Chronicles From The Future: The amazing story of Paul Amadeus Dienach

“Their role is more of a regulatory one,” he replied. “It’s more a duty than political power. Some of these wise men will decide, for example, if the application of a new technical or technological development would prove beneficial to the production of consumer goods, like food and other things; others will take up the job of regulating traffic; others will decide the pace of the coming of a new generation and so on. They haven’t invaded, however, personal lives and haven’t dealt with individual cases for centuries; there hasn’t been a need to. Sometimes, in the past, they had to intervene and that’s when they had true power. On the rare occasion, let’s say, of someone being ‘too fertile’, they would forgive any violation of the order of priority or the number of children they were allowed.”

I couldn’t help myself and told him, “You speak of individual freedom, Stefan, but you seem to be forgetting your unnatural demographic limitations…”

“Because, as I told you, these are general rules and not interventions in individual cases. According to this regulation, those who desperately want to have a child will get their turn in good time. And don’t worry; everyone is entitled to have children! The purpose is to meet the current demographic ‘rate of replacement‘, so that the next generation doesn’t end up being more populous than the current one throughout the whole earth. Essentially, this restriction is not as terrible as you think. It is a matter of order and understanding for the sake of humanity.”

“In my era, which you call barbaric, we were much closer to nature and to individual freedom.”

“The need wasn’t so urgent back then. Also, the division of the earth into rivalling political and economic powers engendered, in turn, a corresponding rivalry in terms of population. The danger of overpopulation had increased dramatically in the old days. After that, the world was in desperate need of regulation and now, as a result of that regulation, we’re at the point where it’s not about the quantity of people anymore, but about quality. In your era, the world population balance was effortlessly restored by your wars and epidemics; people died and people were born every day. But in our world these two ‘solutions’ have long become obsolete. So what choice did we have? If we stopped keeping track of the demographic indicators, all the flourishing science and technical applications could only maintain these high living standards of the international community for a short period of time, and, in the end, they would not be able to prevent its fall.”

That’s when, from what I remember, Hilda walked into the room holding a bunch of flowers. Stefan abruptly stopped talking and, shortly after, we changed the subject.

ROMANCING WITH SILVIA8-IX

I stayed in all afternoon today. Since earlier in the day I haven’t been feeling so well, but Hilda took care of me and brought me a hot beverage. Now I feel much better. The books Stefan had ordered a while ago arrived with yesterday’s “distribution”. I sat with him and went through them to pass the time. 9-IX

I don’t know what’s wrong with me again today, but, once more, I feel the anticipation of great joy. Something tells me I might see her today… Throughout the night I felt wonderful. I left very early, with that fresh breeze of the dawn, and took a walk in the gardens and the forest. I don’t know why, but I often feel the urge to go out and walk by myself in uninhabited places like these.

Stefan was wondering where I was and, when I returned, he asked me. I didn’t mention anything other than how well I was feeling. What’s the matter with me? One second I’m happy and the next tears are filling my eyes. Now, for example, I feel like crying. And to think that this morning I was filled with inexplicable joy. Even the sight of a single sun ray made me smile.

What does destiny hold for me tonight? Am I going to see her? Is she going to join the group? I’m counting the minutes again… Counting the minutes…

(At night)

Nothing… Nothing… Once again nothing! I don’t understand… She knows exactly where we get together every evening… All these days… 10-IX

I last saw her a couple of days ago, crossing the park with a big group of people I didn’t know. They were chatting with each other as equals, with an apparent comfort and composure. I thought that if I were one of them, I would hardly be able to keep talking so tirelessly for so long. I felt a bit jealous of them…