Who's Gonna Get Us Off This Planet?

How long have you worked with your colleagues?  Did it start in preschool?  Do you think you only started when you took your first "real" job?

When I was a small child, I attended a seminar on personal growth.  At the end of the seminar, the speaker told the young people in the audience she had a special message for those interested in more information so a smaller group of us gathered in another room with her.

The speaker asked how many of us could keep a secret and then had us play the "pass the secret" game (you know, where one person whispers a message in the ear of another, that person whispers the message in the ear of the next person, and so on, until the message has reached the ears of the original message-giver).

As the speaker whispered in the ear of the first person, she took quick glances at three of us in the room.  Being acutely aware of adult behaviours, the three of us knew what she meant.

When the message got to me, I could tell the first kid of the three of us had modified the message by adding a phrase at the end, so I added another short phrase.

By the time the message got to the speaker, it had four parts.

The speaker thanked us for our participation and asked three to stay behind, including myself and two kids different than the two other ones I'd seen her signal.

The speaker explained that she was part of a very special group.  She had watched us kids carefully and knew by our actions we could be trusted to follow our instincts and not follow instructions that indicated they were to be followed to the letter.  You follow?

She told us she'd contact us later on.  It might be days or it might be months but she'd let us know when she was back in town and had instructions for us to read very carefully, choosing for ourselves the direction we would take.

A few months later, my parents announced we were taking a tour of Washington, D.C.  They excitedly told the family all the places they wanted us to see and asked us what we wanted to see.  Of course, I wanted to visit the Smithsonian.

Just before our trip, the speaker showed up at my school to give a lecture on the flight of the Alice Springs camelback warbler.  I attended the lecture and talked with the speaker afterward.

The speaker told me that while visiting buildings in Washington, I was to get lost from my parents and any tour group I was with.  During my childlike, innocent wanderings, I was to gather information about certain subjects using whatever I had at my disposal.  The speaker handed me a piece of paper, trained me with methods in how to enhance eidetic memory, had me memorise the list of words on the paper and then eat the paper (it had the sweet taste of ground horse hooves).

Back in those days, it was easy to wander through buildings.

When we walked into a building with a tour group, I would read the names of important people listed on the public display, get lost, and ask adults I bumped into if they could point me in the direction of my [uncle/aunt such-and-such].  Most adults were all too helpful and pointed me to elevators or hallways I could duck into until they disappeared.

That was in the 1970s.  The speaker made it clear that the information I gathered would not be used for 30 or 40 years so I would be safe in having a long stretch of time between my face being seen and the data being put to use.

I had forgotten about the speaker and the information until recently.

While reviewing a multidimensional chart of population density versus wealth distribution versus manufacturing capability versus natural resource ownership/access versus education level versus military strength versus underworld valuation, I saw some of my old data.

During my childhood wanderings, I looked through the desk drawers of supposedly famous/powerful people, discovering their hidden trusts, foundations and other methods for keeping their wealth or estates off the books.  I found accounting ledgers that showed who was depositing money in offshore accounts, offering free holidays, "loaning" free automobiles/houses/holiday homes, and the record of other terminology that a young person is not supposed to know about.

Using both my eidetic memory and a cheap tourist camera, I captured a lot of data.  That was all I was supposed to do.  However, as a child who had inside information, including names, and a cruel sense of humour for my age, I accidentally bumped into those famous/powerful people and asked them vague questions, dropping hints that on the surface made no sense, sending some people scrambling back to their offices or out of their offices in confusion.  Then, I'd make myself obvious and get "found" by building security guards who'd kindly escort me back to my parents.

Now, while I watch political maneuvers that make no sense, I understand what's going on.  I see politicians who are secretly figuring out if they can find a profitable way to get gambling casinos and "bingo halls" raised to the level of stock exchanges and regulated by the SEC.  I see lobbyists who want to tie universal health care coverage to the court ruling on the federal authority of enforcing the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  I see corporate lawyers wanting to go after Chinese glass quality control while Toyota is facing a decrease in public trust.  I see the U.S. president going after education and the Russian president going after Olympic trainers in the same light.  In other words, who paid for the coup in Niger and who was paid to expose a "coup" in Turkey?

While my associates sort out the details to feed questions to the new set of speakers we've got combing through the tangled mess of public education for a few new recruits to join the network of associates that doesn't exist, I'm moving on to another project.

I've been told that a space agency leader is learning why some people are not good politicians and will be reined in properly.  Therefore, I'm not going to worry about how the political effect on space exploration will play out.  If I can see the difference between a player and a "playa," then so can those who I trust to take care of business using the politically-correct, public channels of communication.  If not, then my associates know what to do next.  Pedigree has never been a good form of shielding against the need of the many.

My associates rarely take the direct approach.  We have time on our side.  Lots of time.  Decades, if that's what it takes.  I remind them that I'm a nice guy and want all of us to use happy ways to move the world forward.  They remind me that I'm a writer, the messenger boy, by my choice.  We all have choices to make in how we take turns leading the network.  I've made mine and they have their choices to make.  Together, we'll get the job done, for our species, no single person more important than the other.  Some will get rich along the way, some will get fame and power, some will keep their anonymity and some will take quiet walks in the woods.  Never sacrifice freedom of choice to achieve our greater goals.