The American Evolution

The American Evolution 6 Aug 2014

Henry Pierpont always had his tea at 6:00 PM sharp. It was one of his many luxuries which he felt he owed himself. Henry missed his 6:00 tea only twice in the last decade; once when his mother died and once when he had to attend her damn funeral. Other than that, it was like clockwork.

He entered his club in Upper Manhattan, ignored the doorman, walked past the coat check and took his favorite seat, the red tufted leather wingback that faced the picture window. It was 5:55. At 6:02 Henry was pissed. He grabbed the bell from the end table and began to ring it furiously, he wanted everyone within earshot to know how pissed he was.

George, the always amicable bell hop, maître de, waiter, concierge and general club staff walked deliberately up to Mr. Pierpont, gently removed the bell from his hand and, before Henry had a chance to think of a proper insult, soundly slapped ole Henry across the face, twice. Now, Henry was pissed off, and his face hurt. As he stared at George, wide eyed with a gaping mouth George slowly leaned in so only Henry could hear and said in his quiet voice if you want Tea make it your gad damn self, then just turned and walked out of the room.

The internet really made all men equal, equal of mind that is. The colt revolver made all men equal to kill, but the internet made all men and women equal to think. The American Evolution started with just a few words. An idea really. The idea grew amongst the Huddled Masses yearning to be free, or what had become the 99% of America, or 99s as their called. The idea was based on common sense and just needed realized, and these people, the 99s, realized it. The Idea was so simple and true. The truth is that the huddled masses eventually realized the fact that they were of value. They also realized that the 1%, or 1s, needs their labor, money and attention to thrive. The 99s merely realized they are sought.

The evolution started with the idea to stop all harm. It began more as an experiment, a trial run you might say, could the 99s work within the 1s system and gain value? The huddled started messing with the big box stores. The Wal-Marts, Targets, K-Marts, Best Buys, the ones who systematically destroyed small communities one Mom and Pop at a time. The 99s basically changed their patterns. People stopped buying from the big boxes and their cheap crap just stayed on the shelves. Instead folks bought on-line and from local vendors, small manufacturers or just did without. Farmers markets flourished and people met their neighbor’s one on one to barter for goods and services. First the big box sales slumped, then they ran big ales but that didn’t bring buyers. Finally they started closing stores and their stocks plunged. The losses were felt by the 1s mostly the stockholders who lost everything and joined the 99s.

As some of the 1s joined the 99s things changed even faster. These new 99s brought insider information which enabled the 99s to knowingly defeat the cheats of the last decade. The remaining 1s tried to influence legislation at the national and local level to censor the internet and control the free flow of information. They had already bought and programmed all of the commercial venues for knowledge, press, TV, cable news. They could not stand this democratic free thought making its way to the masses. The 99s knew the internet was the last bastion of free information and wisely used it to inform their fellow Evolvers of what the 1s were now trying to steal and how they intended to do it. The fight back was short and sweet with hundreds of millions of e-mails flooding the halls of Government, congress and the president which clearly laid out the 1s plans and specifically spelled out the consequences of a vote in favor of censorship. The message sent was “a vote in favor of censorship will be seen as a direct attack on millions of registered voters”. Congress cowed pretty quick.

In the past when congress passed legislation killing or maiming Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment Compensation, Govt. Civilian and Military Retirements and food assistance for the poor the 99s reeled from the shock. Then they retaliated by replacing congress. Word went out to the multitudes that all incumbents, good or bad, black or white, republican or democrat, young or old has to go. Name recognition became a pariah. The 99s simply wrote down the name of any politician who advertised his/her name and voted for the unknown. All of that fund raising spent on buying politicians was for naught. That was the real start of the American Evolution. The most watched news that year was seeing 435 congressmen and 100 senators leave their offices carrying boxes with books, pictures and potted plants as they vacated the hill making way for democratically elected new blood.

The new congress was sworn in with a very different agenda, the rules of government changed too. All new Senators and Congressmen were sent millions of messages claiming you’ve got 1 term to fix this system, do not raise money, run for re-election or ignore your constituents. The real magic came when they had to assign committee seats. That’s where the power lies in congress. The seats were assigned based on knowledge not party affiliation. As a matter of fact parties really ceased to exist because parties take time and two or six years to align your ideology ain’t enough. On a high point the lobbyists were far too confused to know who to bribe first and many lost their clout when no one in the halls of Government knew them anymore.

Henry Pierpont was not a man to be trifled with. He would make it a point to get George, how dare he…I’ll have his ass on a platter. He quickly left his club, somewhat lost in thought from the shock of the moment. He climbed into his limo, grabbed the paper and screamed…get moving Richard, take me home. It took about ten seconds for Henry to realize he wasn’t moving. He slowly lowered his paper…No Richard…Now what the fuck, he thought, but ten minutes later he thought, now…what the fuck. He moved up front to the driver’s seat, no keys. He looked in every nook and cranny, no keys. Henry quickly concluded he was in deep shit. He quick pulled out his wallet, 18 dollars and 2 platinum cards, 1 Diners club. Well, at least I won’t starve. He stepped from the limo and hailed a cab. The cabbie asked, where to fella? Henry was not used to being a “fella” and said Westhampton Beach please and hurry.

The cabbie turned and looked squarely at Henry with a kinda smart assed smirk on his face and said, I only drive Manhattan. Henry said, I’ll pay whatever you want just take me to Westhampton Beach; I’ve got Visa Platinum and an American Express. The cabbie, a big guy named Jim Farouk said, sternly, I only drive Manhattan, now get your rich lazy ass out of my cab.

That was the last straw. Henry shouted, Look Sir I’m willing to pay whatever you want to take me home, he didn’t even notice big Jim getting out of the cab and opening his door. A big hand reached in and grabbed Henry’s arm, pulled him roughly through the door and laid him ungently on the sidewalk, start walking asshole. Henry said, in a meek and mousy voice…but I need a ride… Jim replied you can walk or you can run, choice is yours, and before Henry could open his mouth Jim said…One…Two…Ok, ok, ok…and Henry started walking.

Within the first mile from his club in Upper Manhattan Henry noticed there were a lot of well-dressed well-heeled people on the sidewalk. As he got closer to Wall Street he met a wall of perfectly tailored black wool suits and skirts. It seemed the Wall Street uniform of the day was the noted mark of shame on the street. Cabs drove through the throng with their in-service lights on, but obviously empty of fares. No one stopped. Several hundred then several thousand suits made way for the subway but found themselves unable to board. Seems the unwashed masses, as the suits called them, refused to leave the trains. There was simply no more room.

The 1s who managed to get their cars free found them blocked by every imaginable vehicle. Roads were choked and nothing moved in Manhattan. The suits walked in silence, no one talked. Some tried to book rooms in seedy hotels or stepped into local bars and eateries only to be turned away by the desk clerks, cooks and wait staff, no room they heard over and over. Wads of cash were offered for any creature comfort but all in vain. No room.

Some suits got rough with the staff but eventually found themselves surrounded, and greatly outnumbered by the very people they repeatedly scorned. They moved along. One Korean shopkeeper even refused to sell them water. The 1s offered $100 per bottle and she screamed $1,000. They pulled their cash and bought a 16 oz. Fiji Water which was shared amongst 5 folks. When a cop drove by they ran to report the gouging they received only to be stared down by the cop and his partner. Seems sympathy was not abundant in Manhattan that day.

As the suits and skirts trudged the miles from Manhattan to the Long Island Expressway (LIE) they noticed that the Limousines, Caddies, Beamers and Benzes were all being herded like cattle to the side of the highway. Traffic in the other lanes moved smoothly but the high end cars were deadlocked behind hundreds of semis and delivery vans. Limo drivers just abandoned their passengers and walked off into Queens and the burbs. A lot of suits and skirts in Italian dress shoes, thousand dollar handbags, hundred dollar socks and beautiful worsted wool ensembles suddenly found themselves hiking the medium strip walking in places they never even noticed from their air conditioned coaches. All of the 1s formed a line down the medium strip and walked with purpose till they couldn’t walk anymore…then kept walking. Many 99s witnessed but no one helped them, they were left to fend for themselves, several hundred thousand suits and skirts, in line, walking the 60 miles up the LIE to the Hamptons and home.

When night crept in the 1s continued their slow meander down the medium strip of the LIE. Some brave souls veered off toward Bayside or Syosset seeking shelter or services but it was always the same story…NO ROOM get back on the LIE. When the older, heavier and less tread mill oriented 1s hit the 20 mile mark they started fading fast. As they could no longer walk they simply fell in place making movement much slower for the other suits and skirts. Mob rule ensued and the fallen 1s were set onto the edge of the LIE to fend for themselves. Some did, others weren’t so lucky.

The lucky 1’s found an outside water fountain at a closed daycare near the Hicksville exit. They jumped the fence and drank heartily until a pseudo line formed, then the beasts came out. Each man/woman for them self was the rule they lived by and by god they stuck with that credo. The 99s noticed the water line which now extended miles off the LIE and swiftly and silently herded them back to the highway.

The skirts seemed to fare far worse. Fuck me pumps with 4” stilettos soon give out in the soft silt of the median strip. Soda cans, broken bottles, candy wrappers and cigarette butts tend to tear up $500 Yves Saint Laurent Y Bow Patent Sandal Heels. Some of the women helped others but most just kept their heads down and dealt with their own plight. All were tired, all were weak, all craved water and food but none were helped. There was just no room.

Many 1s tried using their cell phones to contact help but their calls went unanswered or loved ones were in the same boat and simply unable to help. Soon the batteries died and they were left to plod along in silence.

The underemployment of the first decades of the 2000 drove home the fact that America would no longer have a middle class. The American dream died when Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland, St Louis and Los Angeles declared bankruptcy. Then most social services, though poorly funded, dried up. The rank and file Middle Class, the backbone of America found themselves working harder and harder and falling further and further behind. Folks, who last decade would have been considered well off found themselves at food pantries and soup kitchens just to keep their kids fed. Families moved in together and pooled resources to survive. Parents, children and grandchildren living under one roof became the norm. Then a wonderful thing happened. Common folks talked. People realized they were not as divided as told to believe. They could get along with each other when faced with adversity and they were smarter than they ever thought.

Families pulled their kids from the horrendous Government, Charter and private schools and began educating them through their elders, many elders were unemployed school teachers anyhow. The Govt. stayed pretty much out of their business because there weren’t enough school inspectors to go around. The lame stream media and Right Wing pundits were also seen in a different light. Folks realized that these people have fed the 99s shit sandwiches most of their lives and now that they were talking to each other, perhaps, there was middle ground, maybe they could each learn from the other. As people talked they became informed. Maybe ideas can stand on their own without ideology. And then the people acted.

Action came slowly at first. The 99s had firsthand knowledge concerning what happens when they’re promised wealth, power and prestige. They know they just want to get back to the America they remember, the America they’re proud of and they want to wear the white hat again. People slowly changed their old habits. Communities formed as people lost interest in commercial entertainment and came onto their porches and out to their front yards. Conversation buzzed just like in the old days before all of the politically correct bullshit stopped conversation and quaffed differing opinions. In the politically correct days it was too easy to offend everyone. Now people realize we’re all different and they don’t have to hate you for being different.

The large institutions that ruled America struggled as long as they could but eventually died out. As the corporate stocks plummeted they’re value plummeted. People pulled their resources and bought the Corp.’s re-making them into companies. Moms and Pops thrived. No one trusted the churches and when a referendum came before the people to tax church land and holdings a lot of bible thumpers just packed up and left. The die-hard churches, the ones with a soul, actually paid their taxes, preached to their flock and joined the rank and file of the 99s. Government was finally scared of their constituents at all levels and behaved IAW the will of the people. That will was established on the front porches and yards not the smoke filled boardrooms or backrooms. What happened made it much harder to lie to us. The internet brought a free exchange of ideas but people had to learn to wade through the idiocy and find the truth, and then discuss it till it’s understood.

This free exchange of ideas led to the gauntlet. Everyone realized who the false prophets were everyone realized were the blame lay. Several very talented hackers put together a list of the 1s. Once the 99s know who the 1s were the writing was on the wall, at least on Wall Street. The 99s told them and told them and told them not to follow that golden idol, not to give in to their greed, not to continue down the path of self-gratification, not to fight the American Evolution. A date was set and the 99s agreed that to change society we need to purge society. Those who hung on to the old ways threatened the American Evolution and had to learn in no uncertain terms that they were no longer welcome to run the show but, if reformed, were welcome at the table.

Goods and services have always been provided by those skilled to those with wealth. When those with wealth respect the skill of a craftsman or artisan these abilities thrive and when scorned they suffer. The skilled craftsmen made life for the 1s far too easy for far too long. They were often bought off as necessary evils to keep pools clean, appliances working and Mc Mansions intact. Once those goods and services were denied to the 1s they realized, slowly but surely, how much they relied on those huddled masses to provide all of their creature comforts. The 1s slowly came to the conclusion that the 99s were speaking, reasoning and hell bent on maintaining their dignity. They used all of their power of persuasion to influence the thoughts of the 99s. They used their wealth to bribe them, they used their wealth to bribe the Government, they used their power to hurt them but nothing seemed to work, the 99s quietly and consistently resisted. They realized their value and were not going back.

As the 99s refused to support the agencies which gave the 1s their power the 1s became engaged, however their last ditch efforts to maintain the status quo were futile. Some 1s sought revenge through inflicting hardship and strife on the multitudes, leadership through fear, but their efforts were ignored because the 99s had learned to accept hardship and strife by banding together to survive. With numbers come security and with numbers come voting blocks.

The gauntlet was the final effort the 1s would undertake in the American Evolution. 1s would learn the hard way to endure life with no help from anyone, Government, citizens, or each other. This final lesson was their last hope for redemption, the last lesson they could learn before they could join the 99s, adjust your persona and care for your fellow American or just fade away and go home.



Tom Smith