Oh, what a century it has been! It is 2050 and there are crowds of people gathered outside Taipei 101, counting backwards as they waited for the time to tick the new year in. I stood up, gazed out my window, and watched in awe at how our planet has evolved. Fireworks crackled, displaying lights that covered the skies, while people danced in circles celebrating their new beginning. I reminisce about how far we have come as a society. It reminds me of when I was fresh out of university, barely knowing what I would be doing for the rest of my life; I never knew life could be as simple after the world underwent this transformation.
Around 25 years ago, life was not as forgiving. Inflation was at an all-time high, and graduates like me were barely living as living costs soared up. One could say most people in my generation were always struggling to make ends meet. I was one of the lucky ones to graduate without student debt, but that is not to say I am fortunate with familial problems. After graduation, I got rejected in all the interviews I went on. Every rejection was like a dagger piercing through my back, it felt as if I was not good enough. Not only that but with financial stress, my empty pockets only mocked my dreams. It was a struggle that went beyond finances; it was a test of resilience, and at times, it felt like a battle against the world.
Fortunately, through some past connections, I was able to land a job and started working fully as an English teacher in an elementary school near home. And even though I had a job, my salary was not sustainable. I remember feeling helpless and alone, thinking my classmates were living much better lives. I used to blame myself and my family for putting me in these difficult conditions, making me live life in difficult mode while others were in easy mode. How unfair I thought it was.
However, with one enlightening night, as I walked my way back home after school, I found myself stumbling upon a flyer, about a study group on how to make more money. Which at first, I thought was a sign from the universe. But it was just an “association of rebellions toward the system,” as they called themselves. I was critical at first, but as I spent more time with the group, I found myself learning so much about how I should perceive life, and that systems are always going to be unfair. In the end, I stuck with the association; I had nothing going on in my life, and it was the first time I felt understood. These people felt the same way as I did, and in a sense, I felt I belonged.
My time with the association was the most educating time of my life. I felt like I was not mentally challenged at school, but with them, everything fell into place and made sense. Think about it! As long as there is a system, there will always be “order” versus “chaos.” We would prefer systems to have everything in order to avoid chaos. Hence, I had always believed that law and order had always been about what is deemed acceptable behavior. But now my question is, to whose standards?
Our association was not just a regional thing; it was secretly international. They have been trying to teach people how politics and agenda work, how inflation makes the poor poorer, and the rich richer, and with the sudden growth of AI in the early ‘20s, the association was able to share their knowledge through social media. In consequence, they only accumulated more people.
As societal perspectives shifted over the years, smaller groups of rebels started to form. People striving for basic human rights also began rallying on their own. When the time came, everyone busted to their own city halls, demanding a better quality of life and a change of system. And we did not just stop there; we collectively invaded banks and took our money as well. We were unstoppable! The massive numbers of civilians working together as a collective to end this unfair system was a sight to be admired.
And we were only able to do all these due to the fact that AI has already replaced lower labor duties, and it is only a matter of time for developers to create ones that are for all kinds of labor duties. And after a few years of waiting, they finally did, and it caused huge fluctuations in the stock market, made multiple currency values unstable, and after a couple of months, money was technically useless.
Fast-forward a couple of years, and it is the late ‘30s. AI has indeed revolutionized our workforce while continuing to boost the momentum of environmental revolution. As expected, AI found multiple ways to reverse climate change, battle world hunger, and provide help with tackling certain Earthly problems. It definitely proved itself useful to humankind. With these revolutions, AI drove us towards a future where equality and environmental consciousness prevailed, hence allowing us to reach Type 1 in the Kardashev scale, with researchers now trying to reach Type 2.
Nonetheless, there were still a substantial number of people clinging to their gold and private properties and their billions and billions of assets, and it was still a hard fight that we had to finish. A couple of months later, people started throwing away every bit of their money and remolded them into materials used for construction. It will surely take some time for civilians to get used to a more eco-friendly, renewable, and free energy lifestyle, and there is nothing wrong with that. Everyone is yearning for a life where everyone is equal, and free from labor and financial stress.
Now, in the mid ‘40s, we officially started this new era for human beings, where money is not a source of problems, and power of one nation is not governed by one entity. Being able to live in such an era is a wonder one can only dream of telling. Now we do not even need politicians or representatives, people work for themselves. And after five years, I can say for sure that this is how we humans should be living our limited days. We can travel as much, study whatever we want, work whenever we can, and just live life as it should be lived.
Now, one might ask, what do we do with so much time on our hands? This is a question that should tell you how difficult it is to think of life where money is not the sole reason for living. But anyways, I will tell you, my dear readers, about how one would live one’s life in this era. Let us begin with a “get ready with me” session. Firstly, I start my day waking up whenever my body wants to; time is my ally and there is no shame in taking time and being lazy. I typically get out of bed at 10 or 11-ish, and then I do my morning routine of going to the gym, eating brunch, taking a bath, and so on.
Now in the afternoon, I can decide if I will continue with my work. And yes! I do work! Do not get me wrong; people still strive for the career that they want to pursue; it just means there are more opportunities for everyone. We are motivated to work, whether it is for ourselves or to help other people, and not because of money. If I chose not to go to work, I will instead meet up with my friends, maybe watch a movie, or meet with my parents, find a long-lost brother, or just walk along the park, watch other people go about their day, and just take life easily, maybe watch the sunset afterward.
Tonight specifically, I will be congregating with my fellow members of the association. We plan to catch up on how we are doing with life and drink some wine as we await the dawn after Taipei 101’s fireworks display. I know, I know, I should be doing something fun now and not waste more time. I am almost fifty, and my partner and I are not getting any younger. Some people would prefer to do the extremes so as to not waste a minute: like snowboarding, skydiving, first-time unprotected sex. But others like me would prefer to keep it simple and slow, and I know that “time we enjoy wasting is not wasted time,” but that is the point: I do not have to worry about any of these—I have time.