 2025, the oil industry was completely banned, and all its entrepreneurs were locked in prison, doing social labors for 12 hours a day on environmental projects. Since that law passed, Re-up waste companies took the market, making brand new objects out of recycled materials.
“ Cut that cr*p off!” I said, laughing at him. “ Yo, what up, man, that was hilarious!” Said Eriksen. “ You a rapper?” Asked Jordan that was funnily staring at us. “ Yeah, it’s my passion; back in the days, I used to work as clandestine Day Labourer in Texas. Hard times you know, man? Making a living out of that was like grasping at straws, but I was rapping all day about human rights and racism.” “ That’s nice! So we still got four passengers to pick up in Pueblo on 3rd Avenue, and then our job is done. So what about you? What is your job, and what do you do for a living?” Asked Jordan. “ I work at Bennet’s Shelter, selling clothes and shoes. And my lazy homie you see right here? He’s the co-owner of the Shelter, but he’s working for a Re-Up Waste as well. “ What is a Re-Up Waste?”- says Erikssen with his weird Scandinavian accent. “ I’m from Norway there we’ve got some different names. Could you explain?” “ Yes, sure, since we got stuck up with the “More Water Less Plastic Law” back in 2023, that was practically unuseful considering the 2029 targets. Thus it was violating even the Kyoto protocol switching the problem to undeveloped countries. So they set up these Re-Up companies that pick up every sort of waste and transform it into a large vastity of items. Basically what we do is this: some sailors working for us go and pick the trash up with hi-tech tools that allow them to go deep and avoid trapping sea animals. Once they got all the stuff, they clean it up and send it to us where a team of engineers first decide what to make of it, thinking of demand needs, and then artists and manual workers do the rest of the job.”
“ Wow, that’s what in Norway we call Gjenbruk Ressurs: Waste is a resource.” Said Eriksen. “ Exactly! You see, these seats have our Up ReSpring sticker, so they came straight from us for sure.” “ And how you know each other?” Asked Jordan once again. “ I’m a guest in his big house along with 23 other people coming from the Shelter*. He is such decides-on to wake up.” Said Brad. “ Oh, I see! so you got together since the WWRR (World Wide Revenue Reform)?” Said Eriksen with a tone of surprise. “ Yes, I’ve had the chance to meet and welcome so many people at my house, and you know I was an activist and a fighter for human rights way before the LIE”, I said, proud of my actions. “ Don’t you brag about that, man. You still haven’t given me those seeds we planned to plant in Ari-
6 *Shelter: it is a place that sells used clothes to the poorest part of the society since rich people were not able anymore to own over a certain amount of clothes.
zona this summer.” Said Brad referring to the anti-deforestation campaign I started with him in the South. “ Don’t you try to bring that up cause I…” I was abruptly interrupted by the Radio: “ Sherek Chausen, one of the last corrupted Policemen responsible for a series of crimes against the black American community, got busted by the PIA (Peaceful Internal Agency) this morning, the man was hiding in a secret bunker along with other former politicians arrested during Trump Administration. “ That beast’s got to pay for all the crimes our government committed without getting any hands dirty! Wait! Watch out man, it’s red nooo….” “ Huuuhh” “ Oh, no, man, again! It was so wonderful. Why do we have to behave like this?” I said to myself, almost crying for the desperation. I woke up, drank that coffee, opened up that industrial garbage, and turned on the Television, not expecting any good news: “ Prosecutor said Officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and…” “ An other fire in Australia Koalas are now potentially going to be extinguished…” “ The war in Siria seems to have no end…” “ Hungary is now a Dictature, Victor Orban is now in charge of the country and…” How long do I gotta fight to change this world?
