Chapter 10 — City Life
A serial novel in the form of correspondence among a family while the world as we know it collapses around us. I recommend you start at the Introduction:
https://readmedium.com/climate-for-change-introduction-5331d5ab9313
But you can start anywhere you want.
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Chapter 10:
Typed letters, delivered through improvised rural mail:
Dear Grandpa,
Any time I have tried to contact you since the coup, the email has bounced back. For the first couple weeks, I didn’t write anything, since it couldn’t go through anyway. Today Mom suggested that I could just write letters to you, and then when the travel ban is lifted, we could print them out and hand-deliver the letters. She thought it might help with the stress. So I guess here goes:
It is amazing how fast the people have adjusted to military rule. We didn’t have a choice. If we wanted food or transportation, we needed to go register at the polling places. That first day I went in to register with Mom and Melody, Daisy and her family were there, too. It was good to see them. I was worried they might have gone to the border to see if they could find Antonio and his family. It would have been a bad time to be on the road!
At registration, they had us each go into a booth, where they injected a chip under the skin in our wrists. I can’t feel it at all, but now my wrist is both my food ration card and my bus pass. All I need to do is wave it over a scanner. The soldiers assured us that it is totally safe and that they have had chips for years. I don’t believe them about it being safe because it seems like a tiny cell phone, and I remember what you and Grandma say about not keeping my cell phone in my pocket, to avoid radiation. I have taken to not sleeping with that hand up by my head, just to be safe.
We were told that if we did not register and get chips, there would be no way to access food, fuel to heat our home, or public transportation. The soldier who was implanting the chips told me that the chip could be accessed from my phone to see how much credit was left on the food ration and that it can also measure my health stats. She said that she loves her chip because of all the fitness measurements it takes. We also need to have a chip to get through any military checkpoints. Mom said that there might be a checkpoint if they ever reopen the borders and we can cross into Wisconsin to visit you and Grandma. When we registered, I had no idea how many checkpoints there would be. There are checkpoints everywhere!
Did you get chipped too? What is happening out there?
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Dear Grandpa and Grandma,
It has been a few days since I wrote about registration. We still don’t have a way to send the letters, so I guess I’ll keep writing. I haven’t even started to tell you about all the other changes.
First off, a big change is that there are no private cars at all on the roads. Zero. Zip. Nada. People still have their cars in their driveways and garages, but there are no cars moving on the road. This was the first change that the Circle made. There was a text message that simply said: “In order to restore America, private motorized transportation and air travel is strictly prohibited until further notice.” I still see buses, military vehicles, and a few trucks, but no cars. I thought I would have the road to myself on my bike, but there are actually thousands of bikes out on the roads now. A lot of people have those electric bikes and go zipping by. There are even soldiers out on bicycles, too. It might be cool, except I am almost old enough to get my driver’s license, and now I wonder if I will ever drive a car. Mom told me that many people have been able to go back to their jobs; it is just that they have to take the bus. The Circle has expanded bus routes, and there are vans that have been hastily painted to indicate that they are also part of the public transportation system. Everything is crowded, but the bus is free with a wrist swipe, so at least there is that.
Many people still have jobs, like Mom at the hospital, but many more have lost their jobs. All the people who worked at gas stations, airports, drive-through windows, and more are not able to continue their work. The Circle has issued a blanket promise of work for everyone, and this has calmed people down a little.
Another change is that the Circle controls all food distribution, and although there is a lot of food in the markets again, there is no meat or dairy. The Circle has sent out text messages explaining that eating a vegan diet is now the patriotic duty of every citizen in order to slow down climate change. They are trying to ease the transition by offering everyone extra rations of fake meat. I never knew there were so many types of fake meat! The fake bacon is really not that good. We are lucky to have a freezer full of the real stuff, but we have to be careful not to use the grill outside, because we could get cited for breaking the law if someone went by and smelled what we are cooking!
By now you have probably also figured out the biggest change that the Circle has made. We can’t leave the city. If our chip is detected outside of the metro area, we will not be allowed back into any population center, and all food, transportation, and heating fuel rations will be canceled. When Jeremy and I packed up to ride our bikes out to see you, there were guards on the bridge into Wisconsin. The told us that the Circle has decided that the rural areas are too spread out to support sustained human populations, without an excessive use of fossil fuels. They said that the decree is that all rural people should present themselves to the population centers for reassignment to shelter and employment. They said that we should just go home and wait, and you would likely show up soon. I told them that they were probably wrong about you showing up soon. That was when they said that not only would our chips stop functioning if we left the population center, but also that it was technically illegal to leave and that they would have to arrest us if we tried. Jeremy and I argued with them that we were going to ride our bikes and not use any fossil fuels, but they said they don’t make the rules. They said a trip to the rural areas would be a one-way trip.
This part is hard to imagine, because apparently the Circle has blocked all support for the rural areas. I don’t know how you or your neighbors are doing. Since we haven’t heard from you, I am assuming that the internet is cut. I know that they are jamming cell phone signals and have cut any landlines to your area, too. Broadcast television and radio are gone for us, replaced by only online streaming, which doesn’t help you if your Internet cable has been cut. My guess is that they are trying to make life impossible in the rural areas, so everyone will move to the cities where they will use fewer fossil fuels and also be under the Circle’s control. My other guess is also that it is getting a little crazy out there in the country. Mom says every day that she wishes you could come to the city to reassure us. She worries.
But I know that you and Grandma are probably just fine, and I wouldn’t want you have to leave your farm. I helped install the solar panels, so I know you have electricity. You have plenty of food. You just stocked up on diesel for the truck and tractors. If that runs out, you have a horse you could ride or maybe hook up to a plow. I’m not worried about you. I do wonder how your neighbors are doing with all their big tractors and fancy combines. Do they all have extra fuel tanks and food reserves like you? How soon before things really fall apart out there?
All for now.
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Dear Grandpa and Grandma,
Jeremy and I have been trying to catch pigeons in the park. We have been watching online videos on about how to train carrier pigeons. No luck so far. How would they find you anyway? I’ll have to watch more videos.
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Another day, another letter to you both. Melody and I watched a comedy movie about car racing. I know it was supposed to be funny, but I could not help being horrified at all the carbon that those car races were throwing up into the atmosphere. It has been just over a month since the coup. It seems like a year. So much has changed.
It is starting to get colder out. We had our first frost last week. My guess is you have probably had several hard frosts by now out in the country. Did you get all the crops harvested? I’m sure with all that help, you did fine. With the cold weather, Mom went to turn on the heat. There was no gas in the line for the furnace. There was a text message that said the Circle has decided that people should not turn on their heat until November. We all put sweaters and long underwear on, and I have been wearing my stocking cap and gloves in the house at night.
The soldiers have been out helping people. We have a squad assigned to our neighborhood. They have a base nearby, and every day they arrive in the park at the end of our street. They have these handcarts which they load with solar panels and then walk to people’s houses and install the panels. Solar power is mandatory now. One soldier told me that he saw the warehouse in the North Metro where the panels are kept. There are so many panels, he said it was like a stadium, stacked with pallets of panels. I went along with him and his squad. Their goal was to put up ten panels on each house. It looked like it would take them a long time, and since I helped you install your panels, I decided to help them. They worked fast, but I could keep up. Other soldiers have been busy setting up a community compost area. It is now mandatory to compost any item that can be composted. Each neighborhood has a compost area, usually in a city park. Some soldiers push their handcarts down the streets and call for compost every day. I wonder if they will be pulling sleds in the winter?
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The big news today is that our house just got a lot more crowded. This morning a soldier knocked on the door and told us that a family is being “settled” in our house. It is a young couple from outside of Bemidji and their 6 month-old baby. The baby cried for the first full hour they were in our house. The family looked pretty rough. They were obviously hungry, and they all needed a bath. The soldiers told us it is our duty to care for them and give them a place to live. They said that everybody has to do their part. They said that we can’t kick the family out because their chips ping their location every hour, and the soldiers would know if we kicked the family out. They told us the bright side is that by doubling our household size, we get to double our heating fuel ration. I can’t wait for November when we get to turn on the heat!
Of course, Mom would never have kicked them out. Josh and Ashley are super nice, and little Alex is fine when he is not crying. After we fed them and they had each had a bath, we got to see them in a new light. They told us that life in the country where they lived is really hard right now. At first they thought they could hold out, but with no electricity and the prospect facing them of a cold winter with very little food, they finally gave up and walked out to a main road and surrendered to the first soldiers they found. They were very glad for the meal we gave them. Mom said that tomorrow we will take them to the park to see if the soldiers have extra winter clothing in the storeroom for them, and we will go to the supermarket to fill their food rations.
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Dear Grandpa,
I hope I am not making it sound like martial law is a picnic. I have been continuing my project of noticing, and all of the sudden changes are tops on my list.
I notice that I really don’t like the curfew. It is not like I was going out that much anyway before this. But it has made me hyper aware of the time. My heart starts to race if I am out past 8:30 somewhere. I have noticed my stress level is connected to the curfew time. No one is allowed out on the streets after 9 p.m. every night.
I also notice how claustrophobic I feel being kept in the city. I used to go see you and Grandma at least once every couple months. It has only been four weeks, but it feels like a lot longer because now I can’t go even if I want to. They don’t trust us to go out of the city. Jeremy says it is like they have made the city into a big prison. I don’t think it is that bad in the city, but why can’t people go out to the country?
There are whole days when I don’t think about it, but I do wonder often about the chip in my wrist. I can’t feel it at all, but I know it is there. Sometimes it feels like my wrist is warmer where the chip is implanted, but that might not be true. I have mostly been noticing my own thoughts about the chip. Can they hear my conversations? Is there someone who is watching my location at all times? Could they hurt me somehow by sending a signal to the chip? There are small drones flying over the city at all times. Why are they there? Are they connected to the chips?
I have noticed my own cravings and how much people talk about food that is not available. I have also noticed my guilt when we eat meat from our freezer. I would like to be able to enjoy some bacon without breaking the law. Do they really need to force people to be vegans? I think that is what my friends complain about most, outside of not being able to use cars, of course.
There was a protest the other day where over a hundred cars just drove slowly down Snelling Avenue, like they were having a parade. Within minutes, word had spread through social media, and people came to watch. I rode my bike over and met Jeremy. The soldiers came, too. At first they watched the parade like everyone else, and then a bunch of big military vehicles drove up and blocked the cars with their trucks. All at once the soldiers who had been watching the parade pulled out their guns and approached the stopped vehicles and arrested all the drivers. No shots were fired, but I noticed how scared I was when the guns came out. I wanted to run, but I was immobilized, like in a dream. The cars were all towed away. Nobody knows what happened to the drivers. The rumor is that people are being brought to camps outside of the city for “re-education,” but there are a lot of rumors.
It is more than a little scary to see soldiers with guns everywhere. I always knew that a lot of people have guns, but to see the soldiers with assault rifles on every corner puts me on edge. Today two soldiers knocked on the door and asked to see Mom’s handgun. I didn’t know she even had one! The soldiers confiscated the pistol, and gave Mom a receipt. They said that all guns will be kept in lockers in each neighborhood’s military base. Mom could check out her gun if she wants to do target practice at the military base. Their story to Mom was that the Circle wants to prevent gun violence. I’m not so sure. I also think there are probably people who won’t give up their guns as easily as my mom. I notice that I am starting to put myself in other people’s shoes more often, and each time I wonder what I would do. What would I do if I owned a gun and they came to take it away?
There is a rumor that the Circle will be starting a military draft for all young people ages 16 to 22. I’m going to turn 16 soon, Grandpa! I’m not sure I want to be a soldier. Up until this month I had not thought of myself as an adult. Now I am noticing that I have been feeling like an adult more and more.
It is also weird that the radio is just static — I notice that I miss being able to turn on the radio and hear music or news. Even if the PFL censored the news, we still got something. The Internet is not much better. All of the news websites are gone, even Government News. There is social media, but there are no real websites to give information, so social media is just what people are saying or their personal photos. Everyone assumes that social media is both monitored and censored, so I don’t think there is much of value that is posted there. We get all of our news now from text messages from the Circle and General Stewart; that is if you don’t count rumors, which are everywhere all the time.
The Mayor of St. Paul is still here, but everyone knows that the real power rests with General Stewart, who is the representative of the Circle for the Twin Cities Metro Area. The General is responsible for about half of the texts we get. These texts are meant to boost our morale and encourage us to make sacrifices for the good of our cities, but I heard that the General himself drives everywhere in a convoy of black Humvees, and he has confiscated the Governor’s mansion on Summit Avenue. Sacrifices?
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Yikes, Grandpa! I just reread my letter. You have to know that there are also some good things that I have been noticing. I remember what you told me about balancing out my attention.
Today Daisy’s family got a call from Antonio’s dad. He said that they will be getting on a train tomorrow to come back to Minnesota. The Circle has halted all of the former PFL’s deportations. I was over there when the phone call came in. I have never seen so much joy. Her whole family was crying and I was crying and then Daisy’s mom put on some music and we all had a little dance party in the kitchen. I noticed that a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders that I hadn’t known I had been carrying. I can only imagine what it is like for Daisy and her family.
The collapse of the banks and the Stock Market means that many people have lost their life savings. It also means that credit card debt, student loan debt, and housing debt have all been erased. The Circle put out a text the other day that they want people to have a fresh start. The Circle has occupied many of the old big banks’ buildings and has started a new National Bank. Everybody automatically has a National Bank account, and people have to use the National Bank to track their spending using their chip. We just wave our wrist over the scanner at any cash register. I have noticed that everybody has an opinion about the National Bank. I also noticed that people’s opinions about the National Bank vary predictably based on whether they lost money in the collapse or had debt cancelled. I haven’t decided how I feel about it, since I had neither.
I notice that almost everybody is happy to be rid of the old health care system. The Circle has declared that all people should have access to health care, and they have nationalized all of the hospitals and also set up new clinics throughout the city. They have made health insurance a thing of the past, since all people just get healthcare for free now. Mom reminded me that it is not free. She said that the cost of healthcare has been deducted from her paycheck every week since the coup. She said she doesn’t mind it though, because it is much less than she had been paying for insurance before the coup. Mom told me that she is hoping that all of the rich health insurance executives are re-assigned to jobs cleaning up shit somewhere. I noticed that I felt a small moment of happiness when Mom swore and another moment of happiness when I thought about a rich white man in a suit on his hands and knees scrubbing poop off of a floor. I don’t think that will happen, but a guy can dream.
The Circle also has declared full employment. Any adult without a job can report to a military center for assignment. With the nationalization of the banks, food and fuel distribution, and health care, there are a lot of ways that the military can assign people a job. Jeremy said his dad reported for work, and they have him building greenhouses on vacant lots. I have seen crews out sweeping the streets and cleaning in the bus stations. I know that they are building three more light rail lines, too. Others are reporting that they are working at jobs building rail cars and buses. There is a big factory being built in the North Metro to produce even more solar panels. There is a kid on my soccer team whose brother was assigned to a theater in order to produce new plays to promote the changes since the coup in a positive light. There is a rumor that people are also digging foundations for a fence that will encircle the whole metro area. I think it is good to work. I am aware that the military draft will probably soon start at age 16, but for now the word is that anyone who is unemployed over 18 needs to report to be assigned work. I notice that I feel ready to work. I want to make a difference in the world. I know I have school, but I wonder if they would take a 15-year-old as a part-time worker?
The Circle has made racial integration a top priority. I notice leaflets posted all over the place encouraging racial harmony. There are texts every week reminding us to not blame people of other religions or races for the current situation. The texts blame the corrupt and inefficient system that the Circle had to overthrow. I have noticed more people of all skin colors out and about when I am riding my bike. I think I notice non-white people walking a little taller and looking me in the eye more. I want to think that racism is lifting, but I also notice racist graffiti on my bike rides. Making something illegal doesn’t make it go away.
I notice a sense of relief in myself about climate change. In September, it seemed like climate change was just getting worse and worse, and it was one terrible catastrophe after another. That feeling has calmed down since the hurricanes and fires have passed. It also feels like we are finally doing something meaningful to stop carbon emissions. Circle text messages about the East Coast and Bible Belt say that clean up from the hurricanes and flooding is well under way in the areas that the Circle has decided are safe for resettlement. There was a video that was texted to us yesterday showing refugees from Florida being welcomed into population centers in the North. There was a video from California the day before that. It showed people moving out of houses that had survived the fires. There are huge areas of the west that are now being declared “unfit for human settlement.” I think that might mean that wild animals and forests will be allowed to return to those areas. So maybe it is good?
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Dear Grandpa and Grandma,
We may have figured out a way to communicate with you! We really hope it works! Ka, a friend on my soccer team, has an uncle in Wisconsin. He said that there is a sort of mail service that has started up in some rural areas. The problem is that communication is prohibited between the country and the city. Ka’s uncle lives out by Menomonie, and Ka was able to communicate with him by bribing the guards at the bridge up by Taylors Falls. They can take mail across the bridge to people who are on the other side waiting, who can somehow get it into the “rural improvised mail system.” Mom and I are trying to figure out how much bacon from the freezer or cigarettes it will take to bribe a border guard
Have you heard of something called the “black market”? Since the coup it seems all everybody wants to talk about. At first I thought it was a place that was painted black or a market that happened at night, sort of like how I used to think that the “underground railroad” was actually in caves or something. Anyway, it took about five minutes after the coup for there to develop a thriving black market. None of my family smokes, but since the Circle outlawed cash money and replaced it with chip accounts, we have been functioning in a cigarette black market economy. Everybody knows the value of just about anything in terms of cigarettes. We have been selling our extra eggs and trying to build up our supply of cigarettes in case we need them for something. We might try to use our cigarette supply to get these letters to you.
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Today is the day! We have printed this letter out, and Jeremy and I are going to ride our bikes out to Taylors Falls to try to bribe the guards there. We are bringing food and camping gear in the little bike trailer, so if anyone stops us we can say we are going camping. We might end up needing it! I’m hoping it doesn’t get too cold tonight if we have to sleep out!
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Next chapter:
https://readmedium.com/chapter-11-country-life-a4b02979e2fb
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