Month: June 2026

It’s a little immodest

~ All the Right that's left ~ Leave a comment

I would like to put my own name forth for Emperor.

My platform is simple; I promise to be lazy. The galaxy far, far away has been running itself since the lights came on. The Midi-chlorine are handling the heavy lifting behind the scenes to balance the system. Local societies and religions are local concerns. If you don’t like your neighbor don’t invite them over for dinner.

My opponent has proven he likes to use (the) force to get his way. He wastes billions of mega-credits building space stations that don’t seem to live up to the hype. The only guaranteed death they produce is to credits and crew. He never seems to be aboard when they explode. I wonder why?

You can’t really trust him to keep his word. He swore oaths that were forgotten the moment he decided he wanted something else. As a member of a monastic order, he wed and became a father. Well, he fathered children, then spent his time trying to kill them. He turned to his enemy for more power and control. You don’t think there are any parents in the galaxy that are cruel enough to name their little boy “Darth”.

To each his own sewing and reaping. Do with the profits of your own labors what you wish. Imperial taxes will be capped at one half of one percent. If I can’t live on that, I’m being too wasteful. Planetary taxes can have four and a half percent. They need to defend themselves. It’s not my job.

The only Imperial rule that is sacrosanct; Do not impose on others. I won’t throw money away on a space station. Asteroids are plentiful and rockets are cheap. You can figure it out from there.

Vote for me! I promise to do as little as possible

Daily writing prompt
Emperor Palpatine has announced open elections for a new Emperor — and he’s nominated Darth Vader. You get to nominate one challenger.
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The world is fair

~ All the Right that's left ~ Leave a comment

The beautiful delusion of fairness. The naive assumption that everyone is trying to treat everyone else with courtesy and respect.

I went through the first couple years of my life expecting others to believe the same. Ridiculous! I should be given a little slack; I was just a kid. The sad truth didn’t hit me until later. The understanding that others were bigger, smarter, stronger or more capable than me wasn’t comfortable. It hit me like a punch in the face, literally.

Fairness is as silly as the idea that violence never solved anything. Wars and armies have used violence over the course of history to solve problems. I don’t know if it was always fair. Genghis Kahn comes to mind. Definitely used violence and the fairness of conquering most of Europe is questionable.

I stopped expecting fairness. It seems ridiculous in the face of reality.

Daily writing prompt
What’s something you used to believe as a kid that seems ridiculous now?
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The Mole-rats of Mars

~ All the Right that's left ~ 2 Comments

If for no other reason than stubborn curiosity, I suspect that humans will colonize Mars at some point. That, “just to prove we can” action we justify as proving the concepts of science and technology. When we begin the costs will be prohibitive for shipping large amounts of materials, so the emphasis will be to utilize available materials. Housing being a major issue will naturally move underground, copying Sci-fi classical concepts of course. We need to dig for ice, may as well use the holes for living areas and farming. Keep expanding and next thing you know, Moletown! The most exciting metropolis on the planet!

Assuming we can survive long enough for it to matter, the trip alone should prove long enough, sex will become an issue. Are we shipping enough men and women for normal marriage and reproduction. Population replacement is essential for a colony. Hopefully population growth, assuming live birth is even possible in reduced gravity. I don’t know, ask Doc if he didn’t die in a cave in. Is marriage even an option?

Currency will probably be replaced with some type of calory exchange. A 100 calory chit is the new dollar. Knowing humans, it will probably drift into “Cals” quickly enough. Subsistence living is the new fad. Dig out your own hole. Hord your sewage, you need it for the farm. Sterilization is as simple as leaving it outside to freeze, he same for unproductive males. We can’t afford to have them taking up space. The colony will quickly revert to the oppressive patriarchal models of old.

The golden rule will become common law again. It will also become the common form of natural selection. If you are too selfish to help your neighbor, you probably won’t live long. It is the “manufacture a pencil” equation writ large. One person cannot possibly perform all of the tasks necessary for survival. It takes a village, literally. I doubt that communism will take hold. If a persons need exceeds their ability, why support them?

It will be interesting, if nothing else.

Daily writing prompt
Do you think humans will ever colonize Mars? What would life there actually look like?
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Why does kindness hurt?

~ All the Right that's left ~ Leave a comment

I was in a store with my older brother, he’s schizophrenic and gets easily confused. I watched him trying to order a sandwich at the kiosk and getting frustrated. Before I could reach him, a young man walked up and helped him. A simple act of kindness to a stranger. My brother was happy to get his sandwich. I was almost in tears.

I’ve spent a couple of years trying to understand why simple acts of kindness affect me so strongly. I’ve thought that they take me by surprise because they are so uncommon. However, that can’t be the case. I’ve seen too many for me to believe it. I’ve committed enough random acts of kindness to know that they happen, small simple things for no reason than it feels good to be nice. The internet gives access to enough clips of strangers just helping someone in need that I recognize a trend. Call it pay it forward or random acts of kindness; call it click bait. It’s still out there.

The only real answer I have is that when it happens to me, I feel unworthy. Unworthy of simple kindness. How sad is that? I spent so long time hating myself that I don’t think I deserve consideration.

Healing is a long process and some things are harder than others, like, believing that you are worthy of love and kindness. That’s been harder than I thought it would be; he vulnerability of opening up to acceptance by others. The strength gained by closing off emotions becomes painful weakness when touched by others. Sometimes I think that it’s not worth it, but I’m still trying. If you see me and I don’t act the way you think I should, please try to be understanding. I am a work in progress and your kindness hurts me.