OGS

Philip Kubiak, Domanique Borges, Laila Metjahic

BE IT DECLARED, HEREIN LIES THE CONSTITUTION OF OUR GREAT SOCIETY, TO BE FOLLOWED TO THE VERY LAST WORD, LEST WE ENDANGER THE PERFECTION OF THE BROTHERHOOD THAT IS OGS

1. Any citizen who follows the rules set forth by The Constitution Of OGS is considered a good and right citizen in the eyes of our governors, The Sanitation. All such good and right citizens are considered equal in OGS, regardless of sex, creed, height, or girth. The Professors are a force sworn to protect and respect all the good and right citizens of OGS as well as finding out any citizens who are not good or are not right.
2. Each citizen shall belong to one of five districts of OGS: District Adrenaline, District Sadism, District Knowledge, District Authority, and District Sin. Citizens are required to keep within their district, associate amongst their district, live, sleep, and work in their district.
3. Every citizen over the age of sixteen years must report to their assigned work stations at 800 hours and may not leave before 1800 hours. This time is reserved across all districts every day for every citizen to contribute to the well-being of OGS. Citizens under sixteen years must study their trade and the glory that is OGS during this time.
4. Every citizen must spend the hours between 400 and 700 in their Vitality Chambers. This is necessary for each citizen to be properly rejuvenated after a night of excess and ready to serve OGS at full capacity.
5. Outside of these times, citizens are required to participate in extreme activity as mandated by the heads of their own respective district. Any moderation will be met with severe punishment.
6. Each citizen has the obligation to observe his fellow citizens and report any suspected moderation to a Professor.
7. The Sanitation reserves the right to relocate any citizen who is not good or is not right to District Sadism so they may learn to adjust their behavior.
8. Citizens must not speak of, or associate with, the sect of criminals known as “The Moderates.” Any knowledge of the whereabouts of any suspected member must be reported to a Professor immediately.
9. There are to be five districts in OGS: District Adrenaline, District Sadist, District Knowledge, District Authority, and District Sin
10. All citizens must follow the laws and statutes created by OGS
11. All citizens are created equal under the law and must be treated as such.
12. No citizen’s life is worth more than the other, and the loss of a life is not consequential.
13. There is to be no established religion in OGS.
14. Murder, theft, rape, and arson are morally apprehensible and banned.
15. Any action seen as morally apprehensible by OGS or The Sanitation is prohibited.
16. Any such action that violates the liberty of another citizen is prohibited.
17. Any such action that physically harms another citizen is prohibited.
18. Any violation of criminal law can and may result in the revocation of citizenship.
19. Only citizens are guaranteed equal protection under the law and the benefits the law provides.
20. The citizens of Our Great Society are only to engage in sexual intercourse or carnal activities if approved by the governors, The Sanitation.
21. If approved for carnal activities by The Sanitation, citizens must commit at minimum three (3) of their nights a week after 1800 hours to engaging in carnal/sexual activities.
22. If a citizen who has not been approved for carnal activities by The Sanitation, is caught engaging in sexual acts at any time they will be considered outside of the law and relocated to District Sadism as set forth by Section 7.
23. Whether or not a citizen is permitted to engage in carnal activities no citizens are to engage in carnal activities outside of their districts.
24. All students will be required to spend a minimum of 6 years within the Educational System of Our Great Society, The Direction
25. Concerning matters of the health all citizens are to be examined one time per week by an appointed citizen from their district- known as the Health Guardian (HG). During this weekly examination all citizens will be examined for any defects physical or otherwise that may deem them unfit for our glorious society.
26. As per moderation is not allowed it is absolutely necessary each citizen be implanted with a small device that will detect the adrenaline level of citizens during the hours which work is not being performed, this device will also be monitored by the appointed health guardian of their district during the weekly health check, who will report lower levels of adrenaline to The Sanitation.

Our dystopia, Our Great Society (OGS), is riddled with numerous laws created to govern society. The primary objective of the government, referred to as The Sanitation, and its laws is to ensure that each citizen lives entirely without moderation for a period of the day. After centuries of dissatisfaction with their mundane lives, The Sanitation rose in power over the nation. The government has now been created in order to prevent this same dissatisfaction and boredom that characterized daily life throughout the previous 21 centuries.

The community is divided into five districts: District Sadist, District Knowledge, District Authority, District Sin, and District Adrenaline. Each society has developed their own interpretation regarding how to live life to the extreme. Those who break any law are sent to District Sadist, where the sadistic followers use the criminals as a means to pursue their extreme desires. The punishment may be extreme, but that is the aim of the government. District Knowledge pursues intellectual studies and art to the extreme, while District Authority contains the rule-enforcing body, called The Professors. The Professors serve as middlemen between the other districts and OGS. They serve as the enforcers of the law and watchmen over the citizens. District Sin is a society of those who pursue their extreme life following the seven deadly sins: lust, greed, envy, gluttony, sloth, pride, and wrath. District Adrenaline is a society of thrill-seekers who pursue daredevil acts as a means of extremism. Citizens are required to keep within their district, associate amongst their district, live, sleep, and work only within their district.

Each community lives independently in harmony beneath one overarching authoritarian regime, referred to as The Sanitation. Each citizen works at a job determined best suited for them by OGS and performs these tasks from hours 800 to 1800. From hours 1800-400 each citizen is required to engage in extreme activity. This workday serves as a reminder to citizens of how life was before OGS took control and perpetuates their desire to release through extreme activity at the end of the day.

Laws and extreme activity are created and enforced by The Sanitation; with each patrolman called a “Professor”. Each citizen is obligated to observe his fellow citizen and report any suspected moderation to a Professor. The Sanitation reserves the right to relocate any citizen who is not good or is not right to District Sadism for behavior readjustment. Citizens must not speak of, or associate with, the sect of underground criminals known as “The Moderates.” Any knowledge of the whereabouts of any suspected member must be reported to a Professor immediately. Any moderation will be met with severe punishment. All citizens are bound to follow the laws and statues created by the OGS. There are no elections, and there is no system of private property. The society is a communist, totalitarian oligarchy run by The Sanitation. This does not mean, however, that the citizens are unhappy or dissatisfied with their government or lives.

Our Great Society exists many years into the future, and it funnels most of its resources into research and technological development in order to increase the efficiency of the manufacturing it heavily relies on for economic wealth. In addition to industrial innovations, Our Great Society uses new technology as a primary means of controlling its citizens.

One of the several scientific breakthroughs that has allowed for the success of Our Great Society is the ability to clone. There are complex facilities located in each district where humans are produced by the thousands every day. These clones do not necessarily all look alike or have the same personality; each clone inherits random genes from a master gene bank that is separate for each district. There are some traits that every person has in common, such as sterility and a penchant for excess. Humans in our society skip early stages of development and are cloned into ten year old children, with each person having basic language and life skills already programmed into their brains. They are born as empty shells; the school system they attend for the first six years of their lives will complete them with an assigned role and a passion for extremity, often through the use of propaganda.

Cloning is understood by all citizens as a huge benefit to OGS. An explanation lies in the fact that the society suffers from an extremely high rate of mortality. This is not because of disease, malnutrition, or killings, but actually comes as a result of OGS encouraging extreme lifestyles. Accidental deaths are a commonplace occurrence across all districts. Citizens of District Sin may drink in excess until their liver fails to function. Citizens of District Adrenaline may die in freak accidents. Suicide is also something that is not forbidden in OGS, it is seen as another extreme means to an end. These kinds of ethics inevitably lead to a shortened average life span in addition to a high rate of mortality. A sizable proportion of OGS citizens die everyday, and they all die young.

Thus it was at one point decided by the Sanitation that large-scale cloning was necessary for the constant replenishment of OGS’ population. The crucial block in cloning research before this was an argument over the ethics of the practice. Once OGS declared its necessity, the science was quickly developed and perfected. Cloning is now a vital aspect of the society as it allows its rulers to control the amount of citizens living in each district. With no need for reproduction, citizens are sterilized and have no need for any structured family.

Another facet of technology heavily relied upon in our society is the vitality chamber. All citizens are required to spend three hours every night inside of this device, which is present in every home across all districts. The user of a vitality chamber is placed in an extreme state of rest in which this short amount of time rejuvenates the body and mind with the same effectiveness as would eight hours of sleep. This machine allows a vast majority of a citizen’s hourly activity in the day to be spent working or occupying themselves in their respective district’s necessary activities.

The use of these vitality chambers was found to be of such benefit to OGS that its use was quickly mandated and written into the constitution. Since all citizens need only three hours for their sleep cycle, hourly activities in a day could be standardized throughout all districts. It was thus declared that the period between 400 hours and 700 hours should be spent in vitality chambers, and the period between 800 hours and 1800 hours is the designated work day for all citizens. All other hours are left for citizens to follow the rules of the constitution as they wish. This daily routine was developed by the Sanitation to maximize production while simultaneously allowing citizens free time in their districts.

Our Great Society places a heavy emphasis on their manufacturing industry. The focus of our society on large-scale production contributes to OGS enjoying a strong, constantly expanding economy. Most people work in huge factory complexes, where they manufacture goods for use in the districts and for trade amongst other countries outside of our society. Other, more competent citizens are trained from a young age to devote their work hours to science or engineering in order to continue the development of the technological advances that are crucial to maintaining order in OGS.

The working life of a manufacturing employee is not something to be envied. The work is incredibly labor intensive, there are long hours to be worked without breaks, and there is no possibility of advancement. Factory life is also very dull and monotonous, as the routine is the same for those ten hours of work every single day. The working lifestyle of most OGS citizens is extremely undesirable, and this is not by mistake. Herein lies one of the great secrets as to the economic success enjoyed by OGS: the laws demanding the exercise of extremity are designed to distract each citizen from their unsatisfying work lives. A good and just citizen of OGS is one who serves in his industry for ten hours every day and is too distracted with satisfying the extreme desires instilled in their minds by their government to notice the terrible conditions of their lives. Anybody who acts otherwise is found out and severely punished, and anybody who dies in the process is quickly replaced. Thus production is kept at the highest possible level at all times, and Our Great Society prospers thanks to the manipulation of its citizens.

Our Great Society owes much of its success and efficiency to the use of several controversial practices, such as cloning and harrowing work conditions. Another scientific breakthrough that allows OGS to prosper is the recycling of the human body. A high mortality rate inevitably leads to an abundance of corpses to dispose of. Instead of burying the dead in the ground or cremating them, their bodies are processed by the Sanitation, harvested of their proteins and nutrients, and repackaged to be sold as quality cuts of meat. This all ensures the nutrition of OGS citizens, eliminates the need for domestication, and takes advantage of a resource that is readily available. The possibility of citizens questioning the ethics of such recycling is what has lead Our Great Society to keeping this miracle of science a secret. The product is simply labeled as a certain cut of red or white meat and citizens of OGS may obliviously enjoy their hearty dinners. This is an example of how the Sanitation will set any rules to manipulate and control the citizens of OGS, even if it goes against the very same values of honesty that citizens are told to regard highly.

Human rights are convoluted in our great society. All citizens are created equal under the law and must be treated as such. All citizens have a duty to respect their neighbor and are obliged to do no harm to another citizen. No citizen’s life is worth more than the other, and the loss of a life is not consequential. Human life in our great society is disposable and the loss of a life is met with celebration, awe, or apathy, but never sadness. Actions that violate the liberty of another citizen is prohibited. Additionally, any action that physically harms another citizen is prohibited. Only citizens are guaranteed equal protection under the law and the benefits and securities the law provides. Violation of criminal law can and may result in the revocation of citizenship. Those who lose their citizenship are sent to District Sadist for rehabilitation. Those who are not citizens may be physically harmed or treated unequally under the law by citizens of Our Great Society, or by The Sanitation and Professors. Citizenship may potentially be reinstated after a sufficient period of correction within District Sadist, but it is not guaranteed.

Citizens within Our Great Society share a strong code of ethics and morality. All actions declared immoral by The Sanitation are hereby banned in the society and may be treated with punitive measures. Honesty is one of the most highly regarded moral standards within Our Great Society. Without a strong code of honesty, society would fall apart and citizens would not be able to trust one another in their daily life. In addition, honesty is required in order to continue the system of citizen’s watching one another as they ensure that each citizen is living to the extreme. Theft, murder, and all acts that violate the liberty of another citizen or physically harm another are regarded as morally apprehensible in this society. While The Sanitation maintains complete control over the population, no citizen is morally allowed to assert themselves in a position above another citizen.

Religion in Our Great Society is abolished. Before The Sanitation took control, religion served as a stratifying force in society and created a sense of superiority amongst certain groups. This stratification and feelings of superiority violate the strong system of equality created by OGS. Thus, living as a brotherhood with citizens sharing all goods and wealth in common, there is no room for religious beliefs. The only religion heard of in Our Great Society is that which belongs to the group of fugitives known as “The Moderates.” The Moderates seek to destroy all that we have created in trying to live fulfilling, extreme lives by doing all things through moderation. The Moderates hold that balance is the key to a fulfilling life. There is no place for them in our society and any knowledge of their activity or whereabouts must be divulged to Division Authority within 48 hours. Any citizen who fails to do so is liable for treason and will immediately be sent to District Sadist for rehabilitation without a trial.

Since there is cloning in OGS there is no need for health checks for the purpose of checking for presence of disease or other gene mutations that may occur with old age, during childbirth, or during conception between opposite sexes. However, it is imperative that the Sanitation is able to bring to justice any member of the society that does not engage in extreme duties every night. Although citizens are expected to be vigilant and report any signs of behavior that indicate another citizen is not participating in their extreme duties, the Sanitation cannot expect that citizens will always be aware of the lack of extreme behaviors in others, as they will be consumed with their own extreme activities.Therefore they employ the help of trusted Health Guardians- appointed by the Sanitation. The Sanitation monitors the Health Guardians work ongoingly but it the Health Guardians role to be proactive and diligent in their very trusted role. Subsequently, each student that successfully graduates out of the education system of Our Great Society is implanted with a special chip, the size of exactly 6 ½ rice grains, that monitors and stores the data about their adrenaline levels for the past 8 days.

The major role of the Health Guardian in each society is to check the levels of these chips referred to as “Membranes”, and report directly to a Professor any findings of a citizen who has had adrenaline levels lower than expected during times of expected extreme behavior. If caught with lower than expected levels the Health Guardian will contact a professor in their direct vicinity when the findings are discovered. Following this the Health Guardian must complete a full report outlining their findings that will be submitted to the Sanitation for usage during the prosecution of the citizen in question, before they are sent to the District Sadist as prescribed by the Great Constitution of OGS.

The Health Guardian in each district will work an additional two hours per day because of the overwhelming population in Our Great Society. However the Health Guardian will still be responsible for completing their extreme duties at the end of each shift. This causes Health Guardians themselves to perish at a quicker rate than the other citizens, and on average each district has a new Health Guardian every year because of the amounts of work they are completing each day to check all of the citizens on a weekly basis.

The citizens of OGS appreciate the work of the Health Guardian in their individual district and are thankful to the Sanitation for providing them free health care. They are unaware of the many checks that are happening during these visits but do understand the importance of attending the appointments each week. The citizens who are taken in by the Sanitation for lack of extreme behavior are not missed because people are always dying in OGS. This helps in the Sanitations efforts of covering up the true purpose of the frequent health checks, so citizens are not aware that this is an actual spot check for ensuring extreme behavior.

Another role of the Health Guardian is to ensure that the citizens who have passes for carnal activities don’t become infected with a virus called Revelations (RLS) that allows for reproduction. Although the citizens are cloned and unable to reproduce there was a rare case where a male citizen and one of his female partners were able to conceive. The cause was never determined and there have been no more cases, but, the Sanitation is convinced there was a sort of new growth of the reproductive organs. Of course this was a cause for great concern, causing the sanitation to do all that they can to proactively prevent and detect this regrowth phenomenon from reoccurring.

The education system in OGS is known as The Direction. All citizens, when created at the age of ten years old, are to be educated by the Direction for a period of no less than six years and no more than six years and six months. Students are called Lost Ones. Lost Ones who stay  in for the longer period of time may show potential in more than one area of passion and therefore need more time to be sorted. Otherwise the longer period may be for Lost Ones who have not assimilated well and are on course to being exiled from Our Great Society and sent to the Sadism District and later to be consumed by the remaining children.

During the six years in the education system children will be educated on matters concerning the extremist lifestyle. The children are to spend ten hours per day focusing on their education just as the adults in the society spend ten hours working. Two hours of each day will be used specifically for the training of life in a specific district. Year one the two hours will focus on the District Sadism. This is helpful because if a Lost One does not end up in the District Sadism more time has elapsed and it is easier to “help” them forget what has been learned about this area of the society. Year two is spent focusing on the District Sin, followed by the District Knowledge, which is followed by District Adrenaline, and lastly District Authority.

The other 8 hours of the day which the children are required to be engaged in educational activities are spent on different brainwashing activities that have been approved by the Sanitation. These activities help to shape the minds of the children around the many ideas of Our Great Society. The sanitation also requires that the Lost Ones spend three hours focused on the constitution every day for the entire six years they are in the education system. The Sanitation believes it is important for each member of the society to know their rights, and restrictions. In this light each citizen is born into the society with the laws ingrained in them. So there be no confusion down the line in case of some unfortunate event in the future where a citizen violates the laws.

The Direction is responsible for helping Lost Ones find a path to follow once in the society. Mentors who are known as Enemies are there for guidance and help with adjusting with the many ideas that the citizens of Our Great Society subscribe to. This is very useful in ensuring that the Lost Ones are being properly brainwashed and assimilated into the ways of the society as Enemies are required to report back to the Sanitation if they believe that a student will not be susceptible to the ways of Our Great Society. These Lost Ones which have been identified as potential non-followers are then put on watch and closely monitored in case it be necessary to eradicate the child.

The Direction plays a huge role in shaping the society and is closely monitored by the leaders of the Sanitation for issues and for quality and assurance purposes. The majority of the Lost Ones actually do enjoy the environment in The Direction as it is made to be otherwise a friendly place outside of the strict learning environment. The Lost Ones also know they could be separated at some point so they really do enjoy their time together.