Red Shift: The Odds (Censored version)
RED SHIFT: THE ODDS
J P Robertson
Copyright 2014 J P Robertson
(Censored Edition)
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Chapter 1
An article from the September 3, 2108 edition of the Sydney Morning Herald, the last remaining media publication out of State control.
In the nineteenth century, the invention of useable electricity and steel brought about the age of machines. It was the time of the second industrial revolution, and life for those of the time went through a dramatic change. No longer did travel between cities and countries take days and weeks; productivity at work increased from the use of lighting, electrical tools and machinery that could make materials and processes never believed possible.
The twentieth century eclipsed the developments of the nineteenth century, transforming the lives of people in the developed and developing world. Communication technology allowed people to talk across the world, in real time. Planes, ships and vehicles moved at speeds a magnitude of order higher than the previous century, allowing people and resources to travel the world. Cities developed into huge economic power-houses, changing the way societies developed and interacted.
It was early into the twenty-first century when the world learned they had irreparably damaging the planet. There were plenty of fear mongers and nut-jobs that had warned for a long time before, but their words were dismissed as nonsense. The terms ‘Global Warming’ and ‘Climate Change’ were now part of the vernacular of even the youngest children. Global economies based on money were now failing as societies realised they needed food and water more than stocks and bonds. The world was slowly shrinking again.
At the beginning of the twenty-second century there are few developed economies still functioning. Most countries and governments are failing, and people often revert to subsistence living. There are but a few strong economic centres remaining that rely on development of technology to make their production more efficient, or their commodities more valuable. Amongst them, Australia became one of the most powerful.
Just like England had once prevailed and used their strength to travel the world, conquering and colonising nations, Australia now holds a power that commands global reach. But Australia did not physically travel the world to take control; we closed our borders and focussed our efforts on building a stronger country from within.
This approach to globalisation was originally thought to be suicidal by the outside world, but by the time other countries’ economies began to weaken, and trade tariff’s increased, forcing countries to drop their own revenues to continue receiving resources they needed, Australia had developed our own micro economies, and sustained internal growth.
The people of Australia still need perishables and commodities we can no longer provide ourselves, but for that we are able to build strong relationships with nations such as New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Though, to most of these other nations, the people know they are now well and truly just subsidiaries of Australia. The poor cousins that held their hand out to Aunty Oz, indeed.
Australia is, without doubt, the technological hub of the world. If you are a scientist or entrepreneur that has a vision for technology and development, you are in Australia. Development now seems to be creeping along at an ever slowing pace, it seems as though the bursts of development and breakthrough are slowing, perhaps for the last time. But just around the corner is the next giant leap, which will propel mankind into the next generation of pioneers and explorers. Perhaps.