Snippets
BOOK 3/3, shaping
snippet 13
10 January
Ice was a tall woman who braided her long dark hair and who had a sternness about her which could easily match Jazz’s.
The way Ice cared about survivors revealed that her actions weren’t motivated by kindness or by wanting to do good. Her actions were motivated by a need to find solutions that might put an end to the devastations and disrespect people inflict upon each other.
‘Neither abuse nor exploitation make sense,’ Ice said, yesterday.
And that is interesting, Alice thought again this morning. Men are often characterised as rational. But there is nothing rational about raping, abusing, objectifying, dominating, patronising, controlling or oppressing. There is no benefit in destroying another human being or holding down their potentials. In fact, mankind has stripped itself of progress, strength and prosperity by subduing the majority of their fellow humans. The rational approach is to nurture healthy relationships and to reap the fruits of a multitude of amazing minds and skills. The rational approach is to rethink the irrational narratives of power and dominance, of winning and controlling, of conquering and oppressing. The rational approach is to find out what makes a human so deranged that they abuse, rape, patronise, control or exploit. And no, the devil doesn’t turn humans into abusers nor does human nature. These narratives are just excuses. Normalising such behaviours plays a role.
Ice remarked: ‘I sometimes wonder whether people simply don’t know what is possible.’
And Fran returned: ‘Then we need to demonstrate the benefits of healthy and empowered humans.’
And, Alice thought, we need to understand why humans embraced these narratives in the first place. Was is ignorance or angst?
© Charlie Alice Raya, book 3/3, shaping
snippet 14
13 January
8:08
Jack laughed. ‘Bert, you’re a born comedian.’
‘So what am I doing here, right?’
Jack chuckled. ‘What I don’t get is why they chucked you out of your universe.’
‘I know that one. It’s wrinkles. All the laughing got them wrinkly, and they revolted.’
Jack chuckled, waving at Tina who was entering the set.
‘What’s the hold-up?’ Tina asked.
Bert rolled his eyes and whispered. ‘Lights. They say they need another twenty.’ Looking at Jack, Bert added: ‘It’s probably payback for you punching Tobi even though he paid you such a cocky compliment.’
Tina linked arms with Jack. ‘You know, Jack, you were my hero before, but that punch— Every arsehole on this planet should be marked with a punch like that.’
Jack smiled lopsidedly. ‘I fear that would include me.’
‘Maybe you can redeem your personal arseholiness by punching those who are still stuck in that pitiable state?’
© Charlie Alice Raya, book 3/3, shaping
snippet 15
31 January
Alice was pacing in front of her writing desk.
I could forgo the experiment. A handful of governments have signalled that they wouldn’t mind if the project spent money on a beautiful town, and, yes, gardens, too, and the clinics top-notch, perfect. And sustainability is fine so long as it doesn’t interfere with us. And make sure the roads are broad enough for our cars, and provide parking spaces — like everywhere. And, yes, you can keep the spates when you leave. Once everything is sparkling, the government will either run the place down themselves or hand it to some brainless profiteers because those know best how to make the worst of a perfect place.
Alice grimaced. No. Building a shell is not an option. Building the town only makes sense if it serves as a playground to explore how humans can do better, what they need to thrive.
Alice sat down at her desk.
Would becoming an arsehole, idiot or crook help? Sometimes the world seems full of these kinds of people, and for some reason they get to screw the planet instead of getting a kick in their overlarge bottoms.
Alice looked at her flotilla of paper boats which occupied most of the upper third of her desk.
Folding paper boats had been Rose’s idea. A world two idea. They did a competition to fold the smallest boat. It was a draw. Neither got beyond an A12 size of paper, and A10 was really the limit for a convincing-looking paper boat.
Now there was this flotilla, white and green boats in all sorts of sizes.
Alice took a green sheet of A5 paper from the drawer and started to fold another boat, mumbling to herself: ‘Fold side to side.’
The world doesn’t want to be saved.
Alice snorted, running her thumb along the crease.
So what? Since when does the world get what it wants?
‘Unfold, fold bottom to top.’
Besides, we are not about saving. We are about building a town, businesses, communities. We are about rethinking and reshaping — for our town. We are about testing ideas for ecology, farms, design, tech, education, health, arts, architecture, wellbeing, empowerment, freedom — as inspiration.
‘Flip so that the fold opens towards me.’
The world will have to do the damn saving itself.
‘Fold down the top corners towards the centre crease.’
How did we humans get so much wrong?
‘Fold the bottom of the paper up.’
No one challenged them. Or too few.
‘Flip and repeat. And there, you get a hat. Great.’
Too few.
Alice sighed.
I keep hitting the wall.
‘Open the hat and push it into a diamond shape.’
And I can’t find a door.
‘Sort out the corner bits by pushing one below the other.’
What if there is no door?
‘Fold the bottom flap upwards.’
Maybe we could build one.
‘Flip. Repeat.’
Alice grimaced, remembering a line in the press:
If it’s such a good idea, why hasn’t anyone tried it?
Clever, eh?
‘Do the hat trick again to get the diamond shape.’
We believe everything is already said and done. We don’t believe that we could be the ones who discover something that might work better than what we already have. And that keeps us from evolving, from trying new roads despite the fact that scientists constantly make discoveries and disprove existing theories. I blame school for this. We have been taught that everything is already written down, and we only have to memorise it. It’s not. In fact, if we take a result-based view, then we have to concede that we got an awful lot wrong — as proven by the present state of our world.
Alice shook her head and focused on the boat again. ‘Reinforce the creases by pressing the paper together along all edges. Pull out the triangles and flatten the boat. Run the thumb along the creases. Do the final pulling and pushing into shape. And Voila! Another boat for the flotilla.’
Alice put the boat next to the others. The new boat was a bit uneven.
And what does that teach us? Even unremarkable tasks deliver the best result if we focus. But what does that mean for today? Focus on what? The town. But how?
© Charlie Alice Raya, book 3/3, shaping
snippet 16
15 February
‘Egg division,’ Alice said that night after the speech. ‘That’s what we will do. We start with a single cell and then the cell will split into two and grow, and the two will split into four and grow, and eventually an enormous network will emerge which will celebrate the uniqueness, dignity and ingenuity of every human, a network which will reshape the human habitat and rebuild what previous generations have destroyed, and a network where we rethink everything that might need a rethink. We, our body of work, will be alive and breathe and thrive.’
© Charlie Alice Raya, book 3/3, shaping
snippet 17
16 February
Alice wanted to contradict Tom, wanted to argue, but she needed an answer. ‘Are you still on board with our project?’
Tom seemed to sag his shoulders a little. ‘Alice, it was a good idea. But the US is right! The world is too fragile to question everything. Right now the world needs certainty and strong leadership, not the tinkering of idealists.’
The idealist stung. Tom had never used it on Alice, and she retorted: ‘How am I an idealist? How is building an experiment idealistic? It’s the bloody opposite! It’s how we find out whether or not an idea works. And that small scale so that not too many people are affected—’
‘—Alice, no one wants the town!—’
‘—and who needs bleeding strong leadership? All I have ever seen of so called strong leaders are fuck-ups! We wouldn’t be in this mess if those strong leaders hadn’t failed us over and over—’
‘ALICE! They’ve made up their minds! Not even China would say, yes, now. And Britain isn’t stupid. They won’t face the opposition that would crash down on them if they went along with this.’
‘THEY? WHO THE FUCK IS THEY?’
‘You know who they are. All the people you refuse to work with, all the people whose influence reaches deep into governments, international organisations and businesses.’ Tom paused. Then he looked at Alice again, suddenly seeming calm, even a little fatherly. ‘You should have told me about the queen. I could have told you that it’s just a game. This is the final straw to make us crash good and proper. Alice, this is where I draw the line. I said I would support you as long as there was a chance for the town. This here, this is a farce!’
© Charlie Alice Raya, book 3/3, shaping
snippet 18
17 February
‘So,’ Jack said with a playful note in his voice. ‘I want to be on your campaign team. Who else is on it?’
Alice smiled a little, refocusing. ‘Andy and Raiden for the simulations. John and Marita for business—’
‘Marita?’
‘She is from the economics team and has an additional degree in psychology. She says, she can help to read the room and to find the little triggers which can sway people.’
‘Good. Who else?’
‘After reading the first results from Leo’s people, who are still on the streets for their survey, we added Hayley, head of Tech Innovations. Her main job is to demonstrate our balanced approach to tech as in using it where it’s actually needed and not being obsessed with making everything flash and blink, or with making human labour obsolete and fixating on short-sighted efficiency apps. Our town’s and businesses’ focus will be on saving resources, both in terms of raw materials and in terms of energy, and on creating cycles. But we will also outline the health benefits of less digitalisation, less light pollution, less visual stimulation, and the benefits of being less dependent on energy sources. Plus, Hayley has someone on her team who specialises in mechanical machines which combine something useful with workouts, like a mechanical washing machine which is operated by performing a series of workouts that bolster stamina and strength. More generally we want to demonstrate that tech is not an inescapable necessity, and that we’d all sleep better if we gave it a thorough rethink, and our town is a perfect place for that. Plus Hayley’s team will show that our tech businesses are responsible by design not through pressure or law, that we don’t facilitate fraud, manipulation, patronising or aim at profit maximisation, but that our focus is to create a healthy digital environment which empowers creators instead of exploiting them, which values human work and ingenuity, and an environment where the user can feel safe and is in control of how applications work. Tech has a place in our lives, and we will find out where and when. At the same time, we will prove that our business approach increases global wealth to a much greater extent than present players. Some of this we can prove with our existing and emerging businesses. A lot more and a lot more precisely we can prove and further develop with our town.’
‘That’s a big pot of honey.’
‘So we hope. Constance will join for Crafts—’
‘—not Roger?’
‘I asked them both to the meeting and both agreed that Constance is better suited because she’s more business minded. Roger is really an artist. Constance is the one who combines craftspersonship with a business mind, a mind that aims at good income and sustainability, not at maximum profits. Her main task will be to demonstrate how the crafts contribute to a wholesome town life. Roger will join the Building Site Team and train people for the work ahead, plus recruit craftspeople for our town.’
‘Hm. I guess I have grown so fond of Roger that I feel a bit offended on his behalf.’
‘I think he was more rational about the decision than happy himself. But he said to me: “This isn’t a time to pick favourites. Keep at it.”’
‘Jason?’
‘No. Design, Health and Care, Arts, Agriculture and Admin aren’t in. We focus on business, ecology, tech and society. Dana for ecology, and Navarro for society. Heather as our media channel, our ambassador for accessibility and appreciation of how people experience the world differently and how we incorporate this in our town. Robin as joker for education. Troy for illustrations and comics. And you for personal and official reasons. Dennie as security expert, sounding board and actor. Skye as care expert. Isabel as head of campaigns. Emine for all legal questions with a focus on our negotiations. And that’s the team.’
‘It sounds good. Tuesday …’ Jack looked at his watch. ‘It’s nearly half past eleven. You said last night … How far are you with your decision?’
‘Can you think of anything why I shouldn’t accept the offer?’
Jack shook his head. ‘No. I think we have a chance with the Campaign Team you assembled.’
© Charlie Alice Raya, book 3/3, shaping
book 3/3, shaping
Where do we go from here & decisions
Part three is intense as the future of the town project hangs in the balance, and that’s not the only shock the teams have to deal with.
‘We are still doing our core work.’
‘Which is?’
‘Rethinking everything. A town would be great, but we don’t need it.’
‘That’s not true and you know it. So long as we don’t have a town, we will just be another group of people with big ideas. The town is our only chance to demonstrate what might be possible.’
‘I know,’ Alice said quietly. ‘And I swear I will not give up on our town. Right now, we are rearranging our project. But we will keep our work going, and we will grow until someone has the guts to open the doors to us.’
Pages: 337 pages, 114k words
Format: pdf
Price: €8.08 (incl. VAT)
ISBN 978-3-9821289-8-6
Contents
Where do we go from here?
10 January
sex talk & conference preparations overshadowed by a clash
13 ff January
The unexpected expected
31 January
The deadline
Decisions
15 February
transformations, more clashes & the summons
16 February
Could this be a site for the town?
17 February
What would you do?, Can we put together a promising campaign team? & A suggestion