“The End of the World as We Know It”

By Chloe Fishbein

 

Dear current college students,

 

I blame you.

 

Okay, sorry. Maybe that was too blunt of an introduction. Here I go again. Hi. Rachel here. The year is 2030. So only 12 years later than where you guys are now. Things are probably the same right? Well think again.

 

I-phones now can show holograms, grocery stores are all closed because people just order their food online, and paper is no longer produced since everything is done on the computer. These are probably things you expected to happen in the future. But here is something I bet you never thought would happen.

 

So here we are. 2030. The democratic governing system that you know has completely fallen. I bet you are wondering how? How did the leading country in the world fall, especially in only a span of 12 years? What if I told you that YOU were the reason. How would you feel? Pretty shitty right?

 

I assume that it became annoying when everyone urged you to go out and vote. Only a small handful of people really cared about getting everyone to vote unfortunately. I bet people stopped you on the street to make sure you were registered… or at least that’s what they tell us. I was only 6 back in 2018. Well, it turns out that voting in elections is actually really important. It also turns out that while people might have known that, they didn’t actually do anything about it.

 

This whole issue stems back to one thing—voting turnout in elections became lower than ever. You’re probably thinking that you learned voter turnout wasn’t high, but how could that lead to what I’m talking about? Basically, it wasn’t that people didn’t care to vote, it was that they just didn’t have time to vote. People stopped believing that their vote actually mattered, so they chose to become self-obsessed with their everyday lives and stopped making voting a priority. They needed to get ahead and do whatever they could to do so. Since people stopped seeing the tangible effects of voting, it ceased to matter to them anymore.

 

You should know this, but since you let the democratic system fail, I’m not sure you actually do. The democratic political system only works if “we the people” are involved. You know the Constitution, right? So since no one cared enough to vote, we could no longer hold elections. Elections are the basis of our government system. So when chaos ensued—chaos such as no police enforcement , no public schools, no healthcare and of course no governmental leadership—the rich elite took over. There was no structure, so people became ruthless. Stealing, littering, and other crimes ran rampant among citizens.

 

At that point it was too late. No one could stop the rich because there was no one to actually stop them, but at the same time people needed authority. When the members of the government at the time knew they were doomed, they accepted millions of dollars of bribes from the rich elite. In turn for this money, the members of the government gave the rich everything they needed to take over the country—secret information, passwords, oh and power over every single American.

 

When I mean rich elite, I’m not talking about government officials. The members of the government have nothing compared to the group of people I’m talking about. I’m talking about the billionaires. Like CEOs of the largest companies you can think of billionaire-type. I guess this wasn’t that unexpected. The rich elite control more about the world than any of us really knew. Now they were just able to truly flaunt it.

 

So basically I am blaming you all in 2018 for not only not voting… but for something else major as well. All of this could have been avoided if one thing happened. If you had made federal election day a federal holiday then people would have voted. People wouldn’t have been preoccupied with their lives for once, and would have taken the time to go vote. This easy fix could have saved our country and my life as I knew it.

 

Yeah, I’m a pissed off college student--well I was a college student. I bet you are used to this typical “pissed off with the world college student” type, right? Well I am much more than that. The reason that this hit me so close to home was because it was my dream to one day become Secretary of State. I know it’s ambitious, but hey that’s just who I am. Now that dream can no longer become a reality all thanks to you.

 

I am part of the Underground Resistance. I bet that caught your attention. You are sitting in the library sipping on your Starbucks probably watching Netflix instead of studying and I am leading a resistance. It’s pretty cool right? It would be cool to add to my resume, but too bad that doesn’t matter anymore. All that matters is if you are the elite of the elite. I’m not if you haven’t guessed by now.

 

The Underground Resistance… pretty cool right. I feel as if I am in a thriller movie or something. We are still able to watch movies from your time and what’s going on here sounds like it would fit in perfectly to a scary sci-fi movie. Unfortunately, this is my new reality. So the Underground Resistance is a secret network of people who all want the same thing: to dismantle the rich elite and fix the country. See, people don’t just give up their way of life and are okay with it, so we are fighting to get it back.

 

This is where I come in.

 

I was actually on the governing board of my high school before all of this happened. Unexpected right? A sassy girl like me on student council. Shocking, I know. The governing board was a group of eight of us. It was my only extra-curricular activity because I was so invested in it, just like the rest of the board. Part of it was because we really did want to make a change in how the school ran. The other part was because we were outcasts. We finally found each other through this board. I know how cliche it sounds, but these were the only people that not only could deal with me and my attitude, but wanted to deal with me and my attitude.

 

We weren’t ready to give this friendship up, so we collectively decided that if we couldn’t help our school anymore, we should join the resistance so that we can put our skills to good use. At least trying to solve problems together would make things seem like they are kind of normal still...

 

After weeks of surveilling the new government complex, my friends and I noticed a part of the gate where no guards stand. We figured we could climb over and enter it that way. I live in Washington D.C. by the way. Sorry I forgot to mention that. So I am in the scene of where this is all happening.

 

It was cold and rainy as we approached the steps of the new capital of the United States. The singular luxurious White House had been turned into a whole complex of over the top houses. The parking lot was filled with Porsche’s and Bentleys. Even in the rain, everything looked perfect. I’m sure my mom would love if I could keep my room this clean, I thought to myself.

 

The rain made my hand slip from the wet fence keeping our worlds apart . My socks were drenched and I could barely feel my feet. The gate was so high. I kept telling myself you are almost there Rachel. You can do this. As I approached the top, I was filled with excitement and hope. We are actually doing this I think to myself.

 

I jumped down from the top of the gate. I was in. As I watched my friends climb over, I stood there shivering… Oh no, I see them coming.

 

“Run, run” I yelled to my friends. There was nowhere to go though. It was over before it even started. The two security guards were wearing extravagant uniforms. I don’t know much about style and clothing, but they must be expensive. I wonder what the cleaning staff wears, I chuckle to myself. Even the people at the bottom here are still elite.

 

They walk us through the complex to a small building in the back. The buildings, the cars, the people, are all spotless. I swear if this were a cartoon you would see a sparkle animation on everything. They bring us into a room. Not just a dark, black room that might come to mind when you think of being in trouble, but an extravagant room. There are no windows, but the ceiling is extremely high and there are chandeliers hanging from it. The carpet is a beautiful maroon with yellow details. The chairs are an exquisite dark oak, engraved with words that I don’t understand. I can tell you one thing--it all definitely looks expensive. I can’t believe the security guards are allowing us to walk in with our wet, muddy feet and cold, dirty clothing. I quickly remember that objects must mean nothing to these people because everything can be replaced quicker than I can even tie my shoes.

 

My friends and I were in awe. We had never seen a room as beautiful as this. We almost forgot why we were even here. Suddenly, the security guards close the door. I am surprised they did not go to get anyone else. I mean, I guess we don’t look the least bit threatening.

 

“Who are you? Why are you here? What do you want?”

 

All eight of us were at a loss for words. Even me. I always have something to say--you must have had to catch on to that by now. But now nothing comes to mind. Another 5 minutes of silence passed by, and I finally said “we just want things to go back to normal.”

 

After another moment of awkward silence, a security guard responds “me too.” The other guard looks at him with disgust.  

 

We all sat there looking at each other, not sure what to say. We wanted the same thing as him, but what were we to do? The guards stood up and motioned us to follow them. We weren’t sure what punishment awaited us.

 

To our surprise, they led us to the exit of the complex. Right before they closed the door on us, and locked us out of their world forever, the same security guard winked at us. That was it.

 

What did this wink mean? I guess we will never know. Maybe he had an eye twitch? We stood outside of the gates confused and distraught. We realized there was nothing else for us to do.

 

I return home, sad and defeated. At least I tried though.  

 

So.

 

You guys probably thought this was going to end a lot differently right? Well, me too. Sometimes things are too broken to be fixed, and there is no going backwards but only forwards. I cannot change what people did in the past. The society that I once knew was gone. But now I must accept my new life and move on. I say this like it sounds easy, but trust me it is not. Maybe time will heal it? Maybe things will go back to normal sooner than I think? I’m not sure. So yes, maybe this could have been avoided if election day were made a holiday so then more people would have voted, but I guess we will never know...

 

Maybe that security guard was part of another Underground Resistance of his own. Who knows? I for sure did not, and I’m not afraid to admit it.

 

Sincerely,

Rachel and all the other college students you screwed over