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April 3, 2015
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| In this society, the population was huge but resources were limited. As a result, the government used advanced statistics and individual information. All personal information was gathered, through cameras on/around public places, even people's bills were reviewed. The government calculated each person's longevity, although this was top-secret. Then they divided the resources by their longevity and decided the amount of 'annual individual consumption' and then sent certain coupons to each person, depending on their sex, weight, and age. The coupons were distributed regularly to each persons' smartphone, which were distributed by the government. Because of this, the government was able to monitor
People needed to use these coupons for everything ~ food, housing, clothing, education, past-time, etc. At first, people complained about the system, but soon they gave up, thinking about the limited resources of the country and their children's future. The Communism party praised it as an ideal policy. He was a person who absolutely hated to obey the government. He felt that the problems of society were from a string of bad politics. He lived in a small apartment. He didn't have a car. He didn't use any transportation like buses, taxis, or trains. He even didn't ride a bike. He just walked. He didn't have any electric appliances like computers, air-conditioner, TV, microwave, electric washer, except his smartphone, which was given by the government, and a small LED light for reading. He often went to the library. He liked reading. He read newspapers there. At home, he ate mainly raw vegetables, rye bread, eggs, and milk. Because he lived simply, every week the government would send him a message suggesting for him to use the coupons regularly, but he ignored them. On this day, he was busy. He went to the park in the morning. There were a lot of food and drinks. The paper dishes and cups that he ordered arrived by delivery. In addition, the rental sets of barbecue supplies and loud speakers also soon arrived. He connected his smartphone to the speakers. Soon the music started. He used an electric burner for heating the barbecue, thinking to avoid any complaints. After a while, police officers came and asked him about this. He explained that this was a party celebrating his girlfriend's birthday, and soon his friends would come. The police officers looked at him suspiciously. Because, as a result of the coupon policy, people didn't hold parties. After checking his past criminal history, they soon left. He invited them to eat but they just shrugged and walked away. Soon, many children gathered. He served food and drinks to them. They couldn't believe why suddenly this service was offered. Later, their parents came. Maybe some of the children told them. The adults were all suspicious. But soon, one of them noticed that he was his friend. He explained about his plan, just to enjoin a barbeque and wanted to share it with others. By the time it became dark, a hundred people were enjoying the temporary party, saying that this was the first time in several years that they had enjoyed a party. He was happy to see them happily talking to each other. From tomorrow, his simple life would restart. Recently he started to love his simple life. He didn't think to thank the government though. Now he was thinking to call his friends to do the same thing next year together with him. |
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*statistics: numbers that have been collected in order to provide information about sth (O)
*a string of sth: a number of similar things(C)