THE NATURE OF NATURE
One “hot” topic that’s addressed in my newly released socio-politico-relationship-thriller, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020), is humankind’s evolving consciousness surrounding our relationship to the non-human “natural” world. Call it conservation, stewardship, environmentalism, or just a growing awareness that without plants, we can not survive. This is especially important as humanity repurposes the planet and in doing so comes into closer contact with “wild” species. Pandemics like COVID-19 can be expected to increase as we systematically decrease “social distancing” between humans and animals. We are close enough genetically and physiologically to share many pathogens and parasites, and as our numbers continue to increase, we come into conflict with other animals competing for space, food and security. Not so with plants.
Plants provide humans and animals with essential oxygen, reclaiming water to potability standards, providing food, space and security. In addition, we share little genetically and physiologically, holding few pathogens or parasites in common. This fundamental realization led me to question years ago whether humans were really domesticating plants some 10,000 years ago, or whether, in their own way, plants have been domesticating us to care for them, increasing their survival advantage. Maybe roses smell sweet for a reason. Maybe wheat gives off aqueous “phermones” that make us want to tend them.
In NewAmerica, “The idea was to inspire feelings of environmental stewardship through government established and funded official Naming Ceremonies—N-Cares—whereby human caretakers and the animal or plant names of their now ‘cultivated natural’ darlings would be publicly announced, ceremoniously celebrated, then recorded digitally in ever-expanding governmental N-Cares information vaults called I-Cares.
“The honor caught on and the practical result was immediate: I-Cares, in essence governmental genetic diversity repositories, sprang up everywhere, and awardees gladly paid for public recognition, contractually committing themselves to husbanding the animals or plants which they had name-recognized for the duration of the human’s life. As a further honorific, caretakers were permitted to wear a light blue colored armband. At the same time, the government inserted a tiny, inert, bioluminescent DNA tag into the now protected entity, identifying it as under the care and protection of the government by way of that particular human caretaker.”
Weird? Wonderful? Mind-wrenching? All of these and more. Taking up where TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese left off, NewAmerica, a shadow of its former United States of America, provides a challenging and dangerous future place for three young firebrands to live.
Plants provide humans and animals with essential oxygen, reclaiming water to potability standards, providing food, space and security. In addition, we share little genetically and physiologically, holding few pathogens or parasites in common. This fundamental realization led me to question years ago whether humans were really domesticating plants some 10,000 years ago, or whether, in their own way, plants have been domesticating us to care for them, increasing their survival advantage. Maybe roses smell sweet for a reason. Maybe wheat gives off aqueous “phermones” that make us want to tend them.
In NewAmerica, “The idea was to inspire feelings of environmental stewardship through government established and funded official Naming Ceremonies—N-Cares—whereby human caretakers and the animal or plant names of their now ‘cultivated natural’ darlings would be publicly announced, ceremoniously celebrated, then recorded digitally in ever-expanding governmental N-Cares information vaults called I-Cares.
“The honor caught on and the practical result was immediate: I-Cares, in essence governmental genetic diversity repositories, sprang up everywhere, and awardees gladly paid for public recognition, contractually committing themselves to husbanding the animals or plants which they had name-recognized for the duration of the human’s life. As a further honorific, caretakers were permitted to wear a light blue colored armband. At the same time, the government inserted a tiny, inert, bioluminescent DNA tag into the now protected entity, identifying it as under the care and protection of the government by way of that particular human caretaker.”
Weird? Wonderful? Mind-wrenching? All of these and more. Taking up where TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese left off, NewAmerica, a shadow of its former United States of America, provides a challenging and dangerous future place for three young firebrands to live.
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