Layer 101

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Room 101 has lost its original meaning and purpose. Orwell’s Room 101 was a place where citizens were sent to be tortured and interrogated. TV’s Room 101 is a place where people and things are sent to be banished and eliminated. Clearly you’d need more than a room to contain all the things and people that deserve banishment.

As for elimination - I’m not in favour of killing (or torturing) anybody. Therefore it would take something much bigger than a room to contain all the stuff and all the people that ought to be removed from any decent society, from a decent planet. You’d need a planet.

Mars might be suitable, especially since its ruler is supposed to be the god of war - there’s poetic justice there since a lot of the stuff and the people that I’d banish are instruments and advocates of war and aggression.

However, being realistic, we don’t have the capability to establish a colony and a massive rubbish dump on something that’s so far away from Earth. So being a realist I propose that we might finally have found a use for the Moon. Yes folks - Moon 1(01).

Colony 1 on Moon 1 - to describe this thing and how it would operate will take a whole book, so I guess I’ll now have to write it since I’m convinced this is an idea whose time has come. The zeitgeist - c’est moi!

The principle is fairly straightforward. Moon 101 is where people are sent in order to have the opportunity to rethink their lives, their beliefs and their attitudes. From that barren platform they can gaze endlessly at our beautiful blue planet and remember what they used to have - what a privileged, awesome and wondrous place this planet is - and what kinds of lives they could have lived.

When they arrive at Colony 1 they will have a choice of where to go. Either Camp A, if they already sense they might be capable of reforming themselves and are willing to pledge themselves to work hard at discovering a pathway towards enlightenment. Or they go to Camp X if they show no remorse and have no intention of re-thinking their ways and their beliefs.

Those who choose Camp A will be kept under review and continually assessed for signs of becoming more enlightened. Residents of Camp A will need to pledge themselves to non-aggression and non-violence. Anyone who reaches a minimum threshold of decency of behavior, belief and attitude will be considered for repatriation to Earth. Anyone who chooses Camp A without any real intention of seeking greater enlightenment will be permanently banished to Camp X.

Camp X will be self-governing and self-policing, and its residents will be allowed to conduct themselves in any way they choose. In effect it will be an experiment to see what kind a society is produced by a species that is entirely made up of psychopaths and the spiritually destitute. They can elect their own governing body, or they can opt for a kind of violent chaos. They can make their own rules, and do to one another whatever they want. They can put into practice their deepest beliefs and impulses.

If at any point a resident of Camp X decides they’d like to transfer to Camp A then they can apply for a visitor’s pass, and after a period of quarantine in Camp B, where they’ll be in a private room alone with their thoughts, they’ll be allowed into Camp A for an initial period of between a week and a month. Effectively they’ll be on probation, and breaking any of the conditions they sign up to will see them turfed out and put back into Camp X

The existence of Moon 1(01) will be a powerful incentive for people on Earth to consider very carefully how they live their lives on this planet. They may well think there’s a very real incentive to opt into the ways of living that show proper respect for human life and an enlightened attitude to the planet itself and everything on it.

Common criminals and the mentally ill need not fear transportation to Moon 1(01). Their needs will be continue to be met on Earth. Prisons will provide high-quality therapy and rehabilitation. Only crims who fail to participate fully and fail to make proper progress will be considered for 101.

The rubbish dump on Moon 1(01) will be pretty vast. It will consist of:

1. All weapons of mass destruction.
2. All weapons confiscated from criminals.
3. Any weapons of war deemed surplus to the efficient and effective defence of individual countries.
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Camp X on Moon 1(01) will contain

1. Anyone who advocates a war of aggression.
2. Persistent violent criminals.
3. Anyone responsible for the production and distribution of computer viruses.
4. Anyone persistently responsible for the production and distribution of newspapers and magazines that contain fascist and neo-fascist lies and propaganda.
5. etc
6. etc
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Today is the 60th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1951 Britain was the first country to ratify the European Convention on Human Rights. In 2008 New Labour decided to pander to the Daily Mail and the general right-wing bleating about ‘human rights gone mad’ and started to guff on about responsibilities being as important as rights. Oh yeah? Whoever disagreed with that? So they now intend top force the poor to show some responsibility to society by agreeing they should no longer get ‘handouts’ without doing something in return for society. Fair enough. So when are they going to start to insist the rich do something for society? How about never?

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It’s the fifth day of rioting in Greece. Today the trade unions went on a general strike. A state of emergency is being considered. The banks have been bailed out to the tune of 28 billion dollars, but the government seems to care little for the poverty or dignity of the people. Government supports the capitalists but not education or those who live in poverty. This is making the people very angry. The riots and demands for the government to resign are the result.
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