Smart Car
by Doug Hawley
28: People's Day 2091
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Duke Hanley addressed the
cars and people of Lake Oswego Oregon USA on
People’s Day September 27, 2091
“Hi everyone. Is it a good day?”
The audience responded “Yes, it’s a
good day.”
“I’m so pleased Mayor Evers asked me to
speak about People’s Day. My
grandfather Jess was on the “Labor Day
Revisions Committee in 2065 and here’s the
story of their deliberations. The
original impetus for Labor Day was lost. The
idea of a working class and bosses was largely
passé. Restaurant servers, factory
workers and occupations had been replaced by
automation. Computer algorithms made
most business decisions. Most people
alive today have no memory of labor conflicts or
strikes. As efficiency improved, the
price of things decreased and with population
stability scarcity of goods was no longer a
problem. The Guaranteed Basic Income
was enough to get by on. As a result,
many people loafed, but more volunteered or tried
various ways to improve themselves. Some
became amateur scientists. Joe Samson
invented a better wheel for vehicles in his
basement.”
“Grandfather Jess and the other committee
members saw that a day honoring labor made little
sense when so few labored in the accepted sense. There
were and are far more creative people now than
laborers. Servers in restaurants have
been replaced by ordering pads at their tables,
but at least in the better restaurants, there are
still cooks. Building construction
connecting modular pieces from a factory does not
employ very many, but some people still want
architecturally designed buildings. Sports
and athletes are still popular. Much
of entertainment is CGI which doesn’t
require live actors, but there are still plays
and concerts requiring live actors and musicians. The
vast majority who weren’t “laborers”
thought that the name and celebration of Labor
Day should be changed to be more inclusive.”
Deuce the retro Dodge Charger of Duke’s wife
Sheila broke in “Didn’t the unions and
labor want to keep the status quo?” Deuce
is a history buff.
“Good question Deuce. They did
object to change, but Jess called their bluff by
suggesting a national referendum. With
labor’s share of the US population down
under 10% they knew that they would lose against
management, sports, entertainment, and other
creatives. They decided to go along at
that point.”
“That is how People’s Day started, and
it has been much the same since 2066 through this
year’s celebration. To make a
clean break, the date was changed to the last
Monday in September. We sing two songs,
“It’s A Good Day” originally by
Peggy Lee in 1950 and “Hey You”, a
reworked version of “Hey Jude”, a
Beatles song from 1968. Some people
are grouches, but dropping religious, political,
gender and ethnic argument for the day is
encouraged. Most try to be good people
on People’s Day. The highest
forms of People’s Day are helping others,
solving local and national problems, or working
on an art, music or writing project. The
people who do the best projects get on the People’s
Day telecast.”
Carl/a, Duke’s nonbinary car, asked “Duke,
was there much of a gender difference of opinion
about the changes?”
“Another good question. Unlike
some of the earlier political and women’s
rights questions, there was unanimity in favor of
the change by both sexes.”
Sheila asked, “How did all of this affect
the cars?”
Duke smiled “Other than making their human
comrades happier, it really has not affected the
cars. For the cars in the audience, do
you like People’s Day?”
Car honked and woo-hooed, and people laughed and
cheered. All slowly left the
amphitheater and most went to smaller People’s
Day celebrations.
Maybe every day should be “People’s Day”.
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