Читать книгу Bigger Brother - Matthew Vandenberg - Страница 8

The Freedom Firefighters enter the house like a cool breeze. They're not really responsible for fighting fires, that's left to the professionals. And the professionals' trustworthiness is not in question, unlike that of Australia's responsible leaders [4.], and the traditional sense of the adjective is not the adequate 'responsible' for describing them.

Some of the acting actors present presently are Chinese. A full third, in fact. Like the proportion of foreign students who are Chinese studying in the States [1.]. They have no issue with talking about fires, especially Australian ones. In fact, the repression of anger at their own government is fuel for their drive to raise awareness of Australian towns razed to the ground. Their goal is to win international acclaim now, to impress the masses over and above their leaders, to stage a coup for your entertainment. And to speak about climate change [2.] in a way that simultaneously highlights the need for Chinese students in the States to wear masks [1.] when publicly supporting activists speaking against Chinese authorities.

Now, they wear the same masks, but these don't appear at all out of place with their firefighting gear. But the Chinese acting actors playing firefighters cannot be recognized just yet. However, what if SenseTime's facial-recognition [1.] technology could be used to identify the Australians (just the white ones not wearing masks) worthy of praise for fighting fires? Also, iFlytek [1.] could be used for voice recognition. Drones could be used to fight fires, being activated by voice and facial recognition and without operations requiring any input from a Prime Minister elected by lay people rather than just expert firefighters. But all the while, these Chinese acting actors remain hidden behind a figurative smokescreen.

'Any ideas on how to fight fires better?' the voice above asks. 'We'd like to get many ideas from Chinese people because they're less likely to hold patents [3.] and so they can teach us all how to act free of charge, be they really free or not (they may be noticing new flames). Call them babysitters representing Australians pro bono. Because Australian leaders are acting like babies, except for those in the kitchen fighting fires.'

'We need help from the Chinese military [5.],' one Chinese woman says. 'In fact, members of both the States' and China's armed forces should help out Australians side by side, but competing to see who can extinguish the most fires in the shortest time period. Space research stations for the people can be fought for through the fighting of fires alone, and can be upstream or downstream, with the ecology of the new grounds (suitable for space farming) matching that of the grounds liberators are used to (a prison is a house on fire so anyone inside needs to be liberated): personal space can be made public as new ground is covered with fire or water in every move of firefighters from public square to public square. Vast [palatial parade] grounds for urging dismissal of private opinion (of corrupt Australian ministers [7.]) should be Chinese or belong to the States, or both, depending on the will of the people properly taking charge.

'The grounds are clearly known now. It's not even necessary to ground Chinese pilots in escaping fires or dealing with flames, because they know what they're doing. Why would you hold them back? It's escaping and extinguishing fires that matter more than nationality. If the Chinese can ground Australian pilots in escaping and extinguishing fires then Australians should be grateful they're alive. But, be warned, many men [5.] will come here, as very few Chinese women fight fires [5.]. However, Tokyo Shōbōchō is the largest urban fire department in the world, so surely some of the hundreds of Japanese female firefighters could help out.'

'We need to forget about imaginary lines,' a Chinese man says, stepping into the kitchen. 'Local cuisines are already touched by everyone, and privatization, so there's an overwhelming need to publicize dark underbellies of fat cats. Unfortunately, private firefighters are forced to only collect themselves like eccentric collectors. Why is it only fat cats who get to cooperate with one another? Can't the masses instead determine the greater good? I could be stepping out of line here but I forgot to imagine one, and so I'm tripping everywhere, and that's only light and not heavy (but weight is mental and this is still substantial and filling if food for thought). Think how big the oceans are, then imagine using water for good. That's actually using it for the greater good, for sure, and there's potentially a lot of weight for prospective leaders' words to carry. Greater good waters are in Greenland, but that's beside the point of leaders: they're never on top of this country.'

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References

1 The Economist, Chinese Students in America, The new red scare, https://www.economist.com/node/21777580?frsc=dg%7Ce

2 The Economist, Fires in Australia, The summer inferno, https://www.economist.com/node/21777549?frsc=dg%7Ce

3 The Economist, Intellectual Property, Laser Brain, https://www.economist.com/node/21777435?frsc=dg%7Ce

4 Australia's Burning: The Blame Game, https://youtu.be/17cxH9p-xps

5 SupChina, China recruits professional firefighters for the first time. 99.9% of them are required to be men, https://supchina.com/2019/02/20/china-recruits-professional-firefighters-for-the-first-time-99-9-of-them-are-required-to-be-men/

6 Hailee Steinfeld, BloodPop® - Capital Letters, https://youtu.be/pj6k-EFxqAI

7 ABC iView - Shaun Micallef's Mad As Hell, https://iview.abc.net.au/show/shaun-micallef-s-mad-as-hell