《The Good Crash: An Oral History of the Post-Scarcity Collapse》37. PART III INTRO (FREEDOM ALERT)
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PART III
"The future is already here—it's just not very evenly distributed."
- William Gibson
FREEDOM ALERT
Originally broadcast December 7, 2027
Welcome back to FREEDOM ALERT, America's number one source for news on all things pertinent to freedom-loving Americans. I'm your host, Jordan T. Bates. And I'm riding solo in the recording booth this weekend.
We were going to do a little Vox Populi episode this week, maybe hear from some callers, but… well… I gotta be honest folks. I've been thinkin' a lot recently. And I've got a lot of stuff on my chest. So, if you'll forgive me, I'm gonna reclaim today's hour to speak my truth. Y'all love it when I do that, right?
Well, look, here goes: We've heard a lot recently from callers who are worried—worried about their freedoms. I wanna talk about freedom. And I also want to talk about acceptance.
It's taken a long time for some of us to accept it, but the truth is dawning, isn't it? The truth is dawning now that this border closure is for real. The great U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations was not kiddin' around when she went in front of all the representatives of the nations of the world and said that we were officially closed for business.
No sir. They didn't want to believe her. They even gunned her down for saying it. But she was serious, wasn't she folks? She was serious about getting the President's message across.
Now, not everyone inside our great nation's borders agrees with the policy of total border security. That's understandable. On this very show, we've heard callers from all across the country ringing in to say, "Hey. I have family in Canada. I have friends in the U.K. I had business in Asia. The government is curtailing my freedom by shutting everything down."
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To that, I want to say two things. One: I hear ya. Look, I've got friends in other places too. I wish I could still visit 'em. Hell, I wish I could just talk to 'em over the internet.
But the second thing I want to say to you is the more important of the two. I'm serious, now. Hear this: America has never been stronger.
I'm gonna say that again, folks: America. Has never. Been stronger.
The fact of the matter is, the border closure policy has worked. To our knowledge, there is not a single stinkin' rep that has escaped from America's shining shores and made it into another country. That, my friends, is a massive strategic advantage for us a nation, and for us as a people. We've got something that other countries want. That creates leverage. And that creates opportunity for our country both in the short term in the long term.
Now, look, I get it. You wanna go to Baja California, pop your shoes off, maybe get a tan. But sacrifices have to be made for the greater good. Not sacrifices of your freedom. This country has plenty of coastline, right? I'm talking about sacrifices of mild convenience, in order to increase your freedom.
Ultimately, this country has a strategic monopoly on replicators. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a massive source of power for you, your children, and your grandchildren. Because if other countries had their hands on reps, they'd be using them right now to undermine our interests and threaten our sovereignty.
Yes, the methods used by our leaders to achieve this strategic monopoly have been painful. Some might even call them tyrannical. And, look, I agree with those of you who say that it's only by the strength and courage of regular, hard-working Americans fighting against the government's wishes that we've reached this point.
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Our government is a devil. There's not question about that. But if you ask me, I say "Better the devil you know than a devil with replicators in Mexico."
Alright, you've been listening to FREEDOM ALERT. We gotta go for a commercial break here so we can pay our bills. We'll re-open the phone lines after the break.
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